Shop Less Plastic

Produce does NOT need to come wrapped in plastic!

This is bulk produce at Kowalskis in Minneapolis.

Use cotton or paper bags for produce.

Below is an excellent survey of grocery stores and the amount of plastic they use to package their produce. This is a topic I have been interested in for many years. Ten years ago I stopped shopping at Trader Joes because of their plastic packaging. I have found places to shop that are more suitable to my values, and I only shop where I can purchase produce in bulk. I hope you find the study from USPIRG worthwhile. Not all stores have the same plastic footprint. I recommend shopping local food coops, but many stores have bulk produce.

Below is from USPIRG:

The produce aisle has a plastic problem.

We’ve all had that frustrating moment at the grocery store, staring down a lone bell pepper or a bunch of bananas wrapped in completely unnecessary plastic.

But as it turns out, not all supermarkets have the same plastic footprint.

That’s what our researchers here at U.S. PIRG Education Fund found when we surveyed 40 grocery stores across five U.S. cities. We checked the packaging for common fruits and vegetables including broccoli, carrots, lemons, strawberries and more. Let’s take a look at what we found:

Big retailers have big plastic footprints
Our survey found that retailers vary widely in how much — or how little — plastic they use. In fact, the most plastic-intensive grocer in our survey (Amazon/Whole Foods) used nearly double that of the least plastic-intensive grocer (Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco).

We also found that the largest grocers by market share also tend to be the most plastic-intensive. In our survey, Walmart, Kroger, Costco and Amazon all ranked in the top five for the highest use of plastic packaging.

When it comes to taking home less plastic, shopping small and shopping local may be your best bet.

Packaging design choices can have a massive impact.
Rigid plastic clamshell containers use far more plastic per unit of produce volume than any other type of packaging. For example, selling fresh basil in a clamshell might use up to 36 times more plastic than simply using a twist tie.

Be sure to avoid rigid plastic packaging such as clamshells whenever possible. And if an unpackaged product is not available, choose non-plastic packaging such as a paper bag or cardboard.

Plastic isn’t always necessary
Plastic is definitely pervasive…but is it necessary?
In a word, no. Most of us remember a time when grocery stores, especially produce aisles, used a tiny fraction as much plastic as we see today.

Plenty of stores still sell fruits and veggies completely loose, without added packaging. And while plastic film produce bags are the norm across all the supermarkets we surveyed, four stores also offered paper bags.

If sustainability is at the top of your list when deciding where to shop, keep an eye out for supermarkets that let you buy a bunch of bananas or a head of broccoli without plastic. To go the extra mile, bring your own reusable totes and skip those thin plastic film bags in the produce aisle entirely.

Navigating the produce aisle shouldn’t feel like a plastic minefield. While we hope our research will help you make informed decisions at the grocery store, we must also move toward a future with fewer plastic-packaged items in the first place.

1. “Plastics: Material-Specific Data,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, last accessed March 27, 2026.
2. Mike Taylor, “Shoppers infuriated by photos of bizarre product on 7-Eleven shelves: ‘They need to stop this immediately’,” The Cool Down, February 19, 2026.
3. Jennifer Earl, “Whole Foods responds to $6 pre-peeled orange Twitterstorm,” CBS News,
March 8, 2016.
4. Jonathan Kaplan and Celeste Meiffren-Swango, “Plastic in the Produce Aisle,” Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, March 2026.
Zoe Wood, “Plastic packaging increases fresh food waste, study finds,” The Guardian, February 23, 2022.

Produce does not need plastic!!

Daily Difference

Let’s all help to hold up our planet in 2026

This is the coolest newsletter. I hope you will subscribe.

The Daily Difference Newsletter

Join the Daily Difference, a newsletter to help everyone around the world in taking action and making a significant positive impact. It’s not too late. The earth needs passionate people like you to spread the word and create meaningful change.

Sign-up right here!

Email Terms & Privacy

December 30, 2025

It doesn’t need to be perfect

Taking action to heal the planet doesn’t need to be overwhelming. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to happen. Take a moment today and be a difference […]

December 29, 2025

Doing the work

The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is a report on the health of the world’s biodiversity. It is a comprehensive source of information […]

December 28, 2025

Shining a light on positive climate news

Negative climate stories in the United States often make the headlines – cancelling wind farm construction, accelerating oil and gas drilling, rolling back regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and air […]

December 27, 2025

Voting for conservation

In Canada, and in many other countries around the world, it is often Indigenous people leading the way in sustainability and stewardship of nature. The Heiltsuk Nation, on British Columbia, […]

December 26, 2025

Packaging producers now pay in the UK

In the United Kingdom, companies who make packaging are now having to pay as the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has started its enforcement stage. What is EPR? It is based […]

December 25, 2025

Helping young people engage in climate actions

Mihir Rao, an 18-year-old from Alberta, Canada, is helping other young people to learn how to influence decision-makers. Rao, who is also a winner of the 2025 I-SEA Youth Climate […]

https://thecarbonalmanac.org/the-daily-difference/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyDifference&utm_content=It%20doesn%27t%20need%20to%20be%20perfect

No Lake Is Safe From Microplastics

We all need to examine the amount of plastic we purchase, and figure how we can reduce the plastic we are exposed to and disperse into our environment.

Plastic is harming our health and our environment.

By Mary Koseth and Katelynn Rolfes

From the Minnesota Reformer

Microplastics have become a significant environmental concern across the world due to their widespread presence in various ecosystems, potential harm to wildlife and marine life, and the uncertainty surrounding their long-term effects on human health.

This summer, concerned citizens across Minnesota worked with staff from Environment Minnesota Research & Policy Center to test 40 Minnesota lakes for microplastics.

When we analyzed the water samples the results were clear: No Minnesota lake is safe from microplastics.

Last week, Environment Minnesota Research & Policy Center released a report, Microplastic in Minnesota: A Survey of our “10,000 Lakes.

The report presents the test results, from the northern coast of Lake Superior to the wouthwest corner Minnesota, and includes recommendations to tackle the problem. In our citizen-science research project, the 40 samples were filtered using a funnel, flask and filters which had a pore size of 0.45 microns. The goal was to capture any tiny bits of plastic that were tough to spot with only our eyes. The types of plastic we searched for were microfibers, films, fragments and microbeads. We found all of these types save for microbeads, commonly found in beauty products prior to their banning in 2015.

The results of this survey should set off alarm bells for Minnesotans who love our lakes. Minnesota’s waterways are a source of peace for people, a critical habitat for wildlife, and part of our state’s identity.

Our report underscores that microplastic pollution is not an “over there” problem. It’s a “right here” problem that none of us can afford to ignore. But fortunately for us, this isn’t a hopeless situation, and there are many ways we can take action. As individuals, as community members, as whole nations, we can uphold human and environmental health and justice with our creative ideas and bold visions. Everyone has something to offer. When it comes to microplastic pollution, it’s all hands on deck.

The report outlines a broad range of various ways to tackle the problem. These include fighting fast fashion and excess textile waste, and changing Minnesota law to allow local governments to restrict single-use plastics like plastic bags.

We need to take a lot of steps to protect our lakes and health from microplastic pollution, but to start, we need to move away from single use plastics. Nothing we use for a few minutes should be able to pollute our environment for hundreds of years.

https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/10/22/our-survey-found-microplastics-in-all-40-minnesota-waterways-we-tested/?emci=90c47a06-5daf-f011-8e61-6045bded8ba4&emdi=51ed253d-5eaf-f011-8e61-6045bded8ba4&ceid=579931

What You Should Know

About Plastic

Every year the countries of the world produce more plastic, and there is no end in sight. Production. of plastic keeps growing.

The list below is composed by the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Let’s work every day to reduce our consumption of plastic. Never use plastic utensils, plastic bags or straws

Plastic never goes away. It doesn’t break down; it only breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces. These microplastics and nanoplastics are harmful and are everywhere now, including in our bodies.
Plastic pollutes the environment, wildlife, and people.
Plastic is not safe. Plastic leaches toxic chemicals and sheds plastic particles at all stages of its existence.
Plastic especially harms communities living near petrochemical and plastic infrastructure.
The more plastic companies make and we use, the more we contribute to pollution and climate change.
Plastic was not designed to be recycled, and most plastic does not get recycled in the way we’ve been led by industry to believe.
To solve the plastic pollution crisis, industries must stop producing so much plastic. Instead of single-use plastics, we need to use nontoxic reuse and refill systems and regenerative materials.
Taking action on an individual level, using less plastic, and demanding policy action to hold producers accountable can help support the systemic changes to shift away from society’s reliance on plastics.

1. Ernie Mundell, “You might inhale 68,000 microplastics per day,” United Press International, July 31, 2025.
2. Sharon Udasin, “Humans may be inhaling 100 times more microplastics than previously assumed, scientists warn,” The Hill, July 30, 2025.
3. Yue Li, Le Tao, Qiong Wang, Fengbang Wang, Gang Li and Maoyong Song, “Potential Health Impact of Microplastics: A Review of Environmental Distribution, Human Exposure, and Toxic Effects,” Environment & Health, August 10, 2023.
4. Julia Shumway, “Oregon’s Bynum, Merkley and Florida Republicans target microplastics with new bill,” Oregon Capital Chronicle, July 17, 2025.

Plastic Free July

Yay, It’s Plastic Free July. Join millions of people working to reduce their plastic use

Start refusing plastic today!

We have a plastic problem. Plastic pollutes our earth from it’s extraction to it’s end of life.It pollutes our water air and land. Plastic is made of fossil fuels and contains harmful chemicals are needed to make it plastic. It breaks down into tiny fibers called microplastics. These tiny microplastics have been found in our brains, blood and in every organ in or body. Do you want plastic in your brain? Plastic permeates our lives, and we would all be healthier by reducing our plastic use.

Plastic may feel convenient, but the long-term costs are serious:• Only 9% of all plastic ever made has been recycled• The rest ends up in landfills, waterways, or breaks down into microplastics. Some of these microplastics end up in fish, plants, animals and human beings. Reducing your plastic exposure is not easy, but it is important.

We all see plastic litter that is harmful to our waterways and our environment, but we are just be learning that plastic contains harmful chemicals and that it breaks down into microfibers. We can’t see these chemicals or the microfibers that can harm our bodies.

Plastic contains thousands of harmful chemicals that are especially harmful to children. These chemicals leach from plastic containers into our food and bodies. Plastic chemicals contain serious hormone disrupters that can cause obesity, diabetes, cancers and birth defects.

Plastic also sheds into small flakes of microfibers that have been found in every organ of our bodies. https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/health/microplastics-human-penises-study-scli-intl-scn-wellness Microfibers enter our bodies from the air, water, our clothing, our food and it’s packaging.

While it’s practically impossible to eliminate plastic from modern life, there are a number of steps you can take right now to cut back.

Good ideas from Consumer Reports:

Do: Drink tap water.
Don’t: Rely on bottled water.

Water from plastic bottles has about double the microplastic level of tap water on average, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Frontiers in Chemistry. So unless your tap water is contaminated with unsafe elements, such as lead, it’s probably best to drink tap. Fill up a metal reusable bottle for when you go out. You can always filter your tap water. Depending on the filter, that may further reduce microplastic levels. (Check CR’s ratings of water filters.)

Do: Heat food in or on the stove, or by microwaving in glass.
Don’t: Microwave in plastic.

Some heated plastics have long been known to leach chemicals into food. So if you’re warming up food, use a pan in the oven or on the stove, or if you’re microwaving, use a glass container. Also, avoid putting plastics in the dishwasher because of the high heat involved in cleaning.

Do: Buy and store food in glass, silicone, or foil.
Don’t: Store food in plastic, especially plastic that may contain harmful chemicals.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has said that plastic food containers with the recycling codes 3, 6, and 7 may contain potentially harmful chemicals, unless they’re labeled “biobased” or “greenware.” Don’t store food in these types of containers. Instead, use containers made of glass or silicone, or wrap your food in aluminum foil. If you’re storing food in or eating food out of plastic containers, know that plastics with recycling codes 1 and 2 are more likely to be recyclable—though they are usually recycled into lower-quality plastics. And there still may be harmful or unknown chemicals in any type of plastic.

Do: Eat fresh food as much as possible.
Don’t: Rely on processed food wrapped in plastic.

The more processed or packaged a food is, the higher the risk that it contains worrisome chemicals. Food cans are often lined with bisphenol A (or similar compounds). Buy fresh food from the supermarket, and—as much as possible—try to use refillable containers if your market allows. (Of course, with shopping made difficult by the coronavirus pandemic, prioritize your health and shop however is most feasible and safest.) Certain markets let you fill up cardboard or reusable containers with bulk items and weigh them, or you can use your own mesh bags for produce. Raw meat and fish need to be kept separate for safety reasons, but ask the store fishmonger or butcher to wrap these foods in wax paper instead of plastic. Take cloth—not plastic—reusable bags to the store to take your groceries home.

Do: Vacuum regularly.
Don’t: Allow household surfaces to get dusty.

The dust in your house could be loaded with microplastics and chemicals that are found in plastic, such as phthalates. Cleaning up dust may help reduce the amount of plastics you inhale, especially if you are stuck inside for long periods of time during a period of social distancing. CR recommends vacuuming regularly with a HEPA filter, which is best for trapping dust. (Check CR’s ratings of vacuums.)

Do: Work with your community.
Don’t: Assume your impact is limited to what you do in your personal life.

Legislation to limit the use of single-use plastics and plastic production may pull the biggest levers, but joining forces with community-level recycling groups can truly make a difference. Look for so-called zero-waste groups, which can offer guidelines for how to recycle or compost all your garbage—and which lobby for local rules that can restrict throwaway items. When possible, shop at markets that source goods locally, so they don’t require as much packaging and shipping. Seek out groups such as Upstream, a nonprofit working to create reusable takeout packaging for restaurants. And when possible, educate yourself about and support any city, county, and state legislation limiting single-use plastics.

My list to reduce your plastic footprint:

Always carry a reusable glass or metal water bottle, and reusable shopping bags with you.
Learn to refuse single-use plastics, such as plastic water bottles and coffee cups, straws, plastic bags and plastic utensils.
Purchase fruit and produce in the bulk section, and don’t place items in plastic bags.
Always search out products in glass jars instead of plastic containers.
When you must buy plastic products, choose ones that you can recycle rather than ones you must put in the trash.
Bring your own containers and shop the bulk section of your local food coop.
Purchase clothing made from cotton and wool instead of polyester or poly fibers. https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188343293/is-toxic-fashion-making-us-sick-a-look-at-the-chemicals-lurking-in-our-clothes
Store food in glass containers instead of plastic.
Ditch the baggies!

Home

1.Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/21/microplastics-brain-pollution-health

2. Environment andHealth: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/envhealth.3c00052

3. UN Environment Programme: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/plastic-pollution-environmental-injustice-vulnerable-communities-new

4. Sandra Laville, “Single-use plastics a serious climate change hazard, study warns,” The Guardian, May 15, 2019.
5. “What do plastics have to do with climate change?” United Nations Development Programme, November 15, 2022.
6. Oliver Milman, “‘Deluge of plastic waste’: US is world’s biggest plastic polluter,” The Guardian, December 1, 2021.

What are the best two thing I can do?

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — William James

Refuse to consume so much junk. Avoid Target and The Dollar Store.

What is the single best thing I can do for the planet? Maybe the best two things I can do? The New York Times put this question to some experts. It was actually the most click on article on Earth Day.

They have sone good suggestions, but we all have such different lifestyles and ways we are all harmful to the planet in the way we live. We all need to take inventory of the ways we are harmful to clean air and clean water. Everyone can buy less stuff. Do we really need all the Easter eggs and decorations everywhere the past two months? Do you really need that extra shirt or pair of shoes? What can you purchase second hand or reuse?

Cutting meat consumption and driving less are huge, but so is not wasting so much food, and reducing our single-use plastic

The New York Times asked their experts how to be the best planetary citizens?

I think their ideas are thoughtful and interesting. It is worth a read

“The thing

First, it’s important to understand that climate change is a symptom of a larger issue: ecological overshoot, or the fact that humans are consuming resources faster than they can regenerate and producing more waste and pollution than nature can absorb, said William Rees, a human and ecological economist and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. The most effective solutions, then, address not just greenhouse gas emissions but overall consumption and pollution.

One of the most effective ways to avoid consumption in the first place, Dr. Rees said, is to have a smaller family. But that might not be a realistic option for many people, for all kinds of personal, cultural and other reasons.

As The New York Times’s ethics columnist has pointed out, it might also be realistic to think that children who are raised with a sense of responsibility could — in personal and collective ways — be part of the solution, ensuring human survival on a livable planet by promoting adaptation, resilience and mitigation.

A less complicated recommendation is to cut back on meat. “On all these different metrics, eating a plant-based diet broadly improves sustainability,” said Seth Wynes, a scientist specializing in climate change mitigation at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.

Livestock production accounts for about 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also a major driver of habitat destruction and other environmental harms, including antibiotic resistance, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and pollution.”

Read the entire article below:

World Water Day

We need to work harder to protect our nation’s water!

Water is life It is so important for healthy living. Every day each of us must do what we can to protect our planet’s precious water.

It is shameful the poor job we do to take care of our fresh water. Our fresh waterways are teaming with microplastics, nitrates and forever chemicals. None of these are safe for human exposure.

Today I am focusing on two crucial pollutatnts to our water. PFAS chemicals and nitrates. In 2023 the Minnesota legislature passed a strict law restricting PFAS (fovever chemicals) Unfortunately, many companies with PFAS in their products are trying to weaken Minnesota’s PFAS legislation. Read more about it below:

First, here is information on efforts to weaken Minnesota’s new PFAS(forever chemical law)

At least 70 million Americans get their water from a system where toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” were found at levels that require reporting to the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s according to new data the EPA released in its ongoing 5-year review of water systems across the nation. The number will almost certainly grow as new reports are released every three months. USA Today, March 21.2024

I’m 22, with a new job focused on clean water. Here’s why I’m doing it.

Amara’s Law is being implemented well, and Minnesota is better for it. We are incredibly grateful for our allies, whose hard work and determination helped pass such monumental legislation. But now, Amara’s Law is at risk once again. Bills HF 1627 and HF 81, authored by Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa, plan to irresponsibly gut the law, continuing to put polluters before people.

Finding safer PFAS alternatives has the potential to be profitable for businesses of all sizes. Capitalism is meant to push society forward, driving change and fostering new ideas. It was not built to just accept the first product that completes a goal, especially when it poisons people and the environment. We have met innovators and entrepreneurs who are creating effective alternatives to PFAS — they just need support. But they don’t get a chance because large corporations come and try to pick apart critical legislation. Minnesota continues to be poisoned, people continue to get sick, children like Amara continue to die.

Second, we have been unable to control farm run off. This pollutes our ground water our streams and people’s wells. It is dangerous for people, fish and animals. There is no excuse for letting this go unchecked! Nitrate pollution in water is caused by excess nitrogen from agricultural sources. Nitrates and organic nitrogen compounds from fertilizer and manure enter groundwater through leaching and reach surface water through runoff from agricultural fields. Nitrate contamination occurs in surface water and groundwater, leaching into the soil and from there into the water supply from various sources. A high level of nitrate makes water unsuitable as drinking water.

73 percent of Minnesota nitrate pollution comes from cropland, primarily through agricultural drainage systems below cropped fields and by nitrate pollution leaching into groundwater, and then moving underground until it reaches streams. 78% of nitrate pollution to the Mississippi River in our state is fr…See more on fmr.org

Way: Something smells with the feedlot trend, and it’s more than just the manure

Clean water is important to our survival.

Plastic in Our Brains

Plastic in our brains and in all the organs of our body. This is not healthy for anyone, especially children!

Below is my list of ways to reduce your plastic exposure

Always carry a reusable glass or metal water bottle, and reusable shopping bags with you.
Never use Styrofoam!
Never heat foods in plastic!
Learn to refuse single-use plastics, such as plastic water bottles and coffee cups, straws, plastic bags and plastic utensils.
Purchase fruit and produce in the bulk section, and don’t place items in plastic bags.
Always search out products in glass jars instead of plastic containers.
When you must buy plastic products, choose ones that you can recycle rather than ones you must put in the trash.
Bring your own containers and shop the bulk section of your local food coop.
Purchase clothing made from cotton and wool instead of polyester or poly fibers. https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188343293/is-toxic-fashion-making-us-sick-a-look-at-the-chemicals-lurking-in-our-clothes
Store food in glass containers instead of plastic.
Ditch the baggies!

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/03/health/plastics-inside-human-brain-wellness?utm_source=cnn_02.07.25+results_are_in&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=vx04nkHqigjSMg6TnJ9F%2F61sh7V0NeSjsMpU6nupkwZi9ZHvq5WfZKiBUHp9kIc6&bt_ts=1738953192965

https://www.ecowatch.com/microplastics-human-brains.html

https://www.ecowatch.com/microplastics-placentas-premature-births.html

Choose grocery stores that offer produce in bulk (not wrapped in plastic)

Do Something Positive

Everyday people throw away single-use plastic “stuff” without thinking twice — plastic bottles, bags, utensils, cups, containers and more.

But this “stuff” never truly goes away. Instead, it clogs our landfills, threatens our health, trashes our parks, litters our streets and even washes into our rivers and oceans. Nothing we use for a few minutes should threaten our health and pollute our future for hundreds of years.

Join the February Plastic Challenge!

The Plastic-Free Challenge is a month-long effort starting February 1 to reduce how many plastics you use in ways that fit best in your lifestyle and have the most impact on reducing your plastic footprint.

Do something positive for yourself, your family and for the planet in February. With so many plastic items in our lives avoiding them may feel impossible, but there is a lot we can do to reduce our plastic footprint. Please Join with us to learn ways we can reduce our exposure to plastic. There are many activities to choose from, but you can also create your own challenge. Keep it simple, and even choosing one activity will make a difference. You will learn a lot, and have fun during this February challenge. Sign up here:

https://tcplasticfree.ecochallenge.org/dashboards/teams/lynnhurst-plasticfree

The Plastic-Free Challenge is a month-long effort starting February 1 to reduce plastic consumption, in ways that fit best in your needs. You only need to choose one activity that works for you like bringing your reusable shopping bags, or asking not to be given a straw with your drink, or bringing your reusable cup with you for February. Many other ideas will be suggested when you register. Keep it simple. Do a good job on one thing!

Join My Plastic Free Team

Learn ways to reduce single-use plastic. Join my team here.

Do something positive for yourself, your family and for the planet in February. With so many plastic items in our lives avoiding them may feel impossible, but there is a lot we can do to reduce our plastic footprint. Be part of our Lynnhurst community team, Lynnhurst plasticfree. Please Join with us to learn ways we can reduce our exposure to plastic. There are many activities to choose from, but you can also create your own challenge. Keep it simple, and even choosing one activity will make a difference. You will learn a lot, and have fun during this February challenge. Sign up here:

https://tcplasticfree.ecochallenge.org/dashboards/teams/lynnhurst-plasticfree

The Plastic-Free Challenge is a month-long effort starting February 1 to reduce plastic consumption, in ways that fit best for your needs. You only need to choose one activity that works for you, like bringing your reusable shopping bags, or asking not to be given a straw with your drink, or bringing your reusable cup with you for February. Many other ideas will be suggested when you register. Keep it simple. Do a good job on one thing to reduce plastic!

Plastic is made of fossil fuels; it contributes to climate change and is composed of harmful chemicals. Plastic sheds microfibers into our bodies, into our air, and into our water. Studies are showing plastic is unhealthy for us and for the planet. It is important we limit our plastic exposure.

Take care of our bodies, our families and our planet. Reduce your plastic footprint!