Plastic and Life -- and cool documentary on at 10 pm tonight

The one constant theme of my plastic journey has been balance. Keeping the Earth in balance. Keeping myself balanced.

I know I can't be as hardcore about plastic as some plastic bloggers. No, sorry, no mascara is not an option. Like I've always said, I'm down with medical plastic. It objectively is better to have some things be one-time-use (tubes used in blood tests and band-aids, for examples).

Other things get into gray area. Milk cartons? Mostly paper, coated in plastic. What happened to the days of the milk delivery? I'd happily pay for milk in a glass bottle and then return the bottle to the store. What about ice cream? It's getting warm, and I can't hide my general obsession with frozen treats. I'm a huge fan of the ice cream cone -- pretty much ideal in anti-plastic-land. You eat the container! And a good place gives you a recycled napkin with your treat. But even stuff like that has plastic in its past...the big cartons in the ice cream store are inevitably plastic. Even though I generally don't go beyond myself in the life-cycle of a good when determining the presence of plastic (otherwise I'd go absolutely crazy), sometimes that makes me feel hypocritical.

I think this gets into bigger themes of the individual vs. the community (my topic for my graduation speech). Everyone lives on fast-forward. I know I feel more "entitled" to plastic when I'm in a rush. How can I move back to healthier times?

I like some of the innovative solutions I saw on the trailer for this documentary Addicted to Plastic. (Check out Trailer 2.) It's on tonight on the Sundance Channel at 10 pm. Sadly, I don't get the Sundance Channel, but I'll keep my eyes out. The most important quote I heard was, "We will be putting more packaging out there on the market because that's what consumers are demanding." And that's where I DO have a say. I can CHOOSE what I demand.

On the plus side, many people in my life have begun making some simple changes that, together, can make a big difference. They reuse bags and refuse plastic straws. They endeavor to take their own silverware to work for lunches.

I think it's ok to struggle. I'm going to try to follow some of my favorite advice from a book I was asked to read before my freshman year of college, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Marie Rilke: "live along one distant day into the answer."

Finally, an Un-plastic Cheese

So, I'm South Beach-ing with my parents. My mom bought some of the Laughing Cow ("La Vache Qui Rit") cheese. It's not covered in plastic! The wooden container holds foil-wrapped wedges! At last. :)

I've used 2 pieces of plastic today -- wrappers for my coveted sugar-free popsicles. Seriously, those things are my plastic un-doing. Anybody have good un-plastic substitutes?

I also acquired an ID card for the school where I tutor (made of plastic), but I don't think that counts because it's reusable!

Groceries

I went to the grocery store tonight. It was an odd mix of stocking up on plastic before I go plastic-free and feeling motivated to try to avoid plastic.

Plus side:
*I got lots of canned food. It's amazing how much good stuff you can make out of things that come in cans.
* Salsa, one of my favorite foods, comes in glass jars. Without any plastic around the edge! (Why, oh why, can't hummus come in glass jars too?!)
*I took my own bags and my grocery cart. Giant actually gives you back 5 cents for each bag you DON'T use. That was nice! Plus I had a good conversation at the check-out about my attempts to reduce plastic use.
*I almost got a big bottle of olive oil in a plastic jar, but at the last minute I caught myself and switched it for a glass jar.
*I didn't use any new plastic bags for my produce.
*I enacted my lettuce plan by buying a whole head of lettuce, taking it home, washing it, tearing it up and storing it! Just like bagged lettuce but plastic free! My salad felt so much better knowing that it didn't come from a bag. Plus it tasted crisper.
*I found flavored rice in cardboard boxes. Very exciting! I used to always buy it in the plastic pouches.
*I bought cous cous that came in a cardboard box instead of in a plastic container. Except it's a LOT more expensive that way. But they were out of the plastic ones anyway, so my decision was pretty easy.
*I got the larger jar of cumin because it came in a glass jar instead of the cheaper, smaller (not even recyclable!) plastic jar.

Minus side:
*I caved and bought one last box of Swiffer wet cleaning pads. Not only made of plastic, but encased in hard, never-going-to-biodegrade plastic!
*I got some yogurt. I am going to miss yogurt. Although, I will say that it's pretty cool that they've stopped putting that extra plastic cap on top of the foil. Maybe if I just get a big thing of yogurt once in awhile it will be ok, because I can totally reuse those as tupperware!
*I got popsicles. I am really going to miss popsicles. I guess I could make them myself but they won't be as good. And it will be hard to make them only have 15 calories. On the plus side, ice cream sandwiches seem plastic-free. They come in cardboard and are wrapped in paper.
*I got meat. Ground turkey for my yummy soup and chicken to stock up on for when I'm not supposed to buy plastic. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get meat without plastic. I'm not sure I want meat without plastic. But I definitely can't get it even if I want it.