Week 2 of Pleasant Hill Community Church Earth Day Series - Replacing Disposables with Reusables

Replacing disposables with reusables We all have plastic bags, cups and single use items around the house. Let’s take a look at some of the ways we can replace the disposables with reusables. We know that it can seem over-whelming but let’s just look at a couple of easy replacements. It’s important to keep in mind that reusable items take energy and resources to produce as well, so the general rule with reusable is to use them repeatedly and consistently to offset their environmental impact.

Paper and plastic drink cups: Paper coffee cups have a plastic coating that makes them unacceptable for recycling and composting, meaning they have to go in the trash. And although plastic cups are recyclable, the plastic cannot be recycled indefinitely and eventually becomes trash. Remember to bring a reusable coffee mug or cup when you get takeout (some places even give you a discount!), or take some extra time and sit down at a café that uses reusable cups. Also, get in the habit of carrying a reusable water bottle with you everywhere you go.

Plastic grocery bags and produce bags: Lots of stores stopped allowing the use of these during the height of COVID, but times have changed and many places are letting you use your bags again. Most stores have their own reusable bags available at the checkout. Remember to keep a few reusable bags near the door or in your car to ensure you always have them when you go shopping. Reusable bags are not only for groceries, you can use your own reusable bags for produce, too. Additionally, don’t limit your reusable bag use to the grocery store – remember reusable bags when you go shopping for clothing, shoes, gifts and everything! Remember that Pleasant Hill Community Church is collecting plastic bags that will be used to make plarn from which homeless mats and animal shelter mats are made. Just bring your plastic bags to the church. Please put them in the bin located by Room 1 and the Sunday School room. To Go Boxes at Restaurants: The good news, is there are a growing number of options for zero-waste takeout, including some high-tech systems that could one day be deployed across entire cities to make throwaway containers obsolete. The simplest ones — bring your own containers and tell restaurants not to give you plastic cutlery. You remember all that Tupperware you had. t’s time to dig it out and start using it.

Pleasant Hill Community Church, United Church of Christ, located at 67 Church Drive, Pleasant Hill, TN. We are an Open and Affirming, Whole Earth, Global Mission, Just Peace congregation of the United Church of Christ. With roots in the post-Civil War work of the American Missionary Association and deep connections with Uplands Village, a UCC-affiliated retirement community here in Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Hill Community Church remains a vibrant center for social justice work and theological exploration.