Holy Week 2017 began yesterday. We've got a busy week ahead of us, so I think I shall have to wrap up my Lenten series on plastic early. Some things I've learned:
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| http://www.ecobags.com/ |
1) I do think the idea of changing gradually, with one habit at a time per month, is a less stressful way to move into a more plastic free style of doing things. It was hard to do this all at once, especially when we were still so busy and everyone had given up different things for Lent, which made navigating daily life difficult. Lent is supposed to be hard, but unless Lent is a thing for you, I'd advocate changing more gradually. All the advice is to start with bags, then water bottles, then travel mugs and then move into other areas. That makes good sense to me.
2) Just getting into the habit of remembering to bring my own bags was hard to do. And I have to admit that sometimes I appreciated getting paper bags from the grocery stores. I need them to put my recycling in as well to use occasionally for other things.
3) If you have to choose between getting milk in a carton or a jug, try to choose the carton. It is made up of 80% paper and 20% plastic. Of course these are only half gallons, so you if you need the gallon, you are stuck with plastic jugs unless you can afford to get milk in glass jugs or you are willing to spend more and buy two half gallons in cartons. And that's the weird thing. Avoiding plastic can be expensive! It changes your buying habits. I do think though it makes you avoid prepackaged, convenience stuff which actually cuts costs. So maybe it all evens out in the end. I am not focused enough to do an in depth financial study on it. I wish someone else would, though!
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| https://equalexchange.coop/ |
4) The way things are set up now makes it very hard to be a conscientious consumer. For example, I tried to find Free Trade coffee in bulk and there seems to be no such animal in the stores If you want Fair Trade, you must buy in plastic. If you want to avoid plastic, you can't buy Fair Trade. This is frustrating. Also, of course, Fair Trade coffee is much more expensive. You can order it on line but then pay for shipping and it still maybe comes in plastic. I am still trying to figure this one out.
5) You can't avoid plastic when it comes to medicine. Or even things like Tums.
6) If you hunt them out, there are a surprisingly large number of every day pantry items that can be found in non-plastic containers, but my impression is that we are moving towards more plastic packaging, not less.
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| http://inhabitat.com/compostable-packaging-test-whole-foods-deli-containers/ |
7) Some people are really trying but the effort is uneven. For instance, Whole Foods has lots of bulk items, but has thin plastic bags for use in their bulk aisle. The Fresh Market has fewer bulk items but sells cloth reusable bags. Whole Foods has plastic in all their bakery bags and coffee bags, but Fresh Market and Harris Teeter do not. It is frustrating because I had to shop at so many different stores. There is no one store where I can shop completely plastic free.
8) I never knew that one can recycle some plastic wrappers. I learned to start closely reading the packaging on many items to see just what I could or could not recycle. The problem is though that only about 20%-30% of plastic gets DOWNCYCLED. Plastic doesn't get recycled. So the first step is to avoid plastic to begin with. Though they are making many improvements now in plastic packaging, we've still got a long, long way to go.
9) One thing I love about Whole Foods is that their cardboard to go containers are compostable. We also got take out from Taco Bamba and their carry out clamshells are also compostable. So, like I said, people are making an effort but it is uneven at best.
10) Carrying around lots of glass makes me nervous. I live in fear of dropping things. For instance, I've taken to using vinegar as a hair rinse, but the glass bottle freaks me out in the shower, where I have wet hands and hard tile floors. I bought a little stainless steel cup to use. I pour the vinegar in it and then I don't have to worry about dropping the glass bottle. This makes me wash my hair right away though because the whole bathroom stinks of vinegar and I want to rinse it away asap.
11) I don't get how people shop by bringing lots of glass jars with them. How do they haul this stuff into the store? It seems so awkward. I prefer the cloth bags. I bought many. I fill them up and then fill glass mason jars when I get home. Now around here (unlike California) there are no bulk liquids to be had, so I guess bringing glass containers would be a bigger deal then.
12) I love that I can compost things. But I learned that I must take plastic stickers off of fruit and compostable wrappers. This can be a pain.
13) I still need to switch trash companies. Mine is not very inclusive when it comes to recycling. And my county has recently closed the nearby recycling centers! This was due to people throwing stuff away that wasn't recyclable. So now we have to drive all the way to the dump, which is a good 25 minutes away with no traffic.
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| https://www.saintjn.org/care-for-our-commone-home/ |
14) I am glad my parish (following another nearby parish who started their ministry a couple years ago) started up an environmental ministry. We definitely need to advocate for change. As consumers we really are at the mercy of corporations bent on selling us lots of stuff. And even though I am a free market kind of gal (I think objectively speaking, it has raised more people out of poverty than any other system) I think we need to be strong, conscientious, principled citizens. That is the responsibility we have that corresponds with the freedom we deserve. We must be well informed and very busy about the business of living ethically. Most people are in a stupor (myself included) but a paradigm shift is needed right now, in this place and time.
15) I think I benefited enormously from this Lent. Giving up plastic in this consumer oriented world that I live in (a rich suburb of Washington DC) made me have to focus on details I never would have. I was forced to live more intentionally. I had to think about the consequences of my own little daily habits. I had to sacrifice my own convenience. This got me out of my own little self-absorbed bubble. I felt like my soul enlarged a bit because so many things I was doing (shopping, cooking, eating, cleaning) were done with a raised consciousness. It felt like a broadening experience. And I also often had a feeling of contentment, of hygge, that I could care for my family, myself and the environment in a loving, mindful and creative way. There was a deep satisfaction that went with the effort and frustration. Pope Francis said there is such a thing as ecological virtue and I think he is right.
I am now committed to living as plastic free as possible and I aim to start advocating in my community and state for better plastic free packaging.
To all who read this, many blessings!
