Earth Fest 2025
A Positive Spin on Toxic Microplastics
Find us at Nevada City's EarthFest on April 13, spin the wheel, and get tips on what we can do about:
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1. Plastic and "Compostable" Plastic Bags
4. Household and Personal Care Products
5. The River
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Plastic and "Compostable" Plastic Bags
In our region, plastic bags, such as the type provided at stores, should never be placed in Waste Management (WM) recycling or green/organic waste bins.
"...compostable bags should not be mixed with regular plastic bags in recycling or waste streams. This can contaminate the recycling process and prevent the bags from breaking down properly in a composting environment." [Are Compostable Bags Actually Compostable? (Not Always)]
However, certain types of stretchy plastic can be recycled into other plastic products such as composite decking, and there are recycling collection spots at various locations in our community. See our Local Recycling Resources page for more details.
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The compostable conundrum: Bags that appear to be plastic and are labeled compostable generally are not truly/easily compostable. Beware of greenwashing! It’s important to check the packaging to see if the bag is home compostable or commercially compostable. There are no commercial composting facilities in our region. Materials that are labeled home compostable are supposed to decompose in backyard compost, but they may not actually break down as intended. This article provides good details about the issues and controversies surrounding compostable materials: Are Compostable Bags Actually Compostable? (Not Always).
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Kitchen Stuff
Unfortunately, our kitchens are a significant source toxic microplastics, from black plastic --the most toxic of the plastics, to non-stick, PFAS-laden cookware. This guide helps us identify the best materials for non-toxic cooking tools:
The Ultimate Guide To Eco-Friendly & Non-Toxic Cooking Utensils - Let's Go Green
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Ready to replace your old non-stick cookware with more earth-friendly, non-toxic varieties? Let's Go Green also has a very comprehensive article on non-toxic cookware: Everything You Need To Know About Non-Toxic Cookware - Let's Go Green​
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Food/Snack Packaging
This is another huge area of opportunity. Most food packaging falls into the same categories as plastic and so-called compostable bags, meaning they typically aren't effectively recycled or composted and are destined for landfill. Styrofoam is one of the worst environmental offenders! So, when it's take-out time, look for businesses that don't use Styrofoam, black plastic, or excessive packaging in general.
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Better yet, BYOC! Bring your own container. In 2019, CA AB 619 paved the way for restaurants and other food facilities to allow customers to bring their own containers for leftovers and takeout, but it's under publicized, so many businesses and customers don't even know about it. Learn more at Surfrider's AB 619 BYO Fact Sheet.
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And say you'd like to "Skip the Stuff"!
In 2022, California passed AB 1276, which states that food facilities cannot give out single-use plastic items such as utensils, chopsticks, condiment packets, straws, stirrers, etc., without customers asking for them. More information and a handy sign for food businesses to display: Surfrider-Helping CA Skip the Stuff.
Also destined for landfill: Snack packaging such as chip bags and candy wrappers. These cannot be recycled. If you have a TerraCycle Zero-Waste Box, it may be the only other option for keeping it out of landfill. Like all of the materials mentioned on this page, the best solution and first priority should be reducing their usage:
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Buy snacks in the bulk bins and use your own container, or
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Make your own snacks! Gluten Free Seed Cracker Recipe from Moorlands Eater
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Household and Personal Care Products
This is where the DIYers thrive! Visit the local refill shop and ditch the toxic chemicals by making your own household cleaners and personal hygiene products.
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Household Cleaning Recipes, courtesy of thenerdyfarmwife.com
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Homemade Personal Care Recipes via Dr. Axe
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Gaia Soap Supply​​
Our local refill shop in Nevada City, where you can obtain all the essentials to get clean, plus individual raw ingredients, essential oils, and other goodies at comfortable prices. Most products are sold by the ounce, so you only purchase as much as you need. Bring your own clean containers or purchase new containers.
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The River
In our area, there's no bigger draw during the summer months than our prized Yuba River, which is the destination for more than 800,000 visitors annually. With that many visitors comes a lot of trash! Even if we are recreating responsibly and packing out our trash, some things get left behind, and plastics are arguably the most harmful of all.
Plastics give off toxic methane, which affects river life, birds, and aquatic plants. Plastics break down and introduce microplastics into the watershed.
With rivers acting as conduits that transport waste from inland areas to the oceans, they have become hotspots for plastic litter accumulation. The scale of this problem is staggering, and its implications for ecosystems, human health, and economies are profound. Plastic litter in rivers affects aquatic ecosystems by entangling and suffocating wildlife. Microplastics, which form when larger plastics degrade, are ingested by fish and other organisms, entering the food chain and potentially harming human health. (Plastic Litter in Rivers: A Global Crisis - Blue Water Intelligence (BWI))
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The Yuba River is no different in this respect. As SYRCL, our local river advocates point out:
Basically, as microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment, we can say with a high degree of certainty that microplastics can be found throughout the watershed. You can help limit their presence in the watershed by packing out all of your trash with you – dog waste bags, pool floats, plastic bags, twist ties, plastic bottles, and all other plastics rapidly break down in the intense sun throughout the summer and, when winter rains come, more microplastics are introduced into our watershed and washed to communities downstream. (Microplastics and the Yuba watershed).
What can we do? How to keep from loving our local river to death?!
The California State Parks Foundation has provided some great tips for enjoying a day at South Yuba River State Park, and here's one tip worth highlighting:
Bring less trash - it's less to carry home: Pack food, water and other items you bring in reusable packaging. This not only reduces the trash you produce, but it helps prevent microplastics (like plastic wrapper shards or Styrofoam pieces from single-use coolers or cups) from entering the ecosystem. Pack out any trash you do generate, including food waste. Garbage cans or dumpsters are often only located near parking lots or established picnic areas (if those are available), and large influxes of visitors can create enough garbage to quickly overwhelm the amount of dumpster space available. If trash cans are full, bring your trash home with you.
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​Before you embark on your next outdoor adventure, check out the 7 Principles from Leave No Trace.
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Our Bodies/Our Health
​Research shows that microplastics are present in humans right down to fetuses and mother’s milk. They are known to cause endocrine disorders and cancer. Plastics are toxic substances. (Plastics and the Yuba, by Shirley Freriks)
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...microplastics have been detected in fruits and vegetables, plastic water bottles, the air, cosmetics, and household dust. Now, researchers are finding them in almost every part of the human body, including in breast milk, the placenta, testicles, hearts, livers, and kidneys. (Microplastics a growing challenge to health and the environment | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
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Did you know that you could be consuming up to 12 plastic shopping bags' worth of microplastics each year? Watch and learn more from this EWG Instagram video on microplastics.
What we can do:
1. Avoid Personal Care Products with Microplastics.
(Check ingredients for polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), or nylon (PA))​
2. Wash Synthetic Clothing Less Often.
3. Use a High-Quality Water Filter.
4. Avoid Single-Use Plastics.
5. Choose Plastic-Free Packaging.
6. Limit Takeout and Fast Food.
7. Choose Natural Fabrics for Clothing and Home Textiles.
8. Buy Loose Fruits & Vegetables Instead of Pre-Packaged.
9. Avoid Teflon and Nonstick Cookware.
10. Be Mindful of Chewing Gum. Most Brands Contain Plastic.
11. Reduce Your Car Tire Wear
12. Limit Fleece and Synthetic Blankets
13. Switch to Eco-Friendly Household Cleaners
14. Use Cloth Diapers Instead of Disposable Ones.
15. Reduce the Use of Synthetic Garden Tools.
​More details at: How to Avoid Microplastics: 15 Practical Ways to Reduce Exposure - Thriving Sustainably
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As EWG Points out in the Instagram post linked above: But while personal choices help, we even more importantly need systemic change. That means advocating for better regulations and pushing for corporate accountability that aims to reduce plastic use at every level of production.
So...
Good News is on the Horizon
Municipalities in our region are responding to the climate and health crisis that plastics pose: The City of Truckee has a single use foodware reduction ordinance in place, and the City Council of Nevada City is on track to adopt a similar ordinance in August 2025 that will ban polystyrene (Styrofoam) and require the use of reusable foodware for on-site dining. Read the full article: For here or to go? News | theunion.com
WasteNOT will address the City Council of Grass Valley over the coming weeks (April/May 2025), asking them to adopt an ordinance similar to that of the neighboring towns.
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Contribute to the solution!
Let your local city council know that you support the adoption of local regulations that will minimize or eliminate single-use plastics to help fight the growing plastic problem. Public comment can be shared at city council meetings in person and via email. Check your local city council's website.
Contact your representatives. The Climate Action Now app makes it very convenient to take planet-saving action from your phone!
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Together we can be a force for positive change!
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