Recycling Solutions

Impacts

Is recycling really the answer?

The Single-Use Dilemma

The Boston recycling rate is ~25%.6 What does that mean for your yearly consumption?

Milk

Shampoo

Eggs

What does this mean?

How'd We get Here?

Detergent

Cereal

Discover Product Impacts

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• 498.95 tonnes of plastic consumed in Boston
• 126.6 tonnes in the landfill a year

Milk1

• 260.7 tonnes of plastic consumed in Boston
• 195.5 tonnes in the landfill a year

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Eggs2

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• 30.7 tonnes of plastic consumed in Boston
• 23.1 tonnes in the landfill a year

Shampoo3

• 35.2 tonnes of plastic consumed in Boston
• 24.4 tonnes in the landfill a year

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Detergent4

• 25.6 tonnes of plastic consumed in Boston
• 19.2 tonnes in the landfill a year

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Cereal5

And that's just boston

• Combining the landfill waste from these products creates the equivalent of 2 blue whales a year

Put it in Perspective...

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Once disposed, environmental damage ensues, releasing greenhouse gases as they decompose and withering into microplastics consumed by animals and subsequently, us. Consumer access to alternatives is minimal and at best, disproportionate.

Producers had to find a new market, and eventually found the future of plastics was "in the trash can". Now, 40% of plastic goes in disposables.

Manufactured Plastic Demand7

Pollution Injustice

Marketed Demand

Polystyrene and other plastics were produced as a massive scale to meet the demand of WW2 (32x bigger), but post-war industry left a gap in demand.

Excess Supply

All these products and more could be purchased using bring-your-own container sales, some of which are available at a refill store here in Boston!Uvida is located in the North End and offers refills on dish and hand soap, hair care, body wash, dental care and more!Remove the stress of imperfect recyling by removing plastic from your life altogether

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Solution: Refill Stores

1. M. Shahbandeh. "Fluid milk product sales in the United States in 2022, by category". Statista. (2023). https://www.statista.com/statistics/257290/us-milk-product-sales-by-category/
2. United Egg Producers. "Utilization of U.S. Eggs" (2022) Facts and Stats. https://unitedegg.com/facts-stats/
3. D. Petruzzi. "Hair Care Unit Sales in the United States in 2022, by category". Statista. (2023). https://www.statista.com/statistics/1441308/us-hair-care-unit-sales-by-category/
4. M. Leverette. "Are You Using Too Much Laundry Detergent?" The Spruce. (2023) https://www.thespruce.com/how-much-detergent-per-load-2146803
5. K. Kizer. "The 10 Largest Cereal Brands in the United States" Zippia (2023) https://www.zippia.com/advice/largest-cereal-brands/
6. Boston Department of Environment. "Boston's First Ever Zero-Waste Plan Announced" (2019) https://www.boston.gov/news/bostons-first-ever-zero-waste-plan-announced
7. R. Altman. "How Bad are Plastics, Really?" The Atlantic (2022) https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/01/plastic-history-climate-change/621033/
8. U.S. Census Bureau. Boston, Massachusets, Population Estimates. 2022. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bostoncitymassachusetts/PST045222
9. National Geographic. "Blue Whale". Animals. (2022) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/blue-whale

Citations