Watch CBS News

Author Explains How To Cut Plastic Out Of Your Life

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - There was a time when "plastic" was the stuff of the future; remember the famous quote in the movie The Graduate? But one woman is turning back the clock.

Beth Terry says her world turned inside out a few years ago when she saw a news photo of a dead chick in the mid-Pacific, full of discarded household plastic, some of it perhaps hers.

"I hadn't previously realized that my personal buying choices and the actions of what I was doing on a daily basis could have an effect on other creatures and right there in that moment I decided to see what it would be like to live without acquiring any new plastic," she explains.

Terry says take it in stages. For example, no more plastic shopping bags, then get a reusable water bottle to replace all the plastic ones and even bring your own container for leftovers when you go out to eat.

Her book, Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, details how she cut her plastic use from 1 1/2 pounds a week to 2 pounds a year.

Recycling is not a substitute, she says, because even making plastic involves toxic substances.

For more information visit: myplasticfreelife.com.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.