Recycling experts try to live life with less plastic: Here’s how you can do the same

Toilet paper doesn't have to come wrapped in plastic.Peter Krouse, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Dana Textoris has been concerned about the environment since she tried to start a recycling program at her elementary school in Parma.

“I felt I needed to do something,” said Textoris, now 42, who - if memory serves her right - convinced the principal, Mrs. Rankin, to have recycling bins placed around the building.

The inspiration to make a difference returned during the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone was wearing disposable masks and buying takeout food in plastic containers, she said, and “there was just so much waste that was created.”

That’s when Textoris, a CEO with a consulting company that helps organizations get grants, became a recycling ambassador through the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District and began making a more conscious effort to rid her life of as much plastic as possible, knowing that’s often a difficult proposition.

Michele Wilhelm, 66, a former nurse, has been pursuing the same personal goal of minimizing plastic in her life since she became a master recycler through a program with the Solid Waste District in 2014. She regularly posts plastic-minimizing suggestions and other environmentally conscious ideas on her social media accounts.

Although Plastic Free July - a worldwide effort to reduce plastic waste - has come and gone, Textoris and Wilhelm recently shared with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer many of the ways they reduce their plastic use, hoping others will share their passion.

“Ultimately, there is a high cost for these cheap plastic products and it’s what we are going to pay later,” Textoris said. “That’s what I believe.”

Like many people, Textoris and Wilhelm take reusable bags to the store rather than have their purchases placed in single-use, disposable plastic bags. They also try to avoid buying beverages that come in plastic bottles or cups.

While plastic bags and bottles - both made from petroleum - can be recycled, they often are not and wind up in a landfill, or the side of the road.

“I almost never accept a disposable plastic bottle of water,” Textoris said, and she makes sure her reusable bottle is always with her.

“Just like grabbing my keys, I grab that reusable water bottle,” she said.

Both create their own carbonated water at home using SodaStream machines so they don’t have to buy carbonated water in plastic bottles at the store.

Textoris also has a reusable, sandwich-size bag made of silicone that can carry snacks, even soup, so she doesn’t have to use the disposable plastic variety.

“I use that a lot and I’ve had it for years,” she said.

This silicone bag, which can be washed and reused, can replace a single-use, plastic sandwich bag.Peter Krouse, cleveland.com

Avoiding plastic when it comes to personal care can be hard, Wilhelm said, but she does what she can. She subscribes to Bite toothpaste bits, which are small tablets of condensed toothpaste that release fluid when chewed. Her first order came in a glass jar with a metal lid and was delivered in a cardboard box. Refills arrive in a paper envelope. This means she can avoid buying toothpaste in one of those plastic laminate tubes that can’t be recycled.

Textoris orders her toilet paper from a company called “Who Gives a Crap,” rather than buying TP at the store wrapped in plastic film. The toilet paper comes wrapped in tissue paper inside a cardboard box. The tissue paper is so decorative that she once used it to wrap presents.

Michele Wilhelm brushes her teeth with Bite tablets that are contained in a jar.Michele Wilhelm

Textoris avoids buying products that come in big plastic bottles and jugs. She now buys her dishwashing and laundry detergent in tablets that are delivered in a can. The brand she uses is Blueland.

Wilhelm does something similar. She uses Earth Breeze laundry detergent that comes in compressed sheets of soap that are delivered in a box.

She also gets concentrated cleaner from a company called Grove Collaborative that she mixes with water to refill reusable glass spray bottles. She has one bottle for window cleaner, another for general cleaning, and a third with her “own concoction” that is used to clean shower doors.

Dana Textoris buys soap tablets for dishwashing (left) and laundry (right) that come in a can, rather than detergent that comes in a large plastic jug.Peter Krouse, cleveland.com

Wilhelm has also been trying out shampoo that’s in bar form and lathers up like soap. She is currently testing out a brand called Viori purchased online in hopes of finding the right one for her hair.

“You have to keep trying because everybody’s hair is just different,” she said.

And when Textoris’s plastic laundry hamper cracked, she went to Target and found a felt model made of recycled material.

“It looks better, and I know that it’s going to last longer,” she said, and when it wears out, it will decompose quicker than a plastic hamper.

Textoris uses ceramic food dishes for her dogs, Maltese yorkies named Nilla and Teagan, while Wilhem takes plastic tubs to Pet Co. to be refilled with cat litter so her three felines, Mojo, Ollie and Magic, can do their business.

“We’re reusing the tubs each time,” she said.

Michele Wilhelm takes her plastic, reusable cat litter tubs to Pet Co. where they are refilled at the store.Michele Wilhelm

Textoris and Wilhelm both try to avoid buying food items packaged in plastic, often opting for fruits and vegetables that aren’t wrapped in anything.

Both women like to visit farmers markets where strawberries can be purchased in-season and don’t come in plastic baskets like at a grocery store.

Avoiding plastic in grocery stores is difficult, Wilhelm said. “It’s always about what I can realistically do at a given time.”

One thing she does is buy her eggs in cardboard containers.

One advantage to buying products in glass containers, Textoris said, is that they are easier to recycle than plastic. But even that can get complicated, she said, referencing a glass bottle of vinegar that comes with a plastic cap.

Because Wilhelm is a vegetarian, her dining-out options are limited, but when she does go out, she has had some success convincing restaurants to wrap her leftovers in foil instead of in Styrofoam containers. She said Brew Garden in Middleburg Heights made such an accommodation when she ordered a plant-based burger to go.

“I know people that will carry containers and use that for their leftovers,” she said.

Textoris said she likes to buy bulk foods when she can and to cook from scratch, which can also make for cheaper and more healthy meals.

“The whole medical field is just so full of plastics,” Wilhelm said. “It’s so very hard to avoid.”

But one thing she is able to do is send her empty prescription bottles to Matthew 25 Ministries, an Ohio company that sends them to Third World counties to be reused. It’s a bit of a chore, however, to prepare the bottles. The labels have to be removed, and that generally means soaking them in mineral spirits.

“They get repurposed as opposed to recycled,” Wilhelm said.

Dana Textoris does yoga on a cotton mat, which she acknowledges is more expensive than a rubber mat.Peter Krouse, cleveland.com

Synthetic fabrics can shed during the wash cycle, allowing microplastics to go down the drain and enter the water supply, Textoris said, so she tries to buy items made with natural fabrics and from local shops, such as Banyan Tree, which has locations in Tremont and Westlake.

One example is a yoga mat made of non-toxic cotton by an Ohio company. She paid $100 for it, she said, while she could have paid $20 for a cheap rubber model. She acknowledges that not everybody has the financial means to make such decisions.

“I’m one of those people who will pay more for safer and less toxic products,” she said.

Both Wilhelm and Textoris concede that there is a lot they can’t do to avoid plastics. In those cases, it may be their choice to go without.

“I think it is just an ongoing process,” Wilhelm said.

Textoris said society needs to reach a “tipping point” where the demand for plastic-less products brings more companies into the marketplace.

“We can’t avoid plastic entirely,” Textoris said. “But we can do our best to use as little as possible.”

Peter Krouse covers the environment for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read more of his stories here.

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