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Do you ever find yourself at the French Broad River staring at piles of plastic litter wondering what you can do to stop this?  Asheville GreenWorks and our sister page, Going Plastic Free, are here to help you make this happen! Mind Your Plastic May is a month-long campaign to inform you about the grave social and environmental harms that ensue from plastic waste and equip you with the knowledge to reduce plastic in your own life.  

All month long, we will be sharing plastic reduction tips, volunteer opportunities to address plastic waste, educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses, and much more. We aim to foster knowledge and encourage mindfulness around plastic consumption and disposal for individuals and business owners. This month, we hope you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you will gain valuable knowledge about how to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as learn about local waste reduction efforts.

Join our 
Race2Reduce and commit to decreasing your plastic usage for the entire month of May. Sign up here to join the challenge and earn points to win a $25/$50/$75 gift card to Ware!

Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. #goingplasticfree

Join us in our love for the planet as we
 address and defeat our global plastic addition.
Donate now for a plastic-free future
Mind Your Plastic May is meant to encourage and challenge us in our journey to live plastic free. These posts are created by GreenWorks staff. If you've found these posts helpful and encouraging, please consider making a donation to support this work. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Can You Cook Out Without Plastic?

5/25/2019

1 Comment

 
Any major holiday from Memorial to Labor Day will see overstuffed garbage cans at the local parks. Styrofoam plates, cups, bowls, flatware, cling wrap, aluminum foil, solo cups and thousands of plastic drink bottles. So how can we break this habit and still have a clean and safe cookout?

Check out these 6 steps to help you slow down on single use plastics at your next cookout.
​

Step 1) Remind your friends before the cookout that you’re trying to reduce the amount of plastic used. This way it’s not a huge surprise to everyone when you’re glowering at them over the styrofoam cups they brought.

Step 2) Carry your precious edibles in washable, sustainable containers made from glass, ceramics and / or metal. We’re open to the idea that folks have a varying degrees of food preferences but we should also think the same way about the items transporting our delicious dishes. Under the correct conditions some types of plastic product can leach harmful chemicals into your food.
​
Step 3) Bringing cold drinks? Pass on the plastic containers of beverages and opt in for aluminum containers. It’s more expensive to purchase singles of drinks but these containers can be easily recycled.
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Step 4) Ready to cut that carbon footprint even further? Switch out your animal products with vegetable based proteins. There are loads of products that can help you slow down on animal proteins and satiate your cravings. Check out https://impossiblefoods.com/ 
​and 
https://www.beyondmeat.com/

Step 5) Bring along extra reusable bowls, plates, flatware and serving utensils for your guests. Go a step further and have your wash pan with you to tidy up some of those items for the trip home.

Step 6) Bring a cardboard box for recycling, a lidded bucket for compostables and a bag for landfill items. You can make sure your cookout is as low impact as possible by sorting onsite and carrying it home with you.
Sincerely,
Eric Bradford
Director of Operations
Asheville GreenWorks

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1 Comment
Hillary Boyle link
6/12/2022 09:30:41 pm

Great reading thiss

Reply



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    Staff from Asheville GreenWorks, volunteers from the Plastic Reduction Task Force, as well as other guest writers who are advocates and friends.

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​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees