Recycled Paper Pens at Friendship Hospital for Animals!

Today, I took my cat, Angie, to the vet. As I was checking out, I noticed that their pens are made almost entirely of recycled paper. Yup, a recycled disposable pen! (Not surprising that this veterinary clinic is across the street from a Whole Foods.)

As you can see, my cats enjoy the pen as much as I do. It has a cardboard "body" and a wooden clip. It does have a little plastic on the tip and the end, but it's still a big improvement over the usual kind. Plus, there is a nice note indicating that the cardboard is recycled (couldn't get the right camera angle, but trust me, it's there).
Yay Friendship Hospital for Animals!

I'm Back!

So, I realize I've been a little MIA. The last semester of grad school will do that...studying, working, and searching for a job have definitely distracted me.

But I do love blogging about plastic. Obviously. There's always a story because plastic is EVERYWHERE!

Here are a few observations:
1. I am convinced that population density and difficulty in avoiding plastic increase together. I was in NYC for the weekend, and I found it so challenging to avoid plastic. It gave me a whole new respect for my friends at plasticisforever.blogspot.com who live in LA and NYC respectively. It's also possible that the added challenge stems from travel/being out of a routine.

2. I'm yearning for a less "disposable life." That is, after all, why I started this crazy journey. Yes, it's about plastic, but it's also about lifestyle. However, given the aforementioned "busy-ness factors," my life has been all too disposable lately. Even if it's disposable paper, I need to be reducing. My friend Monica made good arguments about the rainforest recently. Plus, I keep hearing about how much energy it takes to produce assorted types of disposable containers. I think cooking for myself and visiting farmers' markets are crucial parts of this process.

3. I get distressed by all those things that are mostly paper/glass but part plastic. For example, kitty litter containers. All paper except for that handle at the top. Or cat food bags. Paper, but coated in plastic. Or iced tea in a glass bottle -- not even a plastic ring around the top (yay!) -- but with a plastic label.

Plastic is a huge challenge.

Plastic Pets

Today I realized how hard it is to have pets without plastic.

I took a trip to the pet store because my cats have been clawing my chairs lately, and I figured one reason might be because their clawing post is kitten-sized. I got them a new clawing post -- which has carpet (undoubtedly partially plastic) and was wrapped in plastic tape (but only a short piece) with a paper/plastic tag for price.

While I was there, I picked up a giant tub of cat litter. Sadly, the big boxes come in plastic. Smaller ones are cardboard with a small plastic handle. But the big ones are plastic. Hard plastic. Ugh. Maybe if I take it back to the store next time and fill it up with litter, I can consider that reuse (they sell litter without a box, but it's not the kind I like...).

I also got a jar of litter deodorizer. Sadly, this came in a plastic jar. Why can't it be glass? I'm sure I could use baking soda and essential oils, but this lavender-scented litter deodorizer really helps.

Finally, I got them some cat toys. Two little tennis balls full of catnip, to be exact. I'm sure the rubber balls involve some kind of plastic. But worst of all, they were wrapped in plastic! ugh! On the bright side, my cats' favorite toys are t-shirts that I cut up into long strips that they can chase like strings. That's a cotton-based toy sure to please!

I hope that I will be able to provide for my felines in my life post-plastic!!