Single use plastic is a scourge on our environment, yet we continue to produce and use plastic products that are designed to head straight to the landfill after we use them just one time. Products like plastic straws and baggies are so ingrained in our culture, many of us can't imagine not using them in our day-to-day.

The problem is, all of that convenience is destroying fragile ecosystems and harming our health at the same time.

Many plastic products, like Ziplock bags are not recyclable, because the plastic is of too low a quality. Instead, they're landfill-bound, but often they don't make it that far. Whether they fall off of a trash truck or someone carelessly tosses them on the ground, those plastics make their way into waterways and eventually to the ocean where they become part of one of the huge plastic gyres. These gyres are massive areas of the ocean that are too polluted to support life.

Plastic is no good for our bodies, either. Plasticizers like BPA leach into food and water that they come into contact with. These chemicals are often untested, so we don't full know how they'll impact our health. Others are endocrine disruptors or even carcinogens. No, thank you!

Any time you replace a disposable option with a reusable one, you're making a huge impact on your health and the health of this planet. Here are a few simple ways that you can replace single use plastic with reusable alternatives.

1. Reusable Snack Bag

Just say no to wasteful plastic baggies! There are lots of companies making reusable snack bags, or you can make your own reusable snack bag!

2. Cloth Diapers

You might not think of disposable diapers as a plastic product, but those Huggies use a layer of plastic on the outside to prevent leaks. Cloth diapers have a hefty price tag initially, but you buy them once, and you're set! Compare that to the cost of buying disposables over and over, and you're not only reducing your plastic waste but saving between $900 and $1900 during your child's diaper-wearing years!

3. Glass Straws

Of course, you can skip the straw all together when you're grabbing a drink on the go, but if you don't want to give up your sipping habit, choose a reusable glass straw instead! Most glass straws are dishwasher safe, so they're easy to care for. They're also way cuter than clear disposable straws!

4. Picnic Ware

Next time you're heading to the park for a picnic, pack yourself some proper utensils instead of disposable plastic ones. If you're traveling and don't want to carry dirty dishes with you, opt for more sustainable disposables made from wood or bamboo instead of plastic.

5. To-Go Cups

When you head out to the coffee shop for that next latte, bring your own cup! The cup they put your coffee in may be made from paper, but those paper cups usually have a plastic coating to prevent leaks, and they come with a single use plastic lid. Boo!

What other ways can we replace disposable plastic products with reusable alternatives? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

photos by Becky Striepe

Moxie Glass makes hand-blown glass straws that are reusable, dishwasher safe, and so cute!

Some drinks are just better with a straw, aren't they? The trouble with those ubiquitous plastic straws is that they're a one-and-done situation, and you know how I feel about single use plastic! Glass straws are a great replacement for the plastic ones that are polluting our beaches and oceans.

Melissa sent me a set of her straws to try along with a reusable glass jar tumbler made just to pair with her glass straws. The tumbler is super awesome! Its screw-on lid has a hole in the middle where you insert the straw, so you can take your drinks on the go in a totally reusable, totally plastic free container.

Melissa from Moxie Glass - aka Many Minis - makes every glass straw by hand in her Colorado studio. The glass she uses is the same sort used to make Pyrex dishware! If you've ever owned any Pyrex, you know how durable this stuff is. Even I have a hard time breaking our Pyrex plates, and that is saying a lot. I'm the clumsiest clutz in Clumsy Town!

The review packet included a few different straws:

• 2 "bendy" straws - OK, they don't bend, but they're angled, so they kind of feel like drinking from a bendy straw
• 2 straight straws
• 2 embellished straws - a fish and a tree frog
• 1 wide-mouth straw

I tested them all out on a couple of different sorts of drink, and they are great! The wide-mouth straw is the one that actually comes with the tumbler she sent - it's a to-go smoothie cup, so of course I whipped up a green smoothie to try out in there.

It worked great! The wider straw didn't clog at all, and the smoothie I made was on the thick side. When I would take my breakfast smoothie to go previously, I was putting it in a to go coffee mug, and it was not super ideal. I can't wait to pack my next to go smoothie in it!

The other straws were a regular diameter for drinking regular drinks, so I just tried them out with some water. Drinking from a glass straw does feel a little bit different from a plastic straw, since glass isn't pliable like plastic, but I really liked using these!

She sent embellished straws with a tree frog and with a fish. The fish one is probably my favorite. When you pull it out of the package, it kind of looks like a crack pipe, but! When you put it into the tumbler, it's freaking adorable. The fish goes on the bottom, so he's swimming in your glass!

One of the things that's made me hesitant about glass straws is the thought of having yet another thing to hand wash. It turns out this isn't an issue at all. Even these embellished straws are dishwasher safe!

You can find Melissa's glass straws in her Etsy shop or on her website!

Check out these beautiful pendants made from reclaimed wine corks!

We love crafting with wine corks around here. That humble little cork in your bottle of vino has so many crafty possibilities! Whether your bottle has a plastic or a natural cork, it's worth collecting those suckers in a little bowl, because both make great, free craft supplies. The bonus? When you craft with your old wine corks, you're keeping that material out of the waste stream.

Over on the Fiskars blog, Lisa Storms shares a tutorial for making some super sweet wine cork pendants. You only need a few materials to make your own:

• A sharp knife - I've found that a serrated blade is best for cutting cork
• Paint
• Paint brush
• Stamps
• a 5mm eye screw

You probably have most of these supplies laying around the house! Ready to make your own wine cork pendants? Click here for the complete tutorial!

[This magazine rack is made from recycled cereal boxes!]

Feeling guilty about the cereal boxes in your recycle bin? Pull 'em out and try some of these upcycled projects to give them a new life!

Recycling is great, but reuse is always better! Cardboard recycling is pretty efficient, as recycling goes, but it still takes energy to turn old cardboard into new paper products, and transporting cardboard from your home to the recycle center produces carbon emissions, too.

Boxes are a natural pick for storage, right? When I was researching some ideas for cereal boxes, I noticed that so many of them were organization-related! Next time you polish off a box of cereal, save the box for one of these home organization cardboard crafts!

1. Magazine Rack - Do you have magazines all over your house? Tidy those suckers up with a cereal box magazine rack!

2. Expandable File Folder - Get organized! Check out how to turn an old cereal box into a chic way to store your files.

3. Mini Album - Get your photos all in order with an upcycled album.

4. Fabric Storage Baskets - Cover old cereal boxes in fabric to make boxes for all kinds of organizing needs!

5. Closet Organizer - Tame a messy closet with the power of upcycled cereal boxes!

Have you guys made anything fun with reclaimed cereal boxes lately? Share your ideas in the comments!

Happy Earth Day greenUPGRADER readers!!

Can you believe this day of earth-friendly behavior and learning has been around for 43 years? It's hard to imagine there was a time, not so long ago, when people knew almost nothing about chemical pesticides and industrial plants were free to dump their waste directly into lakes and rivers.

Thanks to the hard work of Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, and millions who share his passion for a healthier planet, we've come a long way since then. Although we might not always like how well they're enforced, laws like the Clean Air and Water Acts ensure that we have at least some recourse against those who would treat our only planet like a landfill.

Sometimes, fighting to protect the natural world can feel like a losing battle. For those who believe we are meant to be stewards of this marvelous blue marble, it's important to remember how far we've come, how much has been achieved. Browse the infographic below for interesting facts and figures from the first Earth Day until now.

And then do your best to get outside today...enjoy the beauty of this amazing place we call home! Feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your face. Breathe some fresh air. It'll help remind you why we're fighting so hard to save it.

Earth Day graphic produced by the Kars4Kids car donation program

Top image via alicepopkorn/Flickr

Thanks to everyone who entered the Patagonia and PlanetShoes.com giveaway for Patagonia Advocate Week! We used a random number to choose a winner, and the winner is......

Ryan Joswiak who said:

I like the Patagonia Advocate Lace Plaid Men in Grey!

Thanks again to all our readers and everyone who participated!

Shopping for a vegan shoe isn't always a simple task, but PlanetShoes and Patagonia make it easy.

Disclosure: Patagonia and PlanetShoes sent me a pair of their vegan shoes for this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Patagonia Advocate Week is back! Patagonia will donate $10 to the World Wildlife Fund for every pair of Patagonia footwear sold on PlanetShoes from March 21 - April 4. The WWF is the world's leading conservation organization with an admirable set of preservation goals for the coming years:

The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF’s unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.

WWF's expansive work includes the Tiger Survey Team:

Monitoring tigers and their prey is essential to achieving our goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022. By employing camera traps, tracking technologies and DNA collected from scat, WWF scrutinizes the progress of tiger populations in order to adapt our strategies and make conservation decisions based on strong science and field experience.
Photo credit: © WWF Indonesia/Tiger Survey Team

Ready to update your spring wardrobe with some eco-minded wares? Patagonia and PlanetShoes has just what you need!

Shoe manufacturing is rarely Earth-friendly due to the use of leather and synthetic materials, but vegan shoes offer a nice alternative for eco-minded or vegetarian/vegan folks. The best choice for a vegan shoe is organic cotton, canvas, hemp, or anything recycled (not leather). Opting for second hand shoes (or repairing the shoes you have) is another way to green up your footwear without harming animals and minimizing your environmental impact.

Vegan Shoe Review
An Eco-conscious company, Patagonia offers a wide variety of vegan shoes, not to mention almost all Patagonia footwear incorporates recycled materials. The Advocate Lace Plaid shoe boasts a recycled PET fleece collar and lining, a 15% recycled EVA insole, and a 20% recycled and durable armadillo rubber sole. And true to a vegan shoe, no leather or animal product is used in the Patagonia Advocate. A slip on shoe, the Advocate is cozy, cute and an easy choice for a camp shoe. The handy rear pull-loop makes it easy to slip these comfy shoes on and off, or clip them to your pack while you're rockin' your heavy duty kicks on the trail.

Overall I'm enjoying these shoes. Definitely casual and comfy, great for either wearing around the house like a slipper or cruising the streets of San Francisco. Small and soft, I can see taking them with me on trips as they pack easily or can be clipped onto my carry-on.

And for the fellas, Patagonia makes an Advocate for men.

Sizing
The Advocate line only comes in full sizes, so if you are a half-sizer like me you may want to order a size lower as they seem to run a bit big. I'm a 7.5 (but can occasionally wear an 8) and I ordered an 8. The fit is just a bit loose but doable with a sock. If you plan to rock these without socks than I definitely recommend going a size down.

Patagonia and the Environment
Patagonia has been one of my favorite company for years, from their awesome selection of outdoor gear to their committment to supporting environmental causes, it's a company that has earned my loyalty. A member of 1% for the Planet, Patagonia also maintains a high level of transparency about their manufacturing processes, so consumers are always able to make informed decisions when buying Patagonia products. You can read more about Patagonia's environmental initiatives on their site.

Check out the wide selection of Patagonia shoes on PlanetShoes and purchase by April 4 to support the World Wildlife Fund. And be sure to enter our $100 Gift Card Giveaway from Patagonia.