About a month ago while exchanging facebook comments with some amazing friends of mine about bartering, local CSA's, the trouble with plastics, and our everyday "we are mothers, we have to save the world", you know, everyday mothering stuff...a friend suggested that we might try living a few weeks or a month without purchasing plastic. Let's give it a go, see what alternatives we come up with, how well we can do it. (Please do see my friend Rebecca's article about the idea
month less plastic) And being who I am, I said, "Sure, I'll do it".
Initially, I thought I can do this. Then I thought about all the plastic I live with, about how much plastic goes into my grocery cart. I was worried that I couldn't do it, not if it meant changing my world to one
WITHOUT plastic, not buying food wrapped in plastic, toiletries, detergent and well... I panicked. Working my way around it was looking impossible. Just the thought of it had me dazed...the amount of plastic on the grocery store shelves, the amount in general that we aren't able to recycle, how much isn't even considered for recycling...it was more than daunting.
I relaxed a bit when I realized our goal would be to live with
LESS plastic. I could settle into the idea of using the plastic I already have more efficiently and avoiding the purchase of new plastic. Whew!! I knew there was going to be a shift in my life style, a charlie horse-like cramp in my somewhat complicated shopping needs but, I was much more hopeful. I can already see how removing plastic from my pantry and my kitchen is going to force me to make more time to prepare food, to be with and take better care of my family.
It has taken a month just to wrap my head around the 'month less plastic' project. I've already spent hours walking through grocery stores feeling stifled by the lack of alternatives; hours talking to friends about plastic, about allergies, about recipes, about canning; buying in bulk, how to store things, where to buy meat not wrapped in plastic and styrofoam. Eliminating the specialty items for my daughter alone will cut out 60% of the plastic in my cart. I definitely need some safe alternatives.
I have so many questions about how to do this in a way that works for my family. So I'm on a mission, to seek the wisdom of friends who have already shifted their lives to using less plastic, who know something about cooking for the allergy ridden and who are dedicated to creating less waste.
I have also had a pressing urge to look up recycling facilities, thrift/consignment stores and charities that will take the things we don't want, use or play with anymore and all of those things, I just don't know where to put. Expired medication and over the counter drugs, light bulbs, batteries, broken toys, battered unusable shoes, where does all this stuff go? I know I can't put them in the trash. If I do, where will the end up and in whose back yard? My pantry has become a catch all for these things because I've been unaware of where to take them for recycling.
Some of the things I have found important and helpful to remember in my plastic detox process, are all of the steps we have already taken to reduce the use of plastic, energy and other waste in our home. It is this mental list of things we have already done, already figured out as a family that will keep me sane when it feels like I'm swimming upstream. It's not necessarily going to be easy. It may just feel hard in the beginning. I know it can be depressing at times, in the face of how much plastic there is to cope with. I believe it is good too to remember that every piece of trash you pick up and carry to an appropriate recycling bin or station, really
IS helpful. Every little bit counts. Holding onto the efforts we've made as individuals and to those we've made as a community are so very important.
If you want some enlightenment about how plastic stays with us forever, check out
plastic is forever on my friend Liesl's blog.
The beautiful thing about all of my questioning and preparing has been looking into solutions, talking to friends, sharing ideas and resources, getting suggestions and offers to help sort out my pantry. It's been a wonderful way to connect with like minded people who care about what planet we hope to leave our children's children and such a tremendous learning experience. It has been a community building experience for me, a wake up call to organize my life and to fight food allergies that have had me feeling dumbfounded and confused, to combat them with time, energy and forethought. Walking the
"less plastic walk" could give me an opportunity to get my life back.
Starting this journey has been a very good thing. This will change my priorities in many ways. I've come face to face with
convenience in all it's glory, seen how the chaos inherent in reaching for the convenient option, clutters my mind and my home. I'm simply deciding to clear things out. Everyday I get to make choices. Making choices with my eyes open is the key.
I may
fall off of the LESS PLASTIC wagon. I could be tempted to buy more, tempted by
convenience. I can hear it now..."It feels too hard, I don't have the time, I've given into pleading children, everyone else buys it, who cares about sustainability? our population density won't support us much longer anyway or maybe I just need to call a doctor to ask about taking Prozac or something equally numbing".
Convenient excuses.
In truth if I "fall off" the
less plastic wagon, I am choosing to be numb.
Comfortably numb...
again.
