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."

How Crunchy is Too Crunchy?

So, tonight I was reading my friend Brittney's blog about her kids. She describes a breast milk-related mishap involving bags that leak during the defrosting process. She also mentions that ALL milk-storage bags are plastic. This makes sense to me. I really can't think of an alternate material in which to store it. Which leads me here...does anyone know of other ways to store milk?

That got me thinking about crunch. Not the celery kind, the granola kind. Just how crunchy am I? And how does this relate to my Plastic Diet?

Well, to take on the Diet at all, I guess I have to be somewhat crunchy. Plus, I totally did that whole "service year, community-living thing," which was pretty darn crunchy. Although, we didn't really sit around knitting or plant vegetable gardens. My service year was actually an intense educational experience in personal relationships and communication. For those things alone, I wouldn't trade it for the world. That doesn't even mention the fact that it got me into education!

But back to crunch. I mean, I don't have dreads and never did. I never learned basket-weaving in college. I do know how to knit, but only because I had a lot of time on my hands while I was studying abroad. Unfortunately, I kinda suck at it, and have only made a few scarves. (I tried to knit a baby blanket for my cousin's kid once and ended up with about 10"....oops. It's still in the closet. The kid is 2 years old now.)

On the other hand, I have always tried to be low maintenance. I think this comes from a combined desire to play down the only-child status and a desire to prove to my dad that I wasn't too girly. But still, I can enjoy a good pedicure (I don't want to discuss the plastic implications of this. I respect the PlasticIsForever womens' decisions on the matter, but I'm not there myself). I do enjoy high heels sometimes. I can rock a suit. But then again, even most of our college-dreaded friends have grown up and shaved. So maybe that's not the right definition of crunch.

Too much crunch and you're a weirdo. Not enough and you're a shallow flake.
I think crunch, like plastic, must be taken in moderation.

P.S. Apparently even the mainstream journalists are picking up on the no-plastic craze! This could be the start of something beautiful! (And I totally stole that article reference from Kerry.)

Convention Catastrophe

I went to the ICMA conference today in Richmond for my "Managing State and Local Governments" class. (ICMA, for the uninitiated in public policy world, is the International City/County Managers Association.) It was informative and fun...and a plastic MINEFIELD! Without even meaning to, I had 2 beverages in plastic containers. I brought them home to be sure I recycle them, but OOPS! I forgot my trusty water bottle, and it was all down hill from there. See the wreckage here:

I picked up a number of glossy brochures from vendors -- doubtless paper products slathered with plastic. I got a whole bunch of cool Census Bureau info, mostly on CD/DVDs and encased in, you guessed it, plastic. Although, at least the 2008 Statistical Abstract of the US was in a paper case. I picked up some stress balls (or school buses, worlds, road blocks...they really are creative!) that are without a doubt made of plastic. I do intend to use them to relieve my (often significant) stress, but I'm sure I could come up with a less plasticy way to relieve stress.

I haven't officially started the Plastic Diet yet, but it's on my mind every day.

I'm off to the grocery store now, and I'm already scared. Nothing but plastic in there!