One of the biggest things that I think about when I travel is the amount of open site
waste that is visible in developing countries. In the US we consume waste on a day to day basis, throw it away, and the trash collectors take it away once a week, sight
unseen.

Our consumption disappears, and we never have to see or worry about it again. Until we do. Until we are sitting on a beach on vacation somewhere and we cannot believe how many tiny pieces of plastic litter the beach, or until we travel to a developing country and see trash dumped over the side of a cliff because there is nowhere else for it to go.

I constantly look around at my vanity in the bathroom and am reminded by just how
much single-use and short-term plastic we use. From shampoo bottles to hand soap, to cheap razors and lotions.

Then a thought occurs. What if we demand the companies who create this waste to be responsible for it. What if we create not a single ounce of new plastic, and re-use what we already have produced. The plastic waste would become an item of value instead of trash we toss into a can.

We need to step up and demand that this becomes the new normal. Reusing plastic is a powerful way to curb the amount of waste in our landfills, waterways, and oceans. We have the choice to demand this change.

It will not be easy, nor inexpensive, but it will be for the betterment of the environment and a start to cleaning up our world for generations to come.

Some plastic facts to consider:

We estimate that 8300 million metric tons (Mt) as of virgin plastics have been produced to date. As of 2015, approximately 6300 Mt of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. If current production and waste management treads continue, roughly 12,000 Mt of plastic waste will be in landfills or in the natural environment by 2050.