The whole reason why I've started this new mission and blog to follow is to chronicle my life as I try to go plastic-lite and how I'm doing it. Who knows, maybe I'll inspire others. Maybe I'm just trying to entertain myself. I mean, plastic-lite? Really? I'm using a plastic-encased computer to spur my plastic-hatred.
But let's go through what I've already done to reduce my level of plastic consumption:
* shopping bags (man, do I have a huge thing for shopping bags. I collect them like baseball cards)
* cute reusable sandwich/ snack bags instead of the disposable ones
* reusable water bottles - no more buying bottled water!
* no more individually packaged snacks
* taking my own coffee cup to the coffee shops (did you know that those paper ones are lined with plastic?)
Now where do I go from here? Well, since my rude awakening (two days ago), I've:
* switched to a stainless steel water bottle
* using bar soap instead of liquid/ bottled soap
* just purchased some adorable produce bags
Well, now what? There are so many other plastic products floating around out there constantly exposing me to the ickiness. Now it's the day-to-day search for ways to reduce the plastic in my life. This is more daughting that I thought.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Given my previous comments, this probably won't surprise you, but I think there's a distinction to be made between one-time-use, non-recyclable plastic items and those that can be reused (or have a very long service life: computer or car component compared to disposable water bottle) and that can be recycled at the end of its service life.
ReplyDeleteYour car would be less safe if you eliminated all plastic from it. Your peanut butter would be less safe and less economical (if you factor in all costs, including inputs to packaging and cost of transportation) if its package contained no plastic.
My message isn't "Yay Plastic!"; it's "what's the best tool (i.e., material) for the job?"
I would not knowingly put my children into a car without a windshield in which the glass was not coated in plastic (along with other processing) to create safety glass or with seat belts that lacked the strength of nylon webbing without the seat belt itself being dangerous to them (say, an equally strong metal mesh...that could act like a bandsaw blade in an accident).
I applaud your personal de-plasticizing actions, and I have done many of the same things. When I can't resist a soft drink, I get it in an aluminum can, rather than a plastic bottle. Even with a 12-pack of cans, every part of the packaging is recyclable, and recycled aluminum is 90% less energy-intensive than making products from raw, mined bauxite (aluminum ore). Still, there are instances when a polymer is the best material for the application. Maybe we should eliminate that application, or eliminate polymers that cannot be readily recycled, but those are different (bigger! especially the first one) questions. If we get people into the mindset that plastic is always bad and its absence is always good, are we as a society prepared to accept bad outcomes to ourselves and others as a cost of doing business while we adapt to a plastic-less world?
:-) You rock!