Plastic Crisis: Show-Me Less Plastic Workshop

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The Show-me Less Plastic workshop that I attended was provided by a partnership of Missouri River Bird Observatory and Stream Teams United. It is specific to Missouri but part of a nationwide effort from Beyond Plastics. The parts of the workshop that were local to the Springfield, Missouri area were provided by James River Basin Partnership.

It was held in a Springfield library (the photo is of a sculpture in the library) with a Panera Bread that catered the plastic-free lunch.

There was an overview of why plastic pollution is a crisis (health of everything on the planet including us is at increasing risk)…but the audience was already onboard with that. We were also aware of the long-term message from the plastics industry that the convenience of single-use plastic is so fabulous that we simply need to be more successful at recycling to resolve any problems…but recycling hasn’t worked and it is unlikely to ever be sufficient. The industry is assuming that recycling will not work since they are projecting a huge demand for new single use plastic production to take the place of their revenue stream from fossil fuels trending down as more renewable energy becomes available. The problem is huge and may very well be a more imminent threat to lives that climate change.

The bulk of the workshop was focused on going beyond what an individual can do: community education and outreach, influencing business and policy makers….first steps.

I am writing this the day after the workshop. There will be a follow-up email from the workshop coordinators.  There are still some things I am working on as an individual to reduce my family’s risk (but it is not possible to eliminate exposure micro and nano plastics…and it will get harder as there are more plastics in the environment). I have a tentative list of actions, but I want to work with a local Beyond Plastics Affiliate to be with others that are taking similar actions.

I came away from the workshop with one of the ‘door prizes’ – a stainless-steel container (with a straw!)…different than my other water bottles. This one will work well in  the car!