Earlier this year, “06880” introduced Sustainable Westport’s newest project: “UnPlastic Westport.”
The initiative aims to reduce single-use plastics, and expand water-filling stations around town. The goal is to “turn shared intention into measurable, community-wide change.”
Once a month, we help them highlight an area of daily life where single-use plastic is most common, along with practical ideas to use. This month, we focus on an important summer spot: your backyard.
June is finally here — meaning backyard barbecues, graduation parties, and more great outdoor gatherings.
But summer entertaining often includes an unwelcome guest: a mountain of single-use plastic waste.
Just in time, Sustainable Westport has released its “UnPlastic Your Backyard Guide.” Click here for practical advice on trading out cheap disposables for cleaner alternatives that protect local soil and waters.
Tips include using jute plant ties, bamboo plant stakes and markers, and what to do with all those nursery pots.
But local sustainability isn’t just theory. Westport’s youth are leading the charge.
The Staples High School Boys Varsity Lacrosse team stood out this spring, by completely rethinking their traditional team dinners.
Knowing how much waste those weekly events generate, the team created a reusable “Hospitality Kit.” Passed from host to host, it eliminate single-use plastics.
It includes:
- Swapping out flimsy plastic tablecloths and plastic forks for washable cloth linens and stainless steel cutlery.
- Utilizing large beverage dispensers and stainless steel cups, eliminating more than 50 plastic bottles per dinner.
- Setting up a dedicated sorting station for cutlery, cups, trash and food waste.
The result? Each team dinner generated less than one light, dry garbage bag of actual waste.
A sustainable Staples lacrosse team dinner.
The team’s sustainable success highlights a core tenet of the plastic-free movement: It doesn’t require a 100% waste-free event to make a massive impact.
Recognizing that replacing disposable plates with reusable ones put too much of a laundering burden on the host families, the team compromised. They opted for unlined paper plates instead of plastic or Styrofoam ones.
Feeding up to 50 hungry athletes every week throughout the spring season means the sheer volume of single-use plastic diverted from local landfills by just this one high school sports team is staggering.
(The Staples boys lacrosse team are winners on the field too. They’re FCIAC [league] champions. Right now [Saturday afternoon] they’re playing at Wilton, in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Go Wreckers!)
Stainless steel cups, and large dispensers. Think of how many plastic water bottles were saved at this one dinner!
As outdoor party season swings into action this month — graduation! Father’s Day! block parties! — Sustainable Westport hopes the lacrosse team’s creativity inspires other Westporters to look at their own celebration setups.
(Don’t forget balloon-free decor! Ditching balloons is a huge plus for the environment.)
Small actions, multiplied across a community, can have a powerful impact.
Ready to commit to just one change this month? Join your neighbors by clicking here to sign the UnPlastic Pledge.
(“06880” keeps an eye on Westport’s environment — and every other part of town. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Agree balloons are a total waste- the mylar ones are particularly offending. When I see customers at checkout line buying large cases of bottled water, I cringe.