I haven't posted in awhile, and there are a few reasons for that. First, I've been incredibly busy. It's the end of the semester, and apparently I have to actually write papers and stuff. Who knew? Plus my two jobs. Plus trying to find a real job for after graduation. It's a tricky time. Second, with the holidays, there have been lots of things to do besides blog...like go eat turkey and attend holiday festivities. And third, well, I haven't been doing a very good un-plastic job.
In part my plastic woes stem from reason #1 above. I know my plastic-blogging colleagues would be ashamed because the "I'm too busy" argument is their least favorite. I agree -- you make time for what you want to have time to do. However, there is a point after which I truly do have to decide between using the occasional plastic and finishing my work for school. School wins. I've decided to try again once I'm done with my exams. Maybe one day I'll be superhuman enough to do both at the same time, but for now I'm just taking it one day at a time.
On an unrelated note, I've been having quite an existential crisis lately. The more my friends get engaged, married, and become parents, the more my life choices become apparent. It's not that I don't respect the formation of families -- I do! -- and I hope to have one too one day. It's just that I'm so not there yet. I'm happy with where I am in life. It's just that the difference becomes more apparent when I really think about the reality of their life vs. the reality of mine. I wonder sometimes what it's like to let a tiny human be the center of your life. Although, I guess 50,000 small (and medium sized and almost grown) humans already are the center of mine (the students of DCPS).
Showing posts with label plastic-free blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plastic-free blogs. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Regrouping
So, my plastic-free trial month ended last week. It went pretty well. I had a lot of plastic-free days. Most of my days involved just one or maybe two pieces. People ask me for my best stories from the month, but I feel like my stories weren't that exciting. I got into a rhythm and made good choices. Being plastic free requires just an ounce of planning ahead, a good bit of self-control, and a slightly larger bag to carry around the necessary tupperware, fork, and spoon that can pretty much get you out of any situation.
I will admit, I've been considering my options for the past week. While considering, I've let myself use more plastic. I went to Taco Bell and used their evil little tiny sauce packets. I picked up a piece of pie, encased as it was in plastic. It's tempting to just say, "This was a good experiment" and go back to living "normally." But then I'm reminded of Kerry and Erin's early posts about how we know, on some deep level, that easy, one-time use plastic is bad -- not just because of data and facts about fishies but also because of the way it makes us feel. It's a slippery slope from plastic-encased food to plastic choices, which was the original reason I got into this.
I've revised my goals. I'm going to limit my use to 2 or 3 pieces per day. This provides a little extra room because sometimes it's good to be able to buy meat or cheese. And because sometimes I still forget to ask for no straw. I'll be trying this for the rest of November and then I'll revisit my plan again. Maybe I'll find that this is too lenient and need to go back. I'll keep you posted.
I invite you to try yourself -- doesn't have to be a stark plastic diet, but try limiting just one form of plastic in your life. Let me know how it goes. :)
I will admit, I've been considering my options for the past week. While considering, I've let myself use more plastic. I went to Taco Bell and used their evil little tiny sauce packets. I picked up a piece of pie, encased as it was in plastic. It's tempting to just say, "This was a good experiment" and go back to living "normally." But then I'm reminded of Kerry and Erin's early posts about how we know, on some deep level, that easy, one-time use plastic is bad -- not just because of data and facts about fishies but also because of the way it makes us feel. It's a slippery slope from plastic-encased food to plastic choices, which was the original reason I got into this.
I've revised my goals. I'm going to limit my use to 2 or 3 pieces per day. This provides a little extra room because sometimes it's good to be able to buy meat or cheese. And because sometimes I still forget to ask for no straw. I'll be trying this for the rest of November and then I'll revisit my plan again. Maybe I'll find that this is too lenient and need to go back. I'll keep you posted.
I invite you to try yourself -- doesn't have to be a stark plastic diet, but try limiting just one form of plastic in your life. Let me know how it goes. :)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Plastic Plastic Everywhere
I've been a little out of touch this week. As my friends at plasticisforever.blogspot.com can attest, that sometimes means you've been overusing plastic.
It started out well. Tuesday was a one-piece of plastic day. Wednesday was a plastic-free day. Then Thursday hit. Out at a restaurant, I definitely got some dirty looks from the wait staff when I requested no straws. I was only partially successful in avoiding them. Friday, I indulged myself and got some buffalo sauce with a sandwich from, dare I say it, Burger King. That comes in plastic. "It's ok," I told myself. "It's just my one piece for the day." But then I went to an Obama fundraiser and ordered some nachos. They came with the guacamole and sour cream in separate plastic cups. Who knew? I didn't even think to ask for no plastic on my food. Oops. Then I met a friend at Good Eats (see previous post) and although I carefully selected plastic-free options, she picked up extra plasticware for me. Plus, even though we were eating in, they put our food in a plastic bag! I was confused because they had trays but for some reason gave us a bag. So, yikes, six pieces of plastic in just one day?! Ugh.
I went apple/pumpkin picking yesterday -- quality from-the-farm delicious apples! Seriously, these things are so sweet and tasty. When I got home I was so tired that a nap turned into an all-night-sleep. Unfortunately, I'd gotten some of my precious pre-Plastic-Diet chicken out to thaw but never woke up to my nap alarm. $10 worth of chicken and some plastic wasted. I was sad.
Things are looking up, though. I feel newly committed to the cause. I even went grocery shopping tonight and mostly avoided plastic. The only pieces of plastic I picked up were: lids on a box of walnuts and a box of cous cous and a little plastic around the edge of my oatmeal box. I basically just buy canned food and fresh produce on this Plastic Diet which leads to some pretty healthy meals. I'm pumped for the asparagus soup that I'm planning for tomorrow.
At the farm yesterday, they had plastic bags for the apples. I'd left in a hurry and hadn't grabbed a reusable bag from home but fortunately they had some reusable ones for sale there with the following Plastic Diet inspiration attached:
*14 plastic bags contain enough petroleum to drive a car a mile
*380 BILLION plastic bags or wraps are thrown away in America each year
*Cities spend up to 17 cents per bag in disposal costs, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars
REDUCE YOUR PLASTIC. SAVE YOURSELF. SAVE THE WORLD. SAVE MONEY.
It started out well. Tuesday was a one-piece of plastic day. Wednesday was a plastic-free day. Then Thursday hit. Out at a restaurant, I definitely got some dirty looks from the wait staff when I requested no straws. I was only partially successful in avoiding them. Friday, I indulged myself and got some buffalo sauce with a sandwich from, dare I say it, Burger King. That comes in plastic. "It's ok," I told myself. "It's just my one piece for the day." But then I went to an Obama fundraiser and ordered some nachos. They came with the guacamole and sour cream in separate plastic cups. Who knew? I didn't even think to ask for no plastic on my food. Oops. Then I met a friend at Good Eats (see previous post) and although I carefully selected plastic-free options, she picked up extra plasticware for me. Plus, even though we were eating in, they put our food in a plastic bag! I was confused because they had trays but for some reason gave us a bag. So, yikes, six pieces of plastic in just one day?! Ugh.
I went apple/pumpkin picking yesterday -- quality from-the-farm delicious apples! Seriously, these things are so sweet and tasty. When I got home I was so tired that a nap turned into an all-night-sleep. Unfortunately, I'd gotten some of my precious pre-Plastic-Diet chicken out to thaw but never woke up to my nap alarm. $10 worth of chicken and some plastic wasted. I was sad.
Things are looking up, though. I feel newly committed to the cause. I even went grocery shopping tonight and mostly avoided plastic. The only pieces of plastic I picked up were: lids on a box of walnuts and a box of cous cous and a little plastic around the edge of my oatmeal box. I basically just buy canned food and fresh produce on this Plastic Diet which leads to some pretty healthy meals. I'm pumped for the asparagus soup that I'm planning for tomorrow.
At the farm yesterday, they had plastic bags for the apples. I'd left in a hurry and hadn't grabbed a reusable bag from home but fortunately they had some reusable ones for sale there with the following Plastic Diet inspiration attached:
*14 plastic bags contain enough petroleum to drive a car a mile
*380 BILLION plastic bags or wraps are thrown away in America each year
*Cities spend up to 17 cents per bag in disposal costs, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars
REDUCE YOUR PLASTIC. SAVE YOURSELF. SAVE THE WORLD. SAVE MONEY.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Priorities
Recently, I've become obsessed with my friend Kerry's blog. A few months ago she decided to start a crusade to dramatically reduce her plastic usage. Armed with a "plastic diet" buddy, Kerry limits her new plastic to one piece per day - as small as a stir in a drink or as large as piece of bubble wrap. She reuses plastic bags, carries her own containers everywhere, and makes intentional choices that allow for a plastic-free life -- including concocting her own deodorant and laundry detergent to avoid the plastic containers those items usually come in and choosing a piece of fruit over a cookie if the cookie comes wrapped up in plastic.
At first it seems a little extreme, but the arguments against plastic are really compelling. Those arguments include the facts that we waste fossil fuels on creating and transporting plastic and have produced a GIANT (twice the size of Texas!) swirling plastic garbage dump in the Pacific Ocean that is killing wildlife. Her trials and triumphs are on display at plasticisforever.blogspot.com. Awesome blog.
The plastic blog has gotten me thinking, not just about my own plastic consumption but about consumption in general. In a bigger sense, I want to rid myself not just of excessive physical plastic use but also of "plastic decisions" in life. I've decided that I need to refocus on voluntary simplicity, a concept that was once very important to me but has drifted on my list of priorities. And I could use a forum for working out assorted priorities...hence this blog.
Background: My first year out of college, I did a volunteer service program. One of the central elements of the program was voluntary simplicity. In part, we lived this out by earning $100/mo. (plus free room in an old convent and a food budget of $15/person/week). Even more importantly than the material simplicity, we intentionally made choices about how we spent our time and what we focused on. It was the intentionality that I most remember -- really choosing those things that were imporant and working forward. It involves accepting a lot of responsibility for life.
It's not that I don't have priorities anymore. It's just that much energy and prioritization has focused on my work in the years since my "simple" life. By solving for the ways to be most "productive" I have definitely accepted American on-the-go disposable plastic solutions to a lot of problems from food to entertainment. I find that I am not as intentional with life as I used to be, not always fully considering the global implications of my actions, whether it's picking up breakfast at Au Bon Pain in a plastic bag I don't really need or spending time with people that don't nourish my soul. For the love of all that is balanced and good for the earth, I really need to reexamine.
The thing about prioritizing is that some items have to end up on the middle or the bottom of the list. I'm still young (and single!) enough that it makes sense to expend the greatest amount of energy finding and investing in satisfying work. But that is not an excuse to eat unhealthy to-go food wrapped in unnecessary plastic on a regular basis!
I'm going to start like Kerry and Erin did by just noticing the plastic in my life. I'm also going to notice the situations I've created, intentionally or unintentionally, that don't follow my actual internal priorities -- let's call that active plastic. Here's to a less plastic life!
At first it seems a little extreme, but the arguments against plastic are really compelling. Those arguments include the facts that we waste fossil fuels on creating and transporting plastic and have produced a GIANT (twice the size of Texas!) swirling plastic garbage dump in the Pacific Ocean that is killing wildlife. Her trials and triumphs are on display at plasticisforever.blogspot.com. Awesome blog.
The plastic blog has gotten me thinking, not just about my own plastic consumption but about consumption in general. In a bigger sense, I want to rid myself not just of excessive physical plastic use but also of "plastic decisions" in life. I've decided that I need to refocus on voluntary simplicity, a concept that was once very important to me but has drifted on my list of priorities. And I could use a forum for working out assorted priorities...hence this blog.
Background: My first year out of college, I did a volunteer service program. One of the central elements of the program was voluntary simplicity. In part, we lived this out by earning $100/mo. (plus free room in an old convent and a food budget of $15/person/week). Even more importantly than the material simplicity, we intentionally made choices about how we spent our time and what we focused on. It was the intentionality that I most remember -- really choosing those things that were imporant and working forward. It involves accepting a lot of responsibility for life.
It's not that I don't have priorities anymore. It's just that much energy and prioritization has focused on my work in the years since my "simple" life. By solving for the ways to be most "productive" I have definitely accepted American on-the-go disposable plastic solutions to a lot of problems from food to entertainment. I find that I am not as intentional with life as I used to be, not always fully considering the global implications of my actions, whether it's picking up breakfast at Au Bon Pain in a plastic bag I don't really need or spending time with people that don't nourish my soul. For the love of all that is balanced and good for the earth, I really need to reexamine.
The thing about prioritizing is that some items have to end up on the middle or the bottom of the list. I'm still young (and single!) enough that it makes sense to expend the greatest amount of energy finding and investing in satisfying work. But that is not an excuse to eat unhealthy to-go food wrapped in unnecessary plastic on a regular basis!
I'm going to start like Kerry and Erin did by just noticing the plastic in my life. I'm also going to notice the situations I've created, intentionally or unintentionally, that don't follow my actual internal priorities -- let's call that active plastic. Here's to a less plastic life!
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