tellock saw a lot of food takeout packaging, utensils and plastic bags, and she began recruiting others to help her cover more ground. 

“i started cleaning my own neighborhood, then i ventured out to other areas and i eventually started to find such intense litter that i just could not do it myself,” tellock said. “so, i posted about it online and i started to gather some people to help.”

a communal effort

miranda carrico of the lake view east neighborhood was one of the first people to help tellock. both of them co-founded cleanup club chicago (cuc) in july of 2020, a volunteer group tackling litter pollution through land and water group cleanups, city outreach, and waste reduction advocacy. 

the environmental group has burgeoned to about 350 members from all over the city, carrico said. as of october, they collected 1,359 kitchen-sized bags of litter since their inception. cuc often collaborates with other organizations, companies, colleges, and wards like university of illinois chicago, dill pickle food co-op, and ward 25.

cuc has two group cleanups per month, running from april to november, and you can sign up here. tellock and carrico encourage people to always report litter issues through their alderman or 311 — the number that connects to city services like the department of streets and sanitation.

chicago generated 4.13 million tons of waste in 2020, but most recent data from 2018 reveals chicago’s average recycling rate is just 8.81%. cuc focuses on plastic litter, encouraging members to remove plastics from the environment whenever possible as the items can have detrimental impacts on habitats and animals like turtles and birds, trapping them, tellock said. 

“plastic pollution has some negative effects, especially on waterways and our soil,” tellock said. “along the river you can see very nakedly the impact that plastic pollution has on wildlife. it’s in their habitat, in their nests, they’re swimming in it.” 

a clean chicago

chicago has litter reduction initiatives, like the single-use foodware ordinance of jan. 18, which only restricts restaurant-caused plastic waste if patrons turn down disposable utensils. federally, the break free from plastic pollution act of 2021 is a proposed bill to reduce the production of certain products like packaging, paper, and containers. lastly, on the state level, the polystyrene foam ban bill seeks to prohibit stores from distributing disposable food containers made of the synthetic polymer polystyrene. yet, littering of this material continues with the lack of enforcement of these initiatives.

carrico said the pandemic increased the waste of single-use plastics and other items like gloves and disposable face masks, partly because the chicago parks district was not hiring maintenance workers, who typically target littering in parks across the city. 

carrico said cuc gives volunteers instructions and equipment like grabbers, gloves and buckets before each cleanup.

“we’re using eventbrite for people to sign up, which provides them instructions,” carrico said. “we will describe to them the goals of the cleanup, where we’re going and tips.” 

she added that the group holds activities like litter bingo and trash competitions to keep things engaging and fun.

tellock said the group is gaining many volunteers in communities across the city, especially south and west sides, so far doing work in humboldt park, pilsen, and hyde park, among others. tellock said cuc is a group that fosters community.

“i think it is a nice way to meet people that have a common interest in taking care of the community, and to get outside and do something productive with their time,” tellock said. 

“is everything of plastic? almost, ” a video advertisement for the futuristic dream house boasts. 

we are past that future now. so where is the house?

well, depending on the type of plastic, pieces of the house may have ended up in different places around the world. since plastics can take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to break down, elements of the house are likely still somewhere on this planet, negatively affecting animals and plants alike, and likely ending up on our plates.

microplastics have been found everywhere, and are now thought to be ubiquitous in the environment.

microfibers from house of the future’s synthetic fabrics could be falling out of the sky with snow and rain. microplastics have now been found to undergo transportation via the atmosphere and be deposited back down to earth.

some of the synthetic materials, once weathered into smaller pieces by other forces could easily be ingested by all sorts of wildlife, especially since research shows that plastics immersed in ocean water emit a chemical signal that seabirds smell and easily mistake for their other sources of food.

some of the more dense plastics from the house might more easily sink in aquatic environments, like this high-density polyethylene bucket at the bottom of the ocean.

even if the entirety of monsanto’s house of the future was properly disposed of in a landfill, it could still be wreaking havoc on the environment. landfills have been found to leach chemicals and have the potential to contaminate groundwater sources. or, like the scene shown in this photo, the elements can weather away at the manmade features and eventually wash them out to sea.

how can we change?

while we cannot undo the creation of the house of the future, all of us can pursue actionable everyday steps to help curb the deleterious effects of plastic on our environment and its inhabitants.

• before you buy something made of plastic or packaged in it, try to find a secondhand or zero waste alternative to it. always have your bottle or mug on you and think ahead for food or snacks so that you don’t catch yourself in a pinch having to purchase plastic-wrapped food.   
• contact companies you support about reducing their plastic footprint. this handy guide walks you through how to go about contacting businesses—complete with a script!
• if contacting businesses is not up your alley, call them out on social media about excessive packaging. outreach is key to solving the plastics problem
• contact your representatives and urge them to support the break free from plastic pollution act of 2020.