Earth Month has drawn to a close. Let’s continue to be good stewards of the health of our planet and its inhabitants. Did you know that only 5-6% of plastics are recycled (regardless of what the container might say)? Most of it ends up in landfills or as litter, breaking down into microplastics that pollute waterways, soils, and even the deep sea, making its way up the food chain back to people. If plastic was a country it would be the fifth largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world. Microplastics are found in all parts of the human body. So what can we as individuals do to reduce our plastic use? Even small, incremental changes in our personal habits can make a difference. Buying less is perhaps the best way to do this. It’s better to buy less clothing and keep it for a long time than to frequently purchase new clothes and donate old ones, as even donated clothes often end up going to third world countries, where they represent a burden on inadequate infrastructure that cannot dispose of them without producing more pollution. Similarly, a single plastic grocery bag is estimated to be used for 12 minutes, but takes 500 years to decompose. Grouping online purchases together can reduce packaging and fuel use by delivery trucks and our personal vehicles. Cooking from scratch is one of the simplest ways to reduce the single-use plastic we accumulate and may also reduce our exposure to forever chemicals. We’ll explore other ways to care for creation in coming weeks.