Plastic a go-go

I have decided to reduce my usage of plastic. I feel bad when I see articles about plastic being found in the bellies of sea life and that so much of it cannot even be recycled by our local recycling facilities. I want to do my part to reduce the use of plastic. I was raised Catholic and all my Catholic friends and family are talking about what changes they will make for Lent. For those of you who do not know, Lent is a 40 day period when Catholics make some sort of sacrifice or commit to do more good deeds.  Although I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I decided Lent was a perfect time to start a commitment to decrease my consumption of plastic.

Right off the bat, I learned that at this time, I cannot completely eliminate plastic in my life. Making this conscious effort to decrease my use of plastic has fully brought to my attention how it is everywhere. Let’s just start with my yesterday.  It was a travel day for me. That meant I was served my first beverage of the morning on the airplane. My water was given to me in a plastic cup, so I decide on the next flight to ask for the can of water without any ice and therefore eliminated the use of that plastic cup. For lunch I grabbed take out so I could get into the office and get to work. The takeout summer rolls were wrapped in plastic and came with a little plastic sauce cup of peanut sauce for dipping, that also had a little plastic cover on it. Then it was in a cardboard box which was placed inside a plastic bag with plastic utensils and a napkin.  I do not carry my own shampoo and conditioner with me when I travel. I just use whatever is in the hotel room. That is nicely package in more little plastic bottles.  When I checked into the hotel I was given 2 plastic bottles of water. For breakfast this morning I just grabbed some oatmeal to go. I put it in a disposable coffee mug and covered it with a plastic cover. Wow, this is going to be much harder than I thought, now that I see how much plastic I really do use.

I am having some success in the early phase of my efforts though. At home we are avoiding using the zip lock bags that I love so much. When we empty one that was used prior to this initiative, we rinse it out to reuse it. Out leftovers are getting put into storage containers that are reusable instead of plastic baggies. I am not using the plastic wrap either. If I do need to cover something, I am using tinfoil or putting it in reusable mason jars. Both my husband and I have reusable travel mugs and water bottles. We use those rather than plastic bottled water. We recycle the plastic items that come as packaging on things we buy. We use reusable shopping bags or ask for no bag whenever possible.

Just becoming aware of our use of plastic has got me thinking about how and where can I make other, better choices. Hopefully more and more companies will understand the damage this is doing to our planet and start to decrease plastic packaging. Better yet, switch over to biodegradable packaging. Until then, we will do what we can to make a difference. Even a small step can make a big difference, especially if a lot of people join in. You do not have to be a total “no plastic” purist, to have your small efforts matter.

Thank you for reading my blog today. I love you. May you follow the call of your heart wherever it may lead you, as if by magic.