Plastic Free July Days 21-23

After 23 days of trying to be plastic free, I find myself missing bacon.

I did find some at a local butcher shop, but I didn't want to trade organic, and humane certifications for non plastic bacon, so we have been doing without. And we talk about it with longing and nostalgia.

Besides, I'm afraid butcher paper has plastic in it too.

Plastic free is a hard discipline to follow.

I'm not sure it can be done 100%, unless you're willing to unplug from the mainstream and live a completely self sufficient lifestyle.

Otherwise, plastic will find you. It will come through the mail, and it will come via well meaning friends, family, waitresses and people in customer service. It comes from the bank and the government and the grocery store. It is all around us and all pervasive.

You can run, but you can not hide.

The good thing is, I am remembering to anticipate the arrival of plastic, and sometimes to head it off. Mostly by going without things.

If I'm in a restaurant, even one which uses glasses, I don't even order water because I know the waitress will stick a straw in it, even though I asked her not to. Because she's not really listening to my request, her mind is on a million other things. So I've just learned to bring my own glass water bottle with me into the restaurant. 

"No thanks, I've got my own".

Plastic Free July Days 18-20

I'm coming to the conclusion that there is no easy way to avoid plastic.

And so I decided to stop obsessing over it, and play this thing a little more gently.

I am learning a lot.  I am learning that there is a lot more disposable plastic than I thought there was.  I'm learning that no matter how hard I try it's almost impossible to avoid.  I'm learning that it's going to take more than .01% of the world population knowing about this problem and actively doing something about it.

I'm learning to smile at the inevitability of generating disposable plastic every time I go shopping.  People mean well, but they just don't know.

So I was at the bulk bins.  I was over loaded with my glass jars, and all manner of cloth bags, and paper bags that I keep reusing.  The girl at the customer service desk was dancing to the music playing in the store.  We smiled at each other and I felt pretty good.  So far, I had managed to go to 2 places and not generate any disposable plastic.  I needed pasta.

Imagine trying to liberate dry fettuccine from a bulk bin with a pair of slippery plastic tongs.  Honestly, I usually just dip my hand in and grab what I need, but the customer service girl was watching me, so I said with a laugh, "Is there a trick to getting the pasta out using these tongs?"

My helpful, dancing angel skipped away and came back wearing a plastic glove where upon she dipped her hand in and filled my bag.  My dismay lasted about 3 seconds while I made a note to self to keep my big mouth shut in future.  Then I basked in the glow of a helpful, joyful exchange with another human being who assured me that anytime I wanted help with the pasta, anyone could get a glove on and get it for me.  I resisted the temptation to say, "In that case, I'll just go back to buying it in a plastic package. It's cheaper for one thing, and I don't have to pick it up off the floor." (Did I mention, she dropped the bag and my pasta came into contact with the floor?  Which most certainly is dirtier than my hand.  Good thing it cooks in boiling water.)

It just felt a lot better to focus on her willingness to help me, and her pure joy, than to think about the comedy of errors that resulted all because I was trying to avoid plastic in the first place.  The Trickster hangs out in my back pocket, and I have learned to laugh, when he strikes.

And the biggest laugh I get is from thinking I'm doing any good at all by buying from the bulk bins, when I know that much of that stuff comes in plastic to begin with.

Here's another candidate for an email. Just leave it in the burlap bags, you don't need to repackage it.

#doingmybest

Plastic Free July Day 16

I spent the evening up-cycling some lanterns that I removed from my shed, (soon to be hen house).

You know those pretty solar lanterns you put in your yard, until you find out they're meant to last one season?  I had about 8 of them of different kinds.  The original two were made better and I think they're still going.  But the other six were purchased only 1 year later, and were so cheaply made, that the plastic over the solar cells oxidized and the batteries couldn't charge.

But I love the designs and so this evening I began to meticulously take each one apart, with the intention of taking the solar panels and spent batteries to hazo-house, and seeing if they'll also take the plastic housing I removed, which has what looks like a little circuit board inside.  And need I say it?  That housing is made entirely of plastic.

So far I've reclaimed 3 of the 6.  These two crackle glass globes...




The photo doesn't do them justice.  I love how the light sparkles off the fragmented glass, and casts interesting, lacy shadows on the wall.

And one of these pretty Asian style lanterns, with a dragon fly etched into the glass panels.


Now they are back to being useful items, instead of a big disappointment.

Plastic Free July Day 14

I was cleaning out my shed yesterday getting it ready to convert to a hen house.  During the process I removed enough tape and labels from cardboard boxes to fill a grocery bag.  I also found two small to medium size boxes with polystyrene foam peanuts (which I can now recycle).  Then I found a box containing plastic bags of all sizes and a plastic picnic plate.  The plate was a remnant of a Christmas gift someone had given me--goodies wrapped in cellophane on a blue plastic plate, and tied with plastic ribbon.

So much plastic tucked away--in storage, no less.  You might wonder why I would do that, but I have been recycling since the 1980s and it's become some kind of weird obsession to hang on to something until I find a way to recycle it.  Because I have seen recycling evolve (I remember when they didn't take batteries; and when they first started taking plastic bottles, but wouldn't take yogurt containers.)

If someone gives me a gift on a plastic plate, my gratitude comes into conflict with my heart sinking at the prospect of dealing with yet another piece of plastic.  And if I get overwhelmed and chuck it into the garbage, my guilt deals harshly with me as if I've committed mortal sin against Planet Earth, which truly I have - because I know better.  So I will find things tucked away every now and then.

This is a living example of the plastic problem in miniature.  Around the globe, the way to deal with trash is to "put it into storage" by burying it in the ground or dumping it in the ocean.  But it's still always there.  And it's growing.

Am I singing The Plastic Blues?  Well, maybe a little.

There really is only one solution.  And the answer isn't so much in the recycling of it, as it is in simply not creating it any more.

There is no need to create disposable items out of non degradable materials.  

That doesn't even make sense.

My solution is to stop allowing it in my life, while at the same time, trying to find an ethical, responsible way to get rid of the useless plastic items I still have.

Reduce Reuse Recycle was my mantra.  Now Plastic Free heads that list.

Plastic Free July Day 12

OK, here it is.

I have a huge mess to clean up.

For those of you who didn't live through the era of video cassette tapes, count yourselves lucky.  These days, if I were to buy? a movie, it would be a download.

But for 20 years we collected movies on vhs cassette tapes.  We loved old movies.

Now I'm paying for it.  In lack of space, in overwhelm, in wtf am I going to do with all these stinking video tapes that no one wants.  I couldn't give 'em away.

And speaking of paying for it, I will be...literally.

For the last two years, I've been trying to find a place to recycle my tapes.  I'm going to have to face facts.  There is a place that will take them, but it's going to cost me. About $200.00, if my calculations are correct.

Somehow, I'm OK with that.  When I researched this subject,  it became evident that GreenDisk was the only solution.  Literally.  No one else does what they do.  They take techno trash and recycle it.

Let GreenDisk safely and securely destroy your old data, recover reusable components, and recycle all the rest of your accumulated technotrash...

So even though it's going to cost me to do this, it seems like a small price to pay for peace of mind.  Peace of mind means, I no longer have to think about it, and I know it's being handled responsibly, not just dumped into a landfill or the ocean.

And when I think about that stuff being gone, my body relaxes and I feel the stress draining away.  I have been sitting on this "stuff" for years, because I haven't known how to dispose of it responsibly.

It's time to move on and be done with it.  I'm tired of being a slave to this plastic trash.  Feeding it with my anxiety while it takes up space in my life.

I'll post more about this, as I go through the process.

That's all for day 12.

Plastic Free July Day 11

I heard back from one of the companies I wrote to.  This very nice email is from To-Go Ware.  I am sharing it here as encouragement.  I did a post on Plastic Free July Day 1 featuring their reusable container.  Is it any wonder I love their product?

Hi Rita,

Thank you for your wonderful email and for your support! We love hearing from our customers and especially when they have new ideas or suggestions.

The suggestion to change the product tag application is a great one and would definitely help to drive home our no plastic motto. I will contact our manufacturer to see if there is a different way to apply the tag...hemp twine is a great idea too!

Also, thank you so much for sharing your post about the tiffin! This is great and I can't wait to share it with the rest of our team. Thank you again for all your support...we really appreciate it!

Warm Regards,
Kelly

I mentioned in my last post that I am  directing my efforts at companies and local businesses which I already support. There's a reason for that.

I only have so much time to devote to what I believe is such an important cause.  I want to make my efforts count.  So --for now any way-- I am putting my attention on companies that I actually deal with.  

I withdrew my attention long ago from the main stream consumer world, and I find that I exist quite nicely without any of that in my life.

The more of us that actively reject this "Story of Stuff", (to borrow a famous phrase), the less power it has.  When we take our attention off of it, and simply get on with the business of life, in a way that works for us, we stop feeding it with our fascination.  We stop being hypnotized by it.  And we have more energy & resources to devote to the things that really matter in life.

And it's about to get real, as I deal with my old "stuff".  I'll share that in tomorrow's post.

Good luck to all you plastic free activists.  You're doing good work in the world.

Plastic Free July Day 9

I've been gathering a short list of companies (as I become aware of them) to contact with a request to consider alternatives to single use/disposable plastic in their packaging.  I have 4 on my list, two of which are local small businesses.

Drafting emails takes time, and so I've only sent off 2 of the 4 so far.  But I was really excited to see someone else taking this on as well.

Today I read a post from Westy Writes about the same topic.  Check it out.

Then get inspired to impact the world and raise awareness, one email at a time.

That's it for Day 9.

Plastic Free July Day 7

I spent yesterday with Mike.  It was our 30 year wedding anniversary.  And we have been trying to take Mondays off anyway, so it worked out perfectly.

We went exploring in our community and I bought a lovely summer camisole...much needed, since I am not a typical consumer, and sometimes my clothes become quite threadbare before I find what I want/need.  You should see my shoes!!  (And some of you have).

I am finally learning where to find things.  I was pretty excited to find a comfortable garment, made from organic materials, that I could actually afford.  The tag states Sustainable & Ethical Apparel since 1992.  So thanks Maggie's and thanks to Traditions (Olympia) and other retailers who carry this brand.

 


But it did take the glow off just a little, when I realized that the tag was fixed to the camisole with plastic.  And really, all garments are tagged the same way in this country, with rare exceptions.

This doesn't mean that I have to stop buying things that I need.  And it doesn't mean that I have to accept that there is simply going to be disposable plastic around--like it or not.

No.  I think there is something I can do about it, which requires some effort.  Whenever I find disposable plastic on a product I buy, I am going to start communicating with the company to ask them to consider using a different material on the product they sell.  It shouldn't be too much of a paradigm shift, considering these companies are already dealing in ethical, sustainable products.

I was also considering a campaign to ask the major garment retailers to change their habits around this issue, but when I began researching it, I read that clothing retailers are using the presence of plastic garment tags to discourage people wearing once and then returning the item.

So as an editorial aside, I wish to say this:

Although it is unethical to buy a garment so it can be worn to a function and then returned, I feel that unethical behavior has long been a dysfunction of the garment industry.  The whole industry is corrupt and so they are actually creating a culture of consumers without ethics.  

To the garment industry, I would say, lead by example.  You know where you're falling down. Stop sweat shop practices. Pay a living wage.  Stop attacking self esteem and creating unhealthy expectations of body image in your marketing.  Focus on service.  Focus on creating beautiful clothing for all body types which promote self esteem and empower people.  

Focus on making the world a better place.  Support sustainable practices.  Use authentic natural fabrics, which feel good to wear, rather than using textiles which pollute the planet.  Be authentic and then use that in your marketing.  Teach people to be ethical, by the example you set.  The world mirrors back to you, what you are.  Your customers are a reflection of you.  This goes for any business.

This is a job for bigger brains than mine, but perhaps the time is ripe to make this demand of manufacturers and industries.  Be authentic.  Be ethical.  Oh, and while you're at it, stop polluting, and for Planet's sake! Please stop putting plastic in everything.

Plastic Free July Day 6

I didn't think I had anything to say today, and so I was going to just take a day off from posting, until I realized that something kind of extraordinary did happen that was directly related to my efforts with Plastic Free July.  And to the efforts of anyone involved in this commitment.

I have coffee with a circle of friends every other Sunday.  About 10-12 of us get a large table and we catch up with each other and talk and pull Tarot cards and just generally gain insight into what is happening for each of us.  It's a beautiful group and I enjoy it very much.

What seemed significant today was that more than one person commented on the Plastic Free thing I was involved in.  And I realized that on some level it is spreading into the community via my friends and family.  In fact 5 different people this week talked to me about what I was doing.  They asked questions.  They talked about wanting to get into the habit of becoming more aware.  About making a change on some level in the way they consume plastic.  And they are talking to other people about it as well.

This is encouraging to me, because as more people get involved and change their habits even just a little bit, they begin influencing others to begin thinking about it as well.

It is really easy to get so used to something, like being served an entire meal on single use plastic in a cafe, that we accept it as normal.

But it's not normal.  There is nothing normal or healthy about disposable plastic.  And I am grateful to have the opportunity to expand my awareness to include that realization.

And I am happy to be a part of the ripple effect.

So if you are a part of any type of social change, no matter what the issue is, you can be happy in the knowledge that your efforts are creating change, because you are a living example.

Thank you for your efforts.

https://www.plasticfreejuly.org

Plastic Free July Day 5

DIY Toothpaste

I use this simple recipe

1 part Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt

2 parts Baking Soda

4 parts Coconut Oil

This is very salty, so flavor to taste using mint oil, citrus oil, anise oil, cinnamon oil or the powdered equivalents. Or use what ever suits your taste buds.  Mix all ingredients well.  (If using liquid for flavoring, use sparingly, so the texture won't be too runny).

This is a very sensual recipe.  It makes your mouth feel nourished and cared for.

I use the Himalayan Pink Salt because, I can get it in bulk, and because it has 84 minerals and trace elements, which can only be good for mouth health.  To reduce plastic used in making this, you might consider using powdered herbs rather than essential oils or extracts which usually have plastic packaging.  I think even if you use coconut oil in a jar, there will be some plastic on the lid.

Until I started using this recipe, I was just using baking soda straight, the old fashioned tooth powder.

Some herbs which are linked with oral hygiene are myrrh, anise, citrus, and propolis, or research on line.

That's the Plastic Free Tip for Day 5  --And yes that is a plastic toothbrush in the picture.  That will be another blog post.  ;)

Plastic Free July Day 3

Quick post #plasticfree #zerowaste

My huge roasting pan that I bought second hand.

Every week I buy three chickens, and 1 1/2 pound combined hearts and livers.  Half the chicken goes to us humans and the other half goes to feed the three family cats.

I make raw cat food for my cats every week.

Three chickens a week plus organ meats, add up to a lot of plastic packaging.  So there was only one thing to do for Plastic Free July.

I take my roasting pan to a chicken farm, and buy them locally without packaging.  It all goes into my pan, and within minutes it's in my refrigerator, waiting to be turned into cat food and divvied up to be made into dinners for us humans.

Yes all three whole chickens fit in this thing.  It's vintage.  A remnant from the days when people would cook a hunk of meat and live on it all week.

There are a lot of reasons I do this.

1. By making my own cat food, I not only ensure the quality, but also I am not supporting an industry I know very little about--the Pet Food Industry.
2. I am supporting a local farm--family run business, not corporate farming.  The money goes to support people I know who live in the community, and share similar values.
3. I know the farmers, I know the operation. I know the birds are raised organically, and treated humanely because I have actually worked on this particular farm.
4. Zero plastic packaging! Zero disposable packaging.
5. The freshest food you can get, is that which is grown and raised in your own area.
6. Extremely low fossil fuel consumption to get my chicken because it's not coming from out of the area.

That's all for Day 3.

Plastic Free July Day 2

Just a quick post, (after all there will be 31 days of this).

A reminder: When you're looking for plastic free alternatives at the grocery store, you're going to have to have a sharp eye.  Plastic is a very sneaky item, and it can be hiding anywhere.

Say you normally buy soda in plastic bottles. But now you're doing your best to avoid plastic.  So you switch to aluminum cans.  Guess what your cans are lined with.  That's right, aluminum cans are plastic lined, and most still use BPA which messes with you endocrines.

Even if you buy things in glass, you will be getting plastic in the cap at the very least.  I used to make my own yogurt, but even glass milk bottles come with plastic tops.

Recently, I started buying locally made yogurt to save time, which comes in glass jars.  But now that my awareness is more finely tuned to spot plastic packaging, I realize that there is a small amount of plastic in the metal lids they use, and they have a clear plastic label on the jar.

I love what they're doing though, and I want to see their product for a long time to come, so I will contact them and ask them to consider changing their label.  I don't think there is anything they can do about the jar lid other than switch to BPA free jar lids.

Most foods use plastic in their packaging.  Even those little stickers on produce are made with plastic.

I promised to keep this short, so I won't go on.  But I will encourage you to start training your perception when you're shopping to notice plastic packaging.

We can all do better on this.

Ball/Kerr canning BPA free canning lids:  These lids can be identified by the presence of “Made in USA” on the packaging and lids themselves, and by dots around the border of our Collection Elite series lids. The lids also have a coating on the underside that is two or three shades darker than the previous lids – more of a taupe as compared with the previous cream.

From Growing A Greener World post last updated in June 2013.

The photo on the left is from Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Plastic Free July Day 1

I spent the day binding books for Pegana Press, our small family press, while the temperatures climbed into the nineties. (F.)  Then I cooked supper.  After dinner I announced to my husband that I wanted ice cream!

We haven't had it in a long time, and it was just the day for it.

Mike reminded me that if we bought ice cream there would be plastic involved.  But I was ready for it.

Olympic Mountain Ice Cream creates awesome ice cream, but you won't find it in the grocery store.  It's only available in restaurants.  Which is good, because they have the old fashioned heavy cardboard ice cream containers with cardboard lids.

I wanted Spumoni so we drove over to Pelligrino's Italian Kitchen.  They were super busy, so we got it to go.  Good thing I had my 2-Tier Tiffin Food Carrier with me from To-Go Ware.  The woman at Pelligrino's put ice in the bottom tier, and the ice cream fit with room to spare in the top tier.

I first found this at my local food co-op about a year ago, but they're not cheap, and I had a hard time talking myself into buying one-let alone two, until Plastic Free July came along.  I went for the two different sizes, and I keep them in the car in case we are eating out.

Our neighbors in Seattle/King County have banned styrofoam, so if you get something to go, it is likely to come in a paper container.

Not so, here in Olympia/Thurston County.  There is still a lot of styrofoam  containers being given out in restaurants. Pretty backward thinking for the capital city of our state.  Mostly Mike and I just don't eat out.

But now if we do, I can put left overs into this food carrier and maybe I'll start a trend, because so far I've never seen anyone else around here doing that.

I really appreciate this product, and the thing I would change about it is the little plastic tag holder which loops around fixing the tag to the handle of the Tiffin.  I was so excited that I didn't even notice it until I got home.  I'll bet a little hemp twine would work equally well.  Maybe I'll send them an email.

Tip For The Day-Produce Bags

To eliminate disposable plastic from my life, I am busy sewing cloth bags about the size of plastic bags you get at the grocery for produce.  I will be using them to buy items like flour, rice and other grains, coffee, nuts, etc. from the bulk bins at the Olympia Food Co-op.

My version:

Take remnants of fabric you have sitting around unused (cotton or linen is best), or cut up old sheets, or find fabric second hand, etc. (I decided against buying new fabric, unless I could find it at an affordable price, sustainably/ethically produced, fair trade, organic...)

Cut to size needed and sew into a bag.

Coat the inside with bees wax or leave as is.  Google how to do it.

That's my tip for the day.

Want to participate in Plastic Free July?  Lots of great ideas on their website or visit this event on facebook.

Assorted fabric remnants including vintage flour sacks from my Grandmother.