Green House is a zero waste store located in beautiful Newburyport, MA and run by mother/daughter team Gina & Ashley. We offer sustainable, plastic-free alternatives to everyday products for healthy homes and a healthy planet.
According to a 2019 article by The Guardian, the United States alone produces enough plastic each year to fill the Houston Astrodome 1000 times!! Multiple sources report that approximately 91% of the plastic we use does not get recycled. Much of it ends up in our oceans. Thousands of marine animals are killed every year when they mistake plastic bags and other debris for food such as jellyfish.
Recent studies also report that microplastics (tiny particles of plastic) have entered our food stream. Imagine a fish ingesting microplastics that are in the ocean. We then cook and eat that fish, and yes, the microplastics end up on our dinner plate and in our bellies.
Because so little of the plastic we use actually gets recycled, it is important for us to reduce our use of single-use plastics in the first place. It may seem difficult to know where to begin. Start small: one change at a time. Take a look around your home. Are you using body wash or hand soap in a plastic bottle? Go old school and switch to bar soap! Are you still buying bottled water? Find a filtration system that works for you and your budget. Easy. Small changes do add up.