Tactic A1.8
Less Single Use Plastics (mid-term goal)
Encourage less consumption of single use plastics.
Many Sedona visitors use disposable water bottles and many restaurants and stores use plastic straws and bags/containers. The city of Sedona will encourage and assist businesses in conducting waste audits to benchmark the origins of waste and decrease use.
Keep Sedona Beautiful will lead the charge in decreasing use of plastic bags at local businesses.
The SCC&TB will build on the existing StrawFree Sedona program to encourage businesses and visitors to use alternatives (refillable water bottles, paper straws, canvas bags, etc.) to reduce disposable plastics in Sedona. The SCC&TB will create promotional campaigns to increase participation among businesses and visitors.
IMPACTED PILLARS
TIMEFRAME Mid-term (2-3 years)
LEAD PARTNER Keep Sedona Beautiful
SUPPORTING PARTNERS SCC&TB, City of Sedona, Sedona Businesses, Sedona Recycles
ALIGNING RESEARCH Resident Survey, Nonprofit Focus Group, Industry Best Practices
Encourage less consumption of single use plastics.
FY23: Keep Sedona Beautiful is completing a plan of action to further build on its accomplishments and continues to communicate the need to reduce single-use plastics.
FY22 Fall 2021 Keep Sedona Beautiful newsletter featured one member’s personal home plastic consumption audit, which showed the surprising amount of plastic consumed in one month, many of the items non-recyclable. The issue included a graphic of the “Dirty Dozen Plastic Polluters and How to Live Without Them” identifying typical products that become plastic waste and suggested substitutions for each.
In the same issue, KSB presented an interview with Sedona Recycles President Doug Copp to give an inside look at how our local recycling facility culls, sorts and sells recyclables with high-impact photos showing the volume of plastic materials the facility is handling.
A “Good News” article appeared in the newsletter as well, providing links for stories from all over the world on dealing with plastics pollution. . KSB plans to continue to communicate the message of reducing consumption of single use plastics. Our theme is that the most immediate solution is to shop wisely and reduce consumption of plastic. “If we all just say “no” to plastic, demand will tumble and force suppliers to look at how much they produce.
The subject of Micro Trash – the small bits of garbage that people often shrug off as insignificant such as bottle caps or energy bar wrappers – was also addressed, encouraging individuals to be mindful of micro trash, dispose of it properly, and take a moment to pick it up when they see it on our trails.
Additional Notes on this Tactic:
Although this mid-term goal does not call for immediate action in the first two years of the Plan’s implementation, the Straw Free Sedona program, part of the effort to reduce single use plastics, continues to expand. As of February 2021, 52 businesses no longer provide single-use plastic straws, instead offering paper straws only upon customer request. The partners responsible for implementation of this tactic plan additional actions.
In June, 2021, Keep Sedona Beautiful announced plans for a set of articles on the use of plastics in the Fall edition of the KSB quarterly newsletter