Zero Plastic Week Day 5

Zero Plastic Week is a World Wide event to raise awareness through conscious effort to avoid adding any new plastic to our lives, and to avoid buying anything new made from or packaged in plastic.  This week is about finding creative solutions to avoid the use of plastic and to get people to think outside of their usual box.

Well it happened.  Today I had to make a decision to buy something I really needed which came in plastic.  And sometimes that happens, because we live in a world that embraces the use of disposable plastic.

I don't want to lose sight of what this week is about.  It's purpose is to wake us from complacency.  To shake us out of our acceptance of the world that is, so we may be inspired to create the world we want.  It's about moving forward and evolving better ideas and habits.

For some people involved in this week long world community event, especially if you're new to it, this week must feel like a week of deprivation and a bit like swimming against the tide.  Or it may feel like an exciting challenge which opens your eyes and makes you even more passionate.

For me, this week has challenged me to make a deeper commitment to a game I've already been playing.  I've taken stock and identified areas I could improve in.  I've overcome my fear of asking someone to accommodate me and I've engaged my creative ability to meet my needs.  

And I have become aware of the global community that I didn't even know I was a part of.  And that's pretty huge.

So today when I arrived at the farm to pick up my unpackaged chicken, and found that there was only one out of the three I was hoping for, I had to make a decision.  If the chicken was just for me, that would've been a no brainer.  I would have just been happy with one.

But along with all my other crazy notions about living a conscious life, I've taken on the added commitment to feed my cats raw organic cat food that I've been making myself every week for the past 3 years.  Which means once a week I buy 3 chickens--one for us humans, and two for the three cats who have chosen to live with us.

The farmer was unavailable so I just had to make a choice.  

So my choice this week is to buy one chicken packaged in plastic at the local food co-op making a total of two for the cats and us humans will have to forage something else.  And rather than obsessing on "blowing it" during Zero Plastic Week, I'm focusing on all the positive changes I've made, and on only buying one thing this week packaged in plastic, which I consider an amazing accomplishment in a world where plastic seems to be everywhere.

I've heard of another upcoming event called Plastic Free July.  I'm thinking that would require a level of self sufficiency, discipline, and organization that I wonder if I'm capable of.  I might have to find out.

If you're interested in joining World Wide Zero Plastic Week you can find that here.

And if you really want to see what you're made of, you can try for something more challenging than a triathlon...Plastic Free July (not for the faint of heart).

And here's another great site for bringing awareness on a weekly basis.  Plastic Free Tuesday