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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]

The Final Test. How did you do on going plastic-free?

5/30/2019

1 Comment

 
Have you noticed any changes in the amount of single-use plastic you’ve been using over the past month? If you’re like me, there are probably plenty of single-use plastic items in your life. I’m slowly working my way through bottles of shampoo, laundry detergent and dish soap before incorporating plastic-free alternatives into my daily routines. And then there are the things I will probably never give up, like the plastic baggies for dog poop.


Remember, the Mind Your Plastic May Challenge is about becoming more mindful about single-use plastics and making choices to reduce the amount you use. It’s about the journey of going plastic-free; not completely ridding your life of plastic in one fell swoop.


So, how did you do? Conduct your own personal waste audit today to find out.


Peek in your trash can. Make a list of what you find. How many items are from single-use plastic? When we started this challenge, I shared the story of how my dog helped me perform a waste audit in my house. I found things like a beverage cup and lid, packaging from shredded cheese and a plastic fork from take-out. Today, my trash contains a lot less single-use plastic, but there’s still packaging from items like cheese for which I haven’t yet found a convenient plastic-free alternative.

 Take a tour of the different rooms in your home or workplace. Make note of what single-use plastic you find. Also make note of the alternatives you’ve started using during Mind Your Plastic May.

Feeling social? Snap a few pictures of these alternatives and post them on Facebook or Instagram. Don’t forget to tag @AshevilleGreenWorks on Facebook and use #MindYourPlasticMay and #GoingPlasticFree. I’m particularly proud of my recent switch to a bamboo toothbrush and bar shampoo.
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Do you still have room to ditch even more single-use plastic? Make a plan, with a timeline, for how you’re going to switch to plastic-free alternatives. After I finish the box of dryer sheets next month, I’m going to switch to wool dryer balls. Once the liquid shampoo is all gone, I’m going to recycle those plastic bottles and fully convert to bar shampoo. I’m buying some more reusable mesh produce bags and taking them on my next shopping trip. What do you plan to do? Write it down.
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Dawn Chávez
Executive Director
​Asheville GreenWorks
1 Comment
Alisa Genovese
6/10/2019 06:23:00 pm

I am so happy to see you all working on this. I am moving to Asheville in the next few months. I feel strongly that plastic use needs to be a on the agenda for the envirnment. So glad to know about what you are working on. I am from theSF Bay Area and things are a bit more advnaced here in terms of plastic but we still have a ways to go also. But was dismayed to see how simple things, like reusable grocery bags are not yet a norm there.

Alisa

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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.
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Make a Donation
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • 10th Anniversary Yearlong Pollination Celebration
      • 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
  • Silent Auction
  • Upcoming Events
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Benefit Concert
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees