Zero Plastic Week Day 6

Zero Plastic Week is a World Wide event to raise awareness through conscious effort to avoid adding any new plastic to our lives.  To avoid buying anything new made from or packaged in plastic.  This week is about finding creative solutions to avoid the use of plastic and to get people to think outside of their usual box.

Okay, so you've stopped buying plastic and you're doing your best to avoid consuming plastic and one day you bring in the mail and you have a credit card offer from American Express, and inside is a faux credit card (I guess in case you don't know what one looks like), and sure enough it's made of plastic.  And maybe you didn't respond, so you will continue to get these things until you find a way to stop it.

Or someone gives you a gift card made of plastic.  Or the grocery store wants you to have a membership card made of plastic.  Or your insurance card, driver's license, credit cards, etc., etc., etc.

Or have you seen this one?  Car dealer promo with disposable plastic key in large hard plastic package.  This is the kind of thing which really drives me nuts.

I did find solutions for some of these challenges.  For gift cards there is Earthworks who will recycle them, but not credit cards for obvious reasons.

Want to get American Express to stop pestering you with plastic?  Call the number to stop receiving offers, which by law should be listed on the offer.  It took me 3 phone calls, but they finally stopped coming.

Refuse membership cards when offered at the grocery...An awesome anti-plastic advocate like yourself is already shopping local at your co-op or farmer's market, right?

These are just a few simple things I've tried over the years to eliminate plastic coming to me from unexpected sources.

CDs and DVDs ?  I buy downloads.

There's a lot of plastic in our world.  I'm really proud of all the people world wide who are making the extra effort to live as plastic free as possible.  Great job everyone.  I know someday, this will make a difference.