Eliminating Plastic: My Journey to a Waste-Free Lifestyle and How You Can Do the Same

Bethany: I absolutely loved this book. It is inspiring, challenging, and a great reference tool to reducing and eliminating plastic. However, like another reviewer, I was shocked that so many activists going plastic free, including the author, are still consuming the flesh, milk, and eggs of other animals. How can you care about the planet and non-humans dying from eating plastic, and look the other way regarding the millions of non-humans needlessly dying every day for the enslavement and slaughter “food” industry? No one needs to eat the flesh, milk, and eggs of other animals, and doing so is a significant contributor to water pollution, land use, and climate change. If you can make the effort to go plastic free, you can certainly make the effort to eliminate animal abuse in your life by committing to a vegan way of life. In fact, I think being an ethical vegan is much easier than being plastic free, but it requires the same dedication. Terry writes that plastic is "a lifestyle of consumption, enabled by convenience." The exact same thing can be said of those who purchase products made from other animals. I expect vegans to go plastic free since it is vital to the interests of other...

United States on Jul 17, 2023

Mishka: First, I think it’s awesome that she researched to make the book itself as plastic free as possible. Kudos!

Overall, the book was approachable and readable. Real. She talks about being overwhelmed and like you won’t make a difference but has encouragement for us starting this process and feeling like we’re one small person in our community.

Love the bios and inspiring stories. Love love love the resources she offers by suggesting books and companies and products and websites. Love her practical checklists for how we can start making our lives more plastic free. Love the feel and heft of the book itself...

One thing I was not too fond of: her formatting. Some bios cut off her previous sentence and it’s not continued until after the bio. There were a few times I thought my book had pages missing.

Concern: she mentions that hemp and bamboo might not be as eco friendly as we think, but there isn’t any bit of paper devoted to how cotton (even organic) may also have a huge environmental footprint. But she does reiterate multiple times that reusing or finding used products is best, so going with that for her lesson is great.

And her lessons...

Canada on Jun 16, 2019

CJ Edinburgh: This is a book that will change your life. How did I not even pay attention to how problematic plastic was, sure I knew it wasn’t good for the planet, but I didn’t really think about it much.

I took a plastic challenge as the author suggests, collect all the plastic I use for a week. I collected 52 different items!!! From bagged vegetables, wrapping around veg, plastic labels, plastic shower jell bottle, the list goes on and on.

It made me email the company that makes my teabags, turns out even they contain plastic.

I am vegan, and want to do no harm to animal, how did I not pay attention to the great Pacific gyre, a sea of plastic killing animals that eat plastic as they think it is food.

I live in the uk, this book is very US based, so many of the products would be difficult to find.

United Kingdom on Mar 04, 2018

Miss: This book is great for anyone who is aiming to live a more environmentally friendly life. As well as being factual, it’s also a really good read with humour and positivity throughout. My husband and I are trying to reduce our use of plastic and this book has given me so many ideas and inspired me to get started straight away. Thanks Beth Terry.

United Kingdom on Feb 24, 2018

Dee Arr: In the Pacific Ocean between America and Japan floats the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area somewhere in size between the state of Texas and twice the size of the continental United States. Couple that with the fact that the average American generates between 88 and 120 pounds of plastic waste per year, and we begin to understand the problem as well as our responsibility to reduce the impact of plastic consumption. Even if you don’t feel it is your job to reduce plastic waste, learning of the lethal chemicals in plastic may help to change your thought process.

Beth Terry has written an understandable and easy-to-read guide full of suggestions and tips on how each of us can begin to cut down on plastic use. She presents informative facts and insights concerning how deeply plastic is intertwined with our lives, appearing in items we would never have dreamed of. Of course, we don’t have to think of the exotic uses. For most of us, a simple trip to the grocery store can instantly generate pounds of waste (think water/juice/cola bottles, plastic bags for veggies and everything we buy, trays to cook your food in, and on and on). When one begins to think of all the changes...

United States on Dec 21, 2016

Stephanie Schorle: I highly recommend this book!!!! A must-read for anyone wondering about plastic in our lives and the world. Beth has done her research; she provides a great easy read full of facts, tips, and her own discoveries (and mishaps!) she has made in her journey toward living completely plastic-free. I loved the summary profiles she included of other plastic-free pioneers who have already made a difference in the world and continue to inspire others to do the same.

Canada on Oct 12, 2016

flutterby203: This is a great book to get a comprehensive look at the problems with our obsession with plastic. There is so much information out there it can be overwhelming but Beth has done the research and brings all the info together in a fun and easy book to read. There are loads of tips and ideas as to how you can reduce your plastic consumption. I am recommending this book to everyone I know and I am looking forward to starting my own plastic free life!

United Kingdom on Jul 26, 2014

Thoughtful Cook: I don't know how or when I first learned about Terry's endeavor in trying to get rid of plastic from her life. But one thing for sure, it turns out, we both cried when we saw the images of plastic debris filled dead albatross carcasses; she saw them on Algalita and I saw them on Chris Jordan's Midway: A Message from the Gyre. But unlike me, she set out to do something about it. She boldly decided to get rid of plastic from her life, while I 'try' but still struggle with the endeavor.

So it's no surprise that Terry wrote this book so people like you and me, can learn how to do it, without being overwhelmed. This book gives you easy tips to follow with brilliant and quick steps you can do, to get rid of plastic from your daily living. The message I got, and love, from Terry's book is that you don't have to be drastic, like her, to live plastic-free. She acknowledges that it can be hard but she teaches you how we can, by taking little steps to start. And the facts, the directory, exhaustive research she did and shared in the book give you enough information to start and to keep for reference. She did the leg work so we can take the guess work out of our plastic free...

United States on May 19, 2012