Single-Use Plastics, Maybe There’s a Better Way!

Please join the Southeast Iowa Sierra Club (SEISC) in the global effort for a Plastic Free July with the goal to raise awareness of the ways to reduce our reliance on single-use plastic products. The initiative (see www.plasticfreejuly.org) does not condemn all plastic uses; rather, it seeks to find reasonable substitutes and promote habits to reduce unnecessary plastic use and the resulting impacts it has on our planet.

SEISC’s contribution is to distribute reusable, free, washable cotton produce bags at our local Saturday Farmers’ Market. Over 250 cotton produce bags were assembled by a local gathering of women seamstresses at Sew Awesome run by Pam Ryerse and coordinated by Deanna Julsen. With cotton produce bags, shoppers need not tear yet another plastic bag from the grocery store’s roll to add to that vast basket-of-bags stored on top of their fridge. Instead, let’s all develop the habit of bringing a reusable tote bag and reusable produce bags on every shopping expedition and reduce our home collection of plastic produce bags.

As part of SEISC’s effort to promote Plastic Free July we also searched for local businesses who are already responsibly managing their plastic use and wanted to shine a light on them. We found two good examples right here in Fairfield’s manufacturing arena.

Geoff Ward of Agri Industrial Plastics (AIP) shared several ways that AIP responsibly stewards its plastic resources and is a good all-around citizen of sustainability. AIP typically collects and reuses any plastic waste that they generate to avoid sending it to the landfill. They also host an array of recycling bins for their employees’ use and are considering installing a living plant wall on the north side of their main building to add an aesthetic touch to and serve as a shade garden. The company also hosts an impressive solar array and collaborates with Alliant Energy to practice “peak shaving.” This allows them to reduce their energy cost by relying on solar or other alternative energy sources when grid demand is highest.

Another local steward of plastics and other resources is our local TrafFix Devices Inc. Mike Parker explained that the products they make are all Low Density Polystyrene (LDP) or High Density Polystyrene (HDP). Those are plastics that can be reshaped and repurposed multiple times, and which, at the end of a product’s useful life, can be recycled and used again. This is not true of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), a toxic plastic that TrafFix does not use. Further, TrafFix reuses all their scrap plastic. TrafFix, too, is now 100% solar, selling any of their excess energy back to the grid on occasion. Their large plant in California also recycles many tons of old tires into useful safety products such as traffic cones and barriers.

Both of these companies have proved to be strong civic partners. Besides being major employers in the community, they frequently sponsor local events such as bike safety rodeos and other initiatives. It is gratifying that in this time when so much attention is focused on “the plastic problem” there are good companies doing the right thing right here in Fairfield. Visit www.plasticfreejuly.org or stop off at the SE IA Sierra Club’s booth at the Saturday farmers market during July to pick up your FREE reusable produce bags, and find out other ways you can reduce your plastic use.