From the beach to the mountains, hiking, biking, tubing down a river, or gazing up into a starry sky, the ways to experience the splendors of the Bay Area are as plentiful as there are residents to enjoy it. But if each of us left behind a piece of trash – just one cup, plastic bottle or spoon – we would create enough trash to cover the surface of the San Francisco Bay in just one month.
While few would purposely throw litter onto the ground, trash finds its way to pollute our streets and streams, whether from an overfilled trash or recycling can, or an accidental drop along the route. The only way to truly prevent it from happening is to prevent the trash itself; eliminate single-use disposable items by substituting with reusable.
To make the biggest impact with the least amount of effort, take a moment to see what you’re throwing away most often to find the best place to start. Consider a couple of essential items that can serve multiple uses without adding much weight or taking up room in a pack, like a reusable cup, bandana and a spork or spoon.
Think of the humble bandana as the Swiss Army Knife™ of fabric, which can serve as a reusable napkin, a cold compress, emergency tourniquet, bandage, sling, signal flag, and all the other ways one might use disposable tissues and wipes.
One reusable cup can keep things hot or cold, and serve a multitude of beverage needs without embarrassing leakage. A compact reusable bag and a reusable utensil take up negligible space, and always come in handy. Crush-free containers are perfect for packing in snacks, and packing out dirty items (including incidental trash you encounter along the way).
Start the habit of putting the items together for grab-and-go convenience along with your other necessities. No only will it prevent pollution from trash, it will protect wildlife in their habitat, create a cleaner community, and prevent climate impacts from plastic production.
Wildlife doesn’t leave trash lying around, so go ahead Bay Area, act like an animal!