Green Star recently hosted a virtual screening of the new documentary The Story of Plastic and a following panel discussion via Zoom. The documentary offers a comprehensive picture of the modern history of plastic, highlighting the catastrophic volume of single-use plastic waste that accumulates on the planet every day. It’s a harsh reality that many of us in Alaska are able to ignore quite easily because we are far removed from the end of the plastic supply chain.
The format for this event enabled everyone who registered to watch the documentary at the time and date of their choosing, up to four days before the event. On Wednesday, June 3rd, attendees were invited to participate in a virtual community panel featuring the Co-Op Market & Deli, Zero Waste Fairbanks, and a volunteer who helped ban plastic bags in other Alaskan towns to learn about plastic reduction efforts in Fairbanks and beyond.
These are just a few takeaways from the event:
- Many of the Co-Op’s plastic reduction efforts are on hold during the pandemic, but the National Co-Op Grocers Association (of which our Co-Op is a member), is planning to be plastic-free by 2033. In the meantime, if Co-Op Market & Deli shoppers have suggestions for how we can reduce single-use plastic consumption in Fairbanks, you can submit your ideas here!
- The Co-Op does not offer single-use bags to transport groceries home in (paper or plastic), so customers are encouraged to bring their own bags, borrow bags on the Co-Op’s reusable bag exchange rack, or use a leftover cardboard box from inventory!
- Zero Waste Fairbanks gave a thorough explanation of the 5 R’s: Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot (and a bonus sixth R: repair!). They also talked about the importance of tying single-use plastic waste and individual actions to the global climate crisis and the need for collective action.
- Carol, a volunteer who helped pass single-use plastic bag bans in Palmer and Wasilla, shared some insights into what worked in those campaigns and what we could do for a similar effort in Fairbanks. She assisted with a public information campaign (including informing residents about the effects of plastic on local wildlife) and worked with local lawmakers to institute the bans.
One topic on everyone’s minds is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on efforts to curb single-use plastic waste. With many restaurants only offering takeout, and local grocery stories mandating that customers use single-use plastic or bag their own groceries in reusable bags, the effort to reduce single-use plastic seems to be on hold for the moment. This story from Vox explains different sides of the issue: the plastic industry is taking full advantage of the pandemic to market their products; frontline community workers often feel safer when single-use plastics are being used; many state and local governments are using the pandemic to slow or stop plastic bag bans; and the plastic waste crisis continues to grow exponentially worse. There aren’t easy answers, but we can keep pushing to reduce single-use plastic in our own lives every day.