Just PLEASE avoid plastic like the plague...

It's so hard to get plastic out of our lives... I'm trying. Plastic bags, yogurt containers, bottles, tubs, milk jugs, wrappings, toys, computers, gadgets, cars, clothes, plant pots, buttons, straws, plates, cups, forks, spoons, knives, toothpaste tubes, shampoo bottles, dish soap bottles, vitamin bottles, sunglasses, juice bottles, buckets, stickers, thread spools, bobbins, containers for EVERYthing...

It actually is impossible to rid our lives of it right now. How did that happen? Not two generations ago there WAS NO PLASTIC. {The very first plastic (bakelite) was invented in 1907.} I feel like I'm doing what I can until I see/read something like this article. Please read it. It's fascinating and it just might change your life.

"As for phthalates, we deploy about a billion pounds of them a year worldwide despite the fact that California recently listed them as a chemical known to be toxic to our reproductive systems. Used to make plastic soft and pliable, phthalates leach easily from millions of products—packaged food, cosmetics, varnishes, the coatings of timed-release pharmaceuticals—into our blood, urine, saliva, seminal fluid, breast milk, and amniotic fluid. In food containers and some plastic bottles, phthalates are now found with another compound called bisphenol A (BPA), which scientists are discovering can wreak stunning havoc in the body. We produce 6 billion pounds of that each year, and it shows: BPA has been found in nearly every human who has been tested in the United States. We’re eating these plasticizing additives, drinking them, breathing them, and absorbing them through our skin every single day..."

Oh, it gets much worse. Click above to read the whole article. Please. Ignorance is not bliss, it's suicide.

A Company that Exploits Children

Here's a film I think everyone should see. It's the story of a postman and a gardener taking on the lies of a powerful corporation. Or rather, the corporation's attempt to snuff out their wee voices. McDonalds spends 2 Billion dollars a year trying to tempt children to nibble their fries.

"The judge ruled that indeed McDonalds does 'exploit children' with their advertising, produce 'misleading' advertising, are 'culpably responsible' for cruelty to animals, are 'antipathetic' to unionisation and pay their workers low wages." It's highly entertaining and just might change your mind about their fries. More good reading here.

Cloth Family

I'm learning a lot from the No Impact Man blog, and one of the things we're incorporating is the cloth in everyone's pocket idea. This way we don't have to use papertowels when we're out, don't have to use paper napkins when we eat out, we can bring food home wrapped up in it, and it just comes in handy for so many things! If you want to read more, click here. I especially think the photo visual is inspiring...

Great Mushroom bag

I reuse a plastic mesh bag (I think I bought some bulbs in it at one point) as my keep-in-the-bottom-of-my-purse mushroom bag. It works great because mushrooms have to breathe (which is why they have paper bags right there for you to put them in), it doesn't get dirty (and if it does you give it a quick rinse), and it twists up into a tiny little bundle when not in use.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive...

I ask for what I want. A LOT. Every time I go to my favourite fruit and veggie store I ask whomever is at the till if they're going to be getting more organic produce. I've asked the manager, and now I want him to hear from all of his cashiers that people are asking A LOT.
When I go to my favourite natural food store, I ask for bigger bags of flour, more local produce, etc. When I go to my favourite deli, I ask if each item has MSG or artificial colours or artificial ANYthing. And if they say "yes", I say "no thanks". When I go to my favourite bulk foods store, I ask if they're looking for more fair trade products. Now when I go in, someone usually proudly shows me a new fair trade item for sale.
I think the more we talk about sustainable practices, the more "normal" it becomes. The first time a stranger hears someone asking for flour in cloth bags, it might seem strange. But what if that same person heard it 3 times? They might begin to wonder about it and even seek it out themselves.
And I'm a big believer in "the consumer has the power." If we all spoke up more often and ASKED and ASKED and ASKED for what we want to see, it would happen. And combine that with our right to REFUSE to buy anything packaged in styrofoam, anything over-packaged, anything sold in containers that are not reuseable or recyclable, well, that's POWER.
Speak up. I will too. Together we'll change the world.

GREAT book: "Trash Talk"

This is an incredible book, written by Dave and Lillian Brummet, published in 2004 by PublishAmerica LlLP. It is chock-full of ideas for reducing our trash -- from refusing to buy over-packaged items or packaging that can't be reused or recycled, to creative crafting with otherwise discarded items, to thousands of fantastic ideas for reusing everyday items when the primary use has ended. Lillian has given me permission to share some of their great ideas on this blog, and I highly recommend having this book on your shelf for daily inspiration and great ideas -- it's the one you'll pull down off your shelf and lend to that friend or family-member who needs inspiration in the direction of sustainability!