Wednesday, February 15, 2012 by Tara Gallagher

With leaves off the trees and no snow to speak of here in New England, I can’t escape the sight of graying plastic bags flapping in the wind, held hostage by unwilling tree branches...

But I’ve found reason to hope that we can change our unhealthy dependence on plastic. A book, a movie, and a challenge have inspired me. As it happens, reducing plastic also makes an excellent rallying point for an employee engagement campaign that could focus on making changes both at work and home.

First, the challenge.  Green America is asking all of us to “Say No to Stupid Plastic.” By “stupid,” they don’t mean medical plastic but frivolous, pointless and replaceable plastic – in short, much of the plastic we touch throughout the day. They are backing this challenge up with informative blogs.  From “20 Plastic Things You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle,” I learned that trophies, tennis balls and even pantyhose can be recycled.  “11 Easy Ways to Kick the Plastic Habit,“ contained no surprises but  my own observations tell me that the message to bring your own bag to the store bears repeating. And raise your hand if you’ve ever attended a sustainability conference where you were provided a plastic bottle of water.

The “Say No to Plastic Challenge” is doable and impactful. To kick off your own campaign, check out the movie “Bag It,” a documentary exploring the life and death of single-use plastic.  For reading material, check out Plastic: A Toxic Love Story by Susan Frenkel. She investigates our allegiance to plastic by examining eight common plastic objects:  the comb, chair, Frisbee, IV bag, disposable lighter, grocery bag, soda bottle, and credit card.

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See the movie. Read the book. Take the challenge. Make a difference at home and at work.