Plastic is one of the most ubiquitous materials of our time. From to-go cups for iced coffee, prepackaged meals, frozen food, packaged grains and more, it seems like plastic is everywhere. While plastic has made our lives convenient, it has had an adverse effect on our planet. Globally, weproduce 300 million tons of plastic each year, but78 percentis never recycled or reclaimed. Instead, the plastic trash that we chuck in the garbage bin ends up in landfills. There, it can leach harmful chemicals that eventually spread into groundwater, but thats not all the bad news. Every year, around 8.8 million tons of plastic is dumped in our oceans, where itwreaks havoc on marine life.Unfortunately, once plastic is made, its here forever. Lets put it this way there is so much plastic in the ocean that in a few years time, there will literally be more of this trash than fish in our waters.

While we can always reduce the amount of plastic we let into our lives by purchasing reusable options for coffee cups, water bottles, and more, cutting all ties with plastic is a feat that not many can accomplish. Thats why its so important for the companies who rely on plastic packaging to take make a commitment to recycle their materials and reduce their waste. Recently, one company, Earth Island (themanufacturer of Follow Your Heart products), achieved something that no other vegan food manufacturing facility in the United States has done: they were awarded the Gold Level Zero Waste certification from Green Business Certification Incorporated.

According to The Vegetarian Resource Group, Earth Islands Gold Level Zero Waste certification means that the manufacturing facility for Follow Your Heart products now diverts 97 percent of its waste from landfills. They do so through strategic purchasing, material reuse, composting, increased recycling, and employee education. Over the past 12 months, the company has diverted nearly 100 tons to recycling, composted 136 tons, and re-purposed 228 tons of materials. How awesome!

We certainly hope that more companies will see this trend and start to incorporate more waste-reduction programs into their own facilities! As individuals, we dont have to wait for this to happen, however, each one of us has the power to stop plastic at the source by choosing to DIY meals or beauty products, using low-cost recycled glass or tin containers to store our goods. For more tips on how you can lead a plastic-free lifestyle from someone who does it themselves, click here.If youre looking for more ideas to get plastic out of the picture, check out One Green Planets #CrushPlastic campaign.

Lead image source: Follow Your Heart

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This Vegan Food Company Has Found a Way to Keep 97 Percent of Its Waste Out of Landfills - One Green Planet