Which is Better For The Environment? Glass or Plastic?

When you look up zero waste, you’re bound to notice tons and tons of pictures of glass jars everywhere. From the trash jar to the jars lining our pantries, glass is pretty popular in the zero waste community.

But what’s our obsession with glass? Is it really so much better for the environment than plastic? 

Plastic tends to get a really bad rep from environmentalists – that's got a lot to do with the fact only 9 percent of it is recycled. That said, there’s so much more to think about in terms of what goes into manufacturing and recycling both glass and plastic, not to mention its afterlife. 

Which is truly the eco-friendliest choice when you get down to it, glass or plastic? Well, perhaps the answer isn’t as clear cut as you may think.

glass:

Let's start by analyzing every zero waster’s beloved material: Glass.

First, it’s important to note that glass is endlessly recyclable, back to its original use. It never loses its quality and purity, no matter how many times it’s recycled…. but is it actually being recycled?

problems with glass:

First up, making new glass requires sand. While we have tons of sand on beaches, deserts and under the ocean, we’re using it faster than the planet can replenish it. 

We use sand more than we use oil, and only a specific kind of sand can be used to get the job done (no, desert sand can’t be used). Mostly, sand is harvested from riverbeds and seabeds.

Taking sand out of the natural environment also disrupts the ecosystem, considering microorganisms live on it which feed the base of the food chain. 

Removing sand from the seabed leaves shore communities open to flooding and erosion. Since we need sand to create new glass, you can see where this would be an issue.

Another problem with glass? Glass is heavier than plastic, and breaks much easier during transit. This means it produces more emissions in transportation than plastic, and costs more to transport.

Yet another thing to consider is most glass isn’t actually recycled. In fact, only 33 percent of waste glass is recycled in America. When you consider 10 million metric tons of glass is disposed of every year in America, that’s not a very high recycling rate. 

There are many reasons glass recycling is so low: Glass put into the recycling bin is used as a cheap landfill cover to keep costs low; Consumers participating in “wish-cycling” where they toss non-recyclables into the recycling bin and contaminate the entire bin; Colored glass can only be recycled and melted down with like-colors; Windows and Pyrex bakeware are not recyclable because of the way it’s manufactured to withstand high temperatures.  

Last but not least, glass takes one million years to decompose in the environment, perhaps even more in a landfill. 

In total, that’s about four major problems with glass that impact the environment. Now, let’s analyze the lifecycle of glass bit closer.

raw materials: 

Glass is made from all-natural resources, such as sand, soda ash, limestone and recycled glass. However, it is important to note that we’re running out of the sand that’s used to make glass in the first place. Worldwide, we go through 50 billion tons of sand every year. That is twice the amount produced by every river in the world.

Once these raw materials are harvested, they’re transported to a batch house where they are inspected and then sent to the furnace for melting where they’re heated to 2600 to 2800 degrees Fahrenheit. Afterwards, they go through a conditioning, forming and finishing process before becoming the final product.

Once the final product is created, it’s transported so it can be washed and sterilized, then transported again to stores for sale or use. Once it comes to its end of life, it’s (hopefully) collected and recycled. Unfortunately, each year only one-third of the roughly 10 million metric tons of glass that Americans throw away is recycled. The rest goes to a landfill.

When glass is collected and recycled, it has to begin this process of being transported, going through batch preparation, and everything else that follows again.

emissions + energy:

As you can imagine, this entire process to make glass, especially using virgin materials, takes up a lot of time, energy and resources. Also, the amount of transporting the glass has to go through adds up too, creating more emissions in the long run.

A lot of the furnaces used to create glass also run on fossil fuels, thus creating a lot of pollution.

The total fossil fuel energy consumed to make glass in North America, primary energy demand (PED), averaged to 16.6 megajoule (MJ) per 1 kilogram (kg) of container glass produced. The global warming potential (GWP), aka climate change, averaged to 1.25 MJ per 1 kg of container glass produced. These numbers encompass every stage of the packaging life cycle for glass.

If you’re wondering, a megajoule (MJ) is a unit of energy equivalent to one million joules. A property’s gas usage is measured in megajoules and is recorded using a gas meter.

To put the carbon footprint measurements I gave into perspective a little better, 1 liter of gasoline is equal to 34.8 megajoules, High Heating Value (HHV). In other words, it takes less than a liter of gasoline to make 1 kg of glass. 

recycling rates:

However, if a glass manufacturing facility used 50 percent recycled content to make new glass, then there would be a 10 percent decrease in GWP.

In other words, the 50 percent recycle rate would remove 2.2 million metric tons of CO2 from the environment. That’s the equivalent of removing CO2 emissions of nearly 400,000 cars every year.

However, this would only happen assuming at least 50 percent of glass was recycled properly and used to make new glass. Currently, only 40 percent of glass thrown into single-stream recycling collections actually gets recycled. 

While glass is completely recyclable, unfortunately there are certain facilities that choose to crush the glass and use it as a landfill cover instead. This is cheaper than actually recycling the glass, or finding another cover material for landfills. 

Cover material for landfills are a mix of organic, inorganic and inert components (such as glass). Landfill covers are used to control the offensive smells landfills give off, deter pests, prevent waste fires, discourage scavenging, and limit rainwater runoff. 

Unfortunately, using glass to cover landfills doesn’t help the environment or reduce emissions because it’s essentially downcycling glass and preventing it from being reused.

Make sure you look into your local recycling laws before you recycle glass, just to double check it’ll actually be recycled. Glass recycling is a closed-loop system, so it doesn’t create any additional waste or by-products.

end of life:

You’re probably better off holding onto glass and repurposing it before you toss it into the recycling bin.

Glass takes a very, very long time to break down. In fact, it can take a glass bottle one million years to decompose in the environment, possibly even more if it’s in a landfill. 

Because its life cycle is so long, and because glass doesn’t leach any chemicals, it’s better to repurpose and reuse it over and over again before recycling it.

Because glass is nonporous and impermeable, there are no interactions between glass packaging and the products inside, resulting in no nasty after taste – ever. Plus, glass has an almost zero rate of chemical interactions, which ensures that the products inside a glass bottle keep their flavor, strength and aroma.

I guess that’s why lots of zero wasters encourage people to save all their empty jars for reuse. It’s great for storing food you get from the bulk food store, leftovers, and homemade cleaning products!

plastic:

The zero waste community has a habit of criminalizing plastic. But is it really as bad as they say? 

Let’s take a look, shall we?

problems with plastic:

First, most plastic (not counting the bio-plastics) are petroleum-based, thus making the materials non-renewable and unsustainable to harvest. Drilling for oil has caused many problems, including disturbing land and marine ecosystems.

Also, dealing with oil tends to result in oil spills, which contaminate soil and water and may cause horrendous fires and explosions. 

Secondly, the carbon footprint of plastic is pretty hard to ignore. From the moment raw materials are made into plastic to their disposal, plastic emits carbon dioxide. In fact, the emissions from plastic in 2015 were equivalent to nearly 1.8 billion metric tons of CO2. 

It doesn’t help the factories used to create plastic also run on fossil fuels and produce emissions as well. To be fair though, factories that produce glass also create emissions and run on fossil fuels for the most part.

Another problem? Only 9 percent of plastic is actually recycled. Considering we’ve made 8.5 billion metric tons of it since large scale production began, that’s a very small recycle rate. 

The glass recycling rate is 33 percent, which isn’t fantastic compared to other countries (there’s a 90 percent glass recycling rate in Switzerland, Germany and other European countries), but still higher than plastic.

When it is recycled, plastic can only be downcycled, meaning it becomes an item of lesser quality. It will never be the same item again. 

Eventually, this leads it to become a waste item that is no longer recyclable and destined to end up in a landfill, or the environment.

Not to mention, plastic takes 450+ years to decompose in the environment, 1000 years in a landfill.  Compared to glass, which takes 1 million years to break down, these numbers may seem kind of low. 

However, it’s important to remember unlike glass, plastic leech toxic chemicals into the environment as time passes. Plastic doesn’t truly break down either, but instead becomes microplastics which pollute our waterways and even contaminate our very soil and the air we breathe.

Altogether, that’s about six major problems with plastic that impact the environment. Lets look at plastic’s life cycle a little bit closer.

raw materials:

First, oil and natural gas are the major raw materials used to manufacture plastics. 

Plastic production often begins by treating components of crude oil or natural gas in a “cracking process” where these components are converted into hydrocarbon monomers, such as ethylene and propylene. 

Even more processing leads to various other monomers, such as styrene, ethylene glycol, terephthalic acid, vinyl chloride and several others. These monomers are then chemically bonded into chains called polymers. 

The different combinations of monomers yield various different kinds of plastics, all with a wide range of characteristics and properties. There are seven major plastics that are used widely such as Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS) and other plastics (ex: nylon).

emissions + energy:

All these different plastics serve different functions, though some are easier to recycle than others. As you can imagine, creating all those plastics takes a lot of energy and resources.

In fact, in 2007, researchers Peter Gleick and Heather Cooley estimated that satisfying the existing bottle water demand alone required the energy equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil. And that’s just bottled water! This means producing plastic bottles each year releases more greenhouse gas emissions than over a million cars on the road.

From production to end of life, plastics have a surprisingly carbon-intense life cycle. When they’re transformed into products and transported to market, they emit greenhouse gases either directly or via the energy required to accomplish them. 

Even after you dispose of plastic, be it through dumping, incinerating, recycling and composting (for certain bio-plastics), all release carbon dioxide. The emissions from plastics in 2015 were equivalent to nearly 1.8 billion metric tons of CO2. 

Researchers only expect this number to grow. They project the global demand for plastics will increase by some 22 percent over the next five years. Just to break even, we’ll have to reduce emissions by 18 percent. 

However, on the current course, emissions from plastics will reach 17 percent of the global carbon budget by 2050. This budget basically estimates the max amount of greenhouse gasses we can “safely” emit without making global temperatures rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

In other words, there’s really no room for increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

recycling rates:

It doesn’t help that only 9 percent of plastic is actually recycled, either. Humans have created 8.5 billion metric tons of plastics since large-scale production began in the 1950s, and most of it is in a landfill or our environment.

You can imagine how this impacts carbon emissions. While it certainly would be better to have a higher recycling rate for plastic, it’s definitely not the end all solution.

After all, plastic can only be recycled so many times. In fact, it’s technically downcycled into a lesser quality item, meaning it can never be the same thing more than once. Eventually, it becomes unrecyclable altogether and ends up as a waste product.

end of life:

It should also be noted that plastic takes a very long time to disintegrate and break down. A plastic bottle for example, takes 450+ years to disintegrate, and a thousand years if they’re in a landfill. 

If you compare that to how long glass takes to disintegrate, you might think it’s a better outcome. However, it’s important to note plastic releases toxic chemicals into their surrounding environment as they break down, unlike glass.

We have plenty of room to improve on our recycling game, but recycling plastic certainly isn’t the end-all-answer to our plastic problem. 

Ultimately, replacing fossil-based energy with renewable sources would have the greatest impact on plastic’s greenhouse gas emissions overall. While it’s a bit idealistic, transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy would reduce emissions from plastic by a whopping 51 percent.

tl;dr:

Glass and plastic both have their pros and cons.

The best thing we can do is reduce our reliance on anything single-use! If you use it once and then place it in the recycling bin, try to find another solution.

Of course there are exceptions, and there’s no way we’re going to completely eradicate single-use, but we can definitely make a HUGE dent in it by being a little more conscious with our purchases.

Generally speaking try to avoid buying new plastic and still prefer to buy glass. I try to opt for packaging that contains mostly recycled content, because are we really recycling if we don’t buy products made from recycled content?

And, you should definitely reuse your glass bottles and jars!

sources and further reading:

http://www.gpi.org/sites/default/files/N-American_Glass_Container_LCA.pdf

https://www.businessinsider.com/world-running-out-sand-resources-concrete-2018-6

https://livegreen.recyclebank.com/column/because-you-asked/what-kinds-of-glass-can-i-recycle

https://www.wm.com/thinkgreen/what-can-i-recycle.jsp

https://cen.acs.org/materials/inorganic-chemistry/glass-recycling-US-broken/97/i6

https://trashcansunlimited.com/blog/understanding-landfill-cover-materials/

https://www.ecori.org/composting/2010/2/1/broken-glass-provides-cheap-cover-at-state-landfill.html

https://education.seattlepi.com/long-glass-bottle-degrade-landfill-5235.html

https://livegreen.recyclebank.com/column/the-list/7-truths-about-glass-recycling

https://plastics.americanchemistry.com/Lifecycle-of-a-Plastic-Product/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170719140939.htm

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/4/1/014009/fulltext/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190415144004.htm

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=oil_environment

http://www.getwaste.info/garbage-decomposition-time/

Guest Post: Ariana Palmieri is the founder of Greenify-Me.com, a blog dedicated to zero waste living and sustainability. Her work has been featured on MindBodyGreen, Green Matters, The Penny Hoarder and several other publications. Get her free e-book "10 Ways to Reduce Trash" by signing up to her newsletter and learn how to reduce your waste today.

Ethical and Sustainable Jewelry Brands

Diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but I’m not sure they’re the Earth’s. To extract diamonds, gemstones, and metals, there’s a lot of strip mining and politics involved. 

Metal mining, gold mining in particular, is one of the most environmentally destructive kinds of mining around. Not to mention millions of gold miners earn low wages in hazardous working conditions.

The good news? You don’t have to give up wearing jewelry to be eco-friendly! There are plenty of amazing, ethical and sustainable jewelry brands out there. 

this post contains affiliate links for more information please see my disclosure page.

the problem with metals:

Metal mining destroys landscapes and produces a huge amount of toxic waste. In fact, gold mining companies generate about 20 tons of toxic waste for every 0.333-ounce gold ring.  YIKES.

The waste produced, usually a gray liquid sludge, is laden with cyanide and toxic heavy metals. Many gold mines dump this waste directly into natural bodies of water. It’s estimated that 180 million tons of toxic waste from mines is dumped each year - isn't that insane?

You can imagine the kind of havoc this causes for coral reefs and other ocean life. 

One top of the that, the Amazon rainforest is being slashed and burned to make way for unsustainable metal mines. When mining for precious metals mercury is often used to extract gold from rock and sediment.

Mercury is toxic it pollutes the environment, and can wreak havoc on miner’s health. As you can imagine, many miners face a number of health concerns, and are often subject to poor safety standards and inhumane labor practices. 

I think it’s clear that we need to stop supporting unethical and unsustainable mining practices.

The good news, metals can be recycled repeatedly without losing quality, and a lot of jewelry companies are now using recycled metals. This, of course, decreases the demand for new metals to be mined, and encourages recycling

And, as I’m sure you’ve heard it 1000x - are you really recycling if you don’t buy goods made from recycled materials?

the problem with diamonds:

As I’m sure many of you know, diamonds and gem stones aren’t without their flaws either. Diamond mines can be full of exploitation and violence stained by forced labor, torture, beatings, even murder. 

As far as environmental impact goes, irresponsible diamond mining can cause soil erosion, deforestation and in extreme cases can cause entire ecosystems to collapse.

There are several abandoned mining pits where wildlife has vanished, the topsoil has eroded, and land once suitable for farming has become desolate. 

The one good thing about diamond mining is that it doesn’t make use of toxic chemicals, like gold mining does, bu it’s still important we advocate for more responsible mining practices.

Lab grown diamonds and gems are a great sustainable alternative since they’re free of mining and exhibit the exact same optical and chemical properties as mined diamonds. 

Lab grown diamonds are beautiful, sparkly, and grown in highly controlled laboratory using advanced technology that duplicates the exact conditions a diamond needs to develop as they would in the wild.

One of the main problems with the jewelry industry is the lack of transparency. It can be a bit difficult to trace sourcing on both metals and gemstones. Even companies using The Kimberly Process (diamonds that have been certified to be "conflict-free") have run into issues due to lack of transparency and loopholes. ⁠

making better choices:

I know that it can feel hopeless, but here’s a few ways for you to find out a bit more info:

• find a local jewelry maker where you can ask them about sourcing

• opt for antique, vintage, and secondhand pieces

• look for recycled and upcycled aspects

• use local gemstone mines with sustainable practices. Did you know you can go digging for diamonds in Arkansas? It’s a huge field and you’re given a shovel. The Uncle Sam diamond was found there - the largest diamond, over 40 carats, ever found in the US.

And, of course, I’ve rounded up a few eco-friendly jewelry brands!

smiling rocks:

Smiling Rocks creates some beautiful pieces with lab grown diamonds.

You’ll find rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets in their shop. I love how you can customize your search too, based off of carat, metal, metal color, price and style.

Still, perhaps one of the best things about this company is their commitment to giving back. 

For every purchase made, Smiling Rocks will donate 10 percent to the charity of your choice. You can choose to help fund educational support, environmental protection, medical support or animal protection. Either way, your money will be going to a good cause.

Another cool fact about Smiling Rocks? This company will be launching a Carbon For Carbon initiative. 

Carbon For Carbon will research the amount of CO2 produced by one human cycle and then seek to  offset this by planting trees to improve the environmental impact of unnecessary carbon usage. Pretty innovative huh?

Check out their out their new arrivals, but My personal favorite is the Essentials Geometric Necklace and the Essentials Petite Earrings.

luna & rose:

Looking for some unique pieces without any flashy gems? Luna & Rose is your new go-to shop. 

They make truly beautiful jewelry using an entirely closed loop production system. That means they have zero waste from any of their collections, which is very impressive. 

Their pieces are made from recycled sterling silver (so hard to find!) and gold. Their silver product is recovered from the residues of copper, nickel and lead refining processes, seeing as silver is mainly found in ore bodies together with these metals.

The silver is recovered from a bunch of miscellaneous sources such as industrial scraps and end-of-life applications (like electronics and electrical scraps). Isn’t that awesome? 

If they happen to have left over stock of a particular piece or style, they can just melt the silver down and re-use it for their next collection. This creates a super innovative closed loop where nothing is wasted.

Another thing to love about this company? They participate in 1% For the Planet, which is a global movement that connects businesses, consumers & non-profits committed to addressing the pressing issues facing the planet. 

As a partner to 1% For the Planet, Luna & Rose are taking responsibility and pledged to donate 1% of their annual sales to two charities that will give back to the environment.

Luna & Rose also supports Take 3 For The Sea, a non-profit that encourages people to take 3 pieces of rubbish with you when you leave the beach or any waterway. If you purchase one of their charity t-shirts, $25 from the sale of each tee goes directly to Take 3 For The Sea. 

And yes, they do sell other items besides jewelry at Luna & Rose too. They’ve got shirts, scarves, sandals, towels, tote bags and even wallets available for sale.

As far as their actual jewelry goes, there’s lots to choose from: Necklaces, saint pendants, motherhood pendants, earrings, rings, bracelets, charms and chains all make the cut. 

If you know someone who just had a Communion or a Confirmation, one of their saint pendants would be a lovely present to give. Know someone who just had a baby? Consider gifting one of their thoughtful motherhood pendants.

I personally really love their To The Moon And Back necklace - so cute.

gjenmi:

Looking for fine jewelry that celebrates women, uses quality materials and is conflict-free? Look no further than Gjenmi. 

Gjenmi creates handcrafted pieces that have a timeless, feminine air to them that are inspired by antique and vintage jewelry. The jewelry is also made right in Los Angeles, CA. 

I love how dainty and sweet their pieces are. They’re super pretty and so eye catching in a very classy manner.

Most importantly, all their collections are made with recycled gold and conflict-free stones. 

Gjenmi creates jewelry that’s meant to last and become instant family heirlooms. It's such a nice thought to be able to pass along such beautiful jewelry to your future daughter, granddaughter or niece after you’ve enjoyed it.

Gjenmi offers a stunning range of rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings to choose from. 

Something extra unique about Gjenmi is that they let you customize your own ring stack. They have signature pairings they offer as a single purchase that look so pretty together it’s almost criminal.

They also have some very beautiful collections to choose from. I especially love the Mother Earth collection because it’s inspired by California’s rain and super bloom.

Top picks: Shelly Baby Necklace, Staple Lariat, and Sibling Ring

au-rate:

If you’re looking for super unique, ethically made jewelry, AU-Rate is for you.

They have some of the most interesting designs available, presenting a modern, sleek look that’s not too showy or in-your-face. It’s the perfect balance between unique and subtle, done right.

Everything is handcrafted in NYC using only the finest, ethically sourced materials that are designed to last forever.

AU-Rate always uses conflict-free gold and conflict-free diamonds in their stunning pieces. Their gold is 100 percent recycled, which is great because gold can be repeatedly recycled without diminishing in quality. 

They strictly adhere to the Kimberly Process for their diamonds, but they don’t think that’s enough. They make sure the mines they deal with offer fair pay, safe working conditions, respect local indigenous people and protect the environment.

Their pearls are also sustainably farmed and sensitively harvested to ensure the wellbeing and biodiversity of the marine environment. On top of that, the pearl farms AU-Rate works with are family-run and create job opportunities for local communities.

Yet another thing to love about this company? They’re super passionate about giving back to the local community.

AU-Rate supports the developing literacy of students in New York. In partnership with Mastery Charter, they’ve given thousands of books to schools and students across the city.

For every purchase made, AU-Rate puts a book directly in the hands of a child that needs it. That’s amazing to me.

As far as their actual jewelry goes, you can’t go wrong with any of their beautiful pieces. 

I especially love how they’ll let you try on up to 5 pieces of jewelry at home for free. You get to keep it for 7 days and if you’re not in love, you just send them back. You only pay for what you decide to keep.

Be sure to check out their new in jewelry – I'm especially in love with their Simple Pearl Bracelet.

secondhand:

Prefer a cheaper, simpler solution? Purchase your jewelry secondhand. 

Vintage pieces have so much character, plus the resources needed to make them have already been used up. This creates no additional waste. 

Purchasing secondhand also keeps a perfectly good piece of jewelry out of the landfill. Not to mention you can come across a lot of good bargains. 

Try going to your local thrift store and seeing if they have any vintage jewelry for sale. 

Also, sometimes you don’t even need to buy secondhand. You can get secondhand jewelry from a loved one!

Has your grandmother or mother ever given you a family heirloom? Cherish it always and keep close tabs on it, because that’s certainly way more sustainable than buying new. And it has so much more value because it comes from your family line!

You can also ask any of your female relatives if they have any jewelry they don’t wear anymore that you’d be happy to take off their hands. 

Does your sister have a jewelry box she rarely touches? Ask her if you can go through it! The worst you’ll hear is ‘no’, after all. 

Guest Post: Ariana Palmieri is the founder of Greenify-Me.com, a blog dedicated to zero waste living and sustainability. Her work has been featured on MindBodyGreen, Green Matters, The Penny Hoarder and several other publications. Get her free e-book "10 Ways to Reduce Trash" by signing up to her newsletter and learn how to reduce your waste today.

6 Easy Ways to Reduce Ocean Plastic Pollution

Three hundred million tons of plastic are produced every year, and over 8 million tons of it winds up in our oceans. There is currently no landscape that hasn’t been touched by plastic. Even remote islands without any human inhabitants have beaches filled with plastic.

It’s actually raining micro-plastic pieces now. Plastic has been found in the arctic, in salt, 84% of drinking water worldwide, and as deep as the Mariana Trench. Plastic is everywhere.

And, plastic doesn’t ever go away. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade. It won’t turn back into soil. Instead, over time, it becomes brittle, and it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces until it’s so small it’s a micro or nanoplastic.

A microplastic is a tiny piece of plastic on average 3mm-5mm. Some plastics are created small like microbeads and glitter while others become microplastics - think your leggings shedding polyester fibers in the wash, tire treads slowly wearing away, fishnets being thrown overboard, and common types of plastic like water bottles, plastic bags, coffee cups, etc. breaking apart due to rough ocean conditions.

To be honest, the microplastic problem seems distant and foreign to me. Yes, even someone who talks about the plastic problem ALL. THE. TIME. can have issues with grasping the actual scale of the problem since I’ve never experienced it in person. This is why it’s been AMAZING to follow along with The Vortex Swim.

photo provided by The Vortex Swim

I’m very excited to be partnering with Icebreaker who sponsored The Vortex Swim to raise awareness around these issues. All thoughts and opinions are my own. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

The Vortex Swim started in Hawaii where Ben Lecomte, a long-distance swimmer, spent 100 days at sea swimming (YES. SWIMMING!) through the Pacific Ocean right through the heart of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch AKA the Plastic Vortex.

He was followed by a crew on a boat to study these problems. He swam 350 nautical miles collecting 45,000 microplastic samples from the Vortex to raise awareness around plastic pollution in the ocean, and to collect data for scientific research.

I got to meet Ben and talk with him about the experience, about some of the most common types of plastic he found. And, some of the weird things he found too like toilet seats, crates, and a surprising amount of laundry baskets.

One of the things I admired most about the trip (beyond an incredible human SWIMMING from HI to CA) was the entire crew tried to keep the boat plastic-free and zero waste! How amazing is that! They used Super Bee Wax Wraps to avoid plastic wrap, Plaine Products shampoo that comes in a refillable aluminum bottle, and Avasol sunscreen that comes in a compostable tube! You can see more on their Instagram Feed.

Getting to see Ben swim under the Golden Gate Bridge was so inspiring. There was so much energy at the beach on Saturday morning. I was surrounded by news crews, the Icebreaker team, and so many people there to cheer him on.

After he arrived, I got to meet the ten person crew. I was honestly shocked so many people fit on that teeny-tiny boat. There was a photographer, social manager, even an on board doctor!

The goal of this mission was to shine a light on the microplastic Every day the team would skim the waters for 30 minutes to collect and count the microplastics in that area. All of the data was sent off to be studied and used to create legislation to prevent these problems in the future.

Another reason they took the trip was to debunk the idea of a garbage island floating in the middle of the ocean. It’s not an island rather a chunky soup filled with microplastic pieces

One of the things I found interesting was how marine life created habitats out of the plastic. You can see all of the crustaceans living on the baskets, and schools of fish nesting in old nets. It was so odd to see them living in pollution which could eventually kill them.

The crew often saved marine life from being entangled in plastic, and they talked about the dichotomy of being excited to save them at the same time as being horrified that it’s a problem in the first place.

Icebreaker is selling the official crew shirts if you want to check them out. I love that Icebreaker sponsored this incredibly eyeopening expedition.

One of the reasons, I love their clothes is that they’re made with natural fibers. Icebreaker offers an average of 84% natural raw materials one of the highest documented in the clothing industry, and they’re taking it even further to completely remove synthetic content from their collections by 2023. Including switching from plastic bags in shipping to a water-soluble bag by the end of the year.

Learn more about how Icebreaker is reducing plastic

photo provided by The Vortex Swim

1. reduce single-use plastics:

It should come as no surprise that my first suggestion is to reduce single-use plastics in your life. After all, that’s kind of what this blog is about…

But, I think you’d be surprised how much plastic you can eliminate from your life just by being conscious of the plastic you use. When it’s time to make a new purchase, a quick google search will turn up tons of sustainable, plastic-free swaps so you can switch out items like your toothbrush, disposable coffee cups, and water bottles etc.

Ben said one of the most common household plastic items they found were bottle caps. Bottle caps are made of a lighter plastic so they tend to float and stay near the surface, where the bottles themselves tend to sink.

Most plastic isn’t recycled. Only 9% of all the plastic ever produced has EVER been recycled.

And, to make matters even worse much of the plastic we “recycle” is dumped in countries that don’t have access to waste management infrastructure. Which means a lot of the plastic we’re “recycling” is actually winding up in the ocean.

This is why it’s so important to be mindful of the materials that you bring into your life. First, REDUCE what you you bring into your home. REUSE what you have, and then after you’ve reduced and reused all that you can - then and ONLY then… recycle!

Of course don’t forget to purchase products made with recycled materials. After all, are you really recycling if you’re not supporting companies using recycled materials?

2. fishnets:

Fishnets are one of the biggest polluters in the ocean. Many times old nets will be thrown into the ocean, which is horrible because marine life get trapped and are unable to escape.

One of the best ways to avoid this is to stop eating fish or greatly reduce the amount of fish you’re consuming and buy sustainable fish. Check out seafood watch from Monterey Bay Aquarium to learn more about eco-friendly fishing practices.

3. glitter:

Yep, glitter is plastic. Glitter face masks, sunscreens, festival makeup…. this is all plastic. When you go to wash the glitter off of your body, it goes straight down the drain and into the water ways. Because, glitter is so tiny, it’s often too small to get filtered and winds up in the ocean.

Before you glitter, ask yourself if you really need to use it? I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a situation, where I just HAD to use glitter. But, they do make biodegradable glitter which is made from cellulose so it breaks down very quickly once you was it off. This one donates portions of the sales to Greenpeace International.

4. microbeads:

Microbeads, thankfully, have been ban by most countries. I think you’d have to go out of your way to find products with microbeads in them now, but they were a major contributor to microplastics in the ocean. Check your labels just in case and opt for microbead free products.

5. tires:

Now, this one absolutely shocked me. According the the Guardian, “68,000 tonnes of microplastics from tyre tread abrasion are generated in the UK every year, with between 7,000 and 19,000 tonnes entering surface waters.”

Our tires go bald due to the friction of driving. As they go bald, they lose tiny bits of tire which when left on the roadway make their way to the storm drains which lead out to the sea.

Driving less is the best solution. But, even if you’re taking public busses or biking there’s still a problem with tires shedding microplastic pieces. It’s probably time for the tire to get a makeover… which is happening! Michelin has just introduced a biodegradeable and 3-D printed tire that would last forever. Let’s hope this becomes a reality!

6. microfibers:

Lastly, microfibers are a major source of plastic pollution in the ocean. Every time you wash synthetic clothing like polyester, acrylic, and fleece, plastic fibers from the clothing are shed into the water ways.

A study by Plymouth University found that a single load of clothes could release up to 700,000 microplastic particles!

Thankfully there are a few ways that we can fix this problem!

1) Opt for Natural Fibers: When you’re shopping, try to buy clothing made from natural fibers. Here’s a list of natural-based fibers:

• Wool
• Cotton
• Silk
• Hemp
• Linen
• Rayon
• Viscose
• Bamboo
• Lyocell
• Modal
• Cupro

One of the things I love about Icebreaker is their use of sustainable and ethical merino wool.

Wool is amazing for temperature regulation. It’s very breathable and naturally anti-bacterial which means you can wash your clothing LESS! Like way less - I wore the same Icebreaker shirt every day for a week, and I didn’t have to wash it once.

And, I personally love it when being eco-friendly allows me to be lazy and avoid doing laundry. Talk about a win-win!

2) Wash Less: When it comes to washing your clothes try to stretch washes. This is a great way to save water and keep your clothes lasting longer.

Just because you’ve worn something once doesn’t make it dirty. If my clothes don’t smell, then I wear them… until they do smell. And, only then do I put them in the washing machine.

3) Air it out: A great way to extend the life of your clothes is let them air out. After I’ve worn a shirt, I like to turn it inside out and spray it with this mixture, and hang it up in the open air like on the door frame of the closet.

I don’t shove the piece back into my closet, I give it room to breath so air can circulate all around it.

4) Take Preventative Measures: I do not have a 100% plastic-free wardrobe, but I would say about 80% of my clothing is plastic-free. The thing is often times you need a little bit of synthetic fibers to really maintain the integrity of a piece. All thread is synthetic, and then there’s often a bit of spandex or maybe poly to help clothing from pulling or stretching out of shape.

So, it’s always best to take a preventative measures by using something to catch microfibers. There are several different options like the guppyfriend, microfiber ball, or a washing machine attachment.

How are you helping to reduce ocean plastic pollution?

I want to thank Icebreaker for sponsoring this post and The Vortex Swim! If you want to catch the panel I attended after Ben arrived in SF, you can watch it here.