The Plastic Scavenger Hunt

Whether you are aware of it or not, plastic is all around us. We walk on it, wear it, drive it and use it every day, perhaps without even knowing it.

Thinking about the plastic in your home is an important step to reducing your environmental footprint. When it’s time to toss your items, knowing what’s actually in them will help your recycling efforts tremendously. According to the EPA, plastics accounted for 12.1 percent of the 254 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2007. Of that, only 6.8 percent was recycled.

On a lighter note, it’s simply interesting to learn more about what’s actually in the products we use on a daily basis. So, get out your treasure map, magnifying glass and thinking cap, as we hunt for plastic in hidden (and maybe not so hidden) places around your home.

Hint: Where Everyone Goes During Your Parties

No, we’re not talking about the bathroom. It’s your kitchen, of course!

Innovation in plastic materials often starts in our kitchens, as food and beverage manufacturers are often the first to adopt innovative packaging solutions.

Take a look around your pantry. What can you toss in your recycling bin? Photo: Flickr/la fattina

One particular product that we all probably have hanging out in our pantries is peanut butter. Interestingly, even this industry is getting in on the eco-action. The new Peter Pan peanut butter jars use about 12 percent less plastic across core jar sizes, which equates to eliminating enough plastic to fill more than 24 garbage trucks each year with solid waste.

Plastics “lightweighting” (literally the process of making plastic containers weigh less, but perform the same, in order to reduce the amount of material needed during production and transport) is all the rage in packaging right now.

“Many companies are doing these kinds of sustainable initiatives these days to reduce the amount of material they use and help the environment,” says Keith Christman, senior director of market advocacy for the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

According to Christman, other new plastic tech to keep your eye out for is packaging involved in extending a product’s shelf life, such as in shelf-stable milk containers. “The food doesn’t spoil as quickly. People are able to enjoy it longer and eat it rather than it ending up in the trash can, so we waste less,” he added.

Hint: Find Your Shoes, Shirts and Pants Here

While your initial guess may have been either a.) your floor or b.) your laundry basket, the right answer is c.) your closet. Plastic is woven into a multitude of fabrics for a plethora of uses, from your shoes to your sweaters.

“From rugged fleece to runway couture, plastics and recycled plastics are the building blocks for stylish and high performing looks throughout the fashion industry,” says Steve Russel, vice president of plastics for the ACC. “[...] Remembering to recycle means today’s plastic water bottle can be tomorrow’s little black dress.”

Got any fleece to ship off to Patagonia? Maybe you'll wear it again someday! Photo: Flickr/cheerytomato

This is especially the case for “fleece” products, which are often made from recycled plastic #1 (a.k.a. your old water bottles). And the great thing about this type of product is that it can be recycled again through companies such as Patagonia and its Common Threads program, which recycles a number of products including:

• Patagonia fleece (including Synchilla® and Regulator® insulation)
• Polartec® fleece from other manufacturers
• Capilene baselayers
• Patagonia cotton T-shirts

There are certainly a number of other plastic-based fabrics, such as polyester and lyrca, spandex and nylon. However, what you may not know is that weaving plastic into your clothes is what helps keep them wrinkle resistant so you can wear them longer (and iron them less – yes!).

When it’s time to clean out your closet, check if donation is an option for your clothing before you pursue recycling options.

Hint: Go Here to Hang Out

Ok, so maybe this wasn’t the best hint, because you can most likely relax just about anywhere in your home. However, our last stop is the living room, perhaps where you spend most of your time.

Take a look around. Do you have frames with photos of loved ones and memorable trips around your room? It may surprise you to know that some of those frames might actually be made from recycled expanded polystrene (EPS).

Walmart uses a process to convert old EPS into pellets, which are eventually made into durable plastic items like desk organizers, picture frames, hangers, CD cases and more.

EPS is typically very difficult to recycle, since its weight compared to its volume (EPS is typically 98 percent air) makes it difficult to ship. However, Walmart uses trucks that will already be returning to distribution centers to collect the EPS. Then, workers at Easter Seals process the material, which is then shipped to manufacturers to be made into new products.

“Everything that we do as a business, we look at through the lens of sustainability,” says Greg Rossiter, director of corporate communications for Walmart.

Now that you’re done admiring your recycled frames, take a walk. If you feel carpet under your feet, you may be walking on old bottles that you tossed in the recycling bin.

Not only does the carpet industry consume a great deal of available plastic for recycling in the U.S., but efforts to increase recycling availability for carpet itself are on the rise.

Shaw Floorings created its own program for recycling plastic. The company opened a carpet recycling facility in Augusta, Ga. and is now working on a PET recycling facility that will be able to process 280 million pounds of the material annually.

The new plant should be constructed by early 2010, and the PET resin it processes will be used as an ingredient in new carpet.

Your Home as a Whole

As energy efficiency in our homes continues to be a pressing issue, especially during the chilly winter months, keeping our dwellings air-tight and protected is important to saving money on your heating bill.

Upping your insulation (a “sexy” step, according to Obama) is a simple way to save money. Plastics play a role here, with rigid polystyrene foam insulation panels that can save hundreds of dollars each year on heating and cooling bills, to plastic wrap that can reduce infiltration of outside air by 10-50 percent.

And preventing air leaks is perhaps a bigger problem than you may think: The average, unweatherized U.S. home leaks air at a rate equivalent to a 4-square-foot hole in the wall, according to the ” Solar Living Sourcebook” by John Schaeffer.

No matter how you size it up, plastics are a big part of our everyday lives. And the more you know, the more you’ll be able to appreciate (and hopefully plan ahead for) the multitude of recycling opportunities available to us, beyond bags and bottles.