Reducing Plastic with DIY Cleaning Choices

By Ruth Ann Smalley

This fall I joined a group of almost 150 students and auditors, in a 7-week  Beyond Plastic Pollution course with Judith Enck. The experience was mind-bending, with a grueling reading list (I’m still not done) and a dire prognosis. The upshot? We have an enormous plastic problem and without concerted action, it is only going to keep scaling up.

I’m still digesting it all. But I’m ready, right now, to roll up my sleeves and work with others. The only way we’ll wrestle this genie back into the bottle is if everyone who possibly can, acts. It’s going to require both personal and political strategies. 

That’s because the unfettered genie works for the powerful oil and gas industry. Enck’s course makes it clear—the same corporations that ran campaigns to deceive us about their contribution to climate change have also been lying about recycling. All while flushing an increasing stream of plastic into the environment. 

I understand that consciousness-raising can be tricky. One never knows when information will motivate action or, instead, generate immobilizing despair. I get it, and I’ll try not to overwhelm you. But I hope you’ll stay with me and read on, as I try to pair some unpleasant facts with simple, empowering steps you can take. 

Here’s a snippet of the type of information I’m talking about. According to Matt Simon’s 2022 book, A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies, a scientist collecting plastic particles from mountaintops on protected lands “calculated that each year the equivalent of 300 million water bottles fall on just 6 percent of the country’s land mass” (2). As Simon puts it, “plastic rain is the new acid rain.” It is everywhere—aerosolized in sea spray, congregating in beach sand and sea salt, churning out of your washing machine from your synthetic garments, seeping from food and beverage containers, breaking down in large quantities into your household dust. This last area is the one I want to focus on for the rest of this piece.

So, true confession: I have never been a squeaky-clean housekeeper. But now that I can address two levels of the plastic issue by adjusting my cleaning strategies, I feel newly-energized. I’ve started small. I’m determined to tackle plastic-laced house dust and not create more of it. The upside—I’m enjoying the results in a more pleasant home environment!

Most household cleansers not only come in plastic bottles, they also contain dubious ingredients (including dyes and fragrances that can also include toxins like phthalates). These products represent low-hanging fruit for swapping out. You could start by re-using the containers they came in, but filling them with better alternatives. 

But you could also pick up a lower-plastic alternative from the housewares section of the store. ReCap Mason jar company (woman-owned, made in Pennsylvania) makes soap pump and spray nozzle lids that attach to mason jars ( reCAP Mason Jars). 

If the mason jar solution fits your values and your budget, you can gradually move from plastic containers by decanting whatever liquid dish or laundry soap you already own into glass jars. Once you’ve used those products up, simply refill your mason jar containers from the bulk cleaning products available at Honest Weight. I also invested in a foaming soap pump top, which has allowed me to turn my Dr. Bronner’s into a foaming hand soap (yay–no more annoying clogged spout!).

 Taking it another step, you can make your own cleaning products for use in your mason jar containers. Based on 16 oz containers, I’ve made a glass cleaner, a tile cleaner, and an all purpose cleaner. This is surprisingly easy and satisfying, requiring just a few basic ingredients. You could even buddy up with friends to share the initial cost of the hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, alcohol, and castile soap (Honest Weight has Dr. Bronner’s and vinegar in bulk). You can also personalize these with your favorite essential oils (about 15-30 drops). I’m loving knowing exactly what I’m spraying around my house.

And, for the much-needed action on the political level, I recommend going to Beyond Plastics. The site is loaded with resources, as well as ways to get involved. Our representatives need to know we want action at the policy level. 

Even if tiny steps are all you have the money, time, or energy for, you CAN get involved and begin to make a difference. And spread the word! You can make an impact simply by being a voice of reason and caring.

For more about the plastic waste situation check out this from the New York Times and this from Consumer Reports.

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