"A" for Effort

So today was a smallishly disappointing day. . .

I had to buy sunscreen, for we are the fairest of all. And you cannot buy suncreen in anything other than a plastic container. Some times there seems to not be a way around it. Go ahead, buy crackers. Buy crackers in a cardboard box made from recycled material, and inside you will find plastic sleeve bags to keep your munchies crunchy.

Some of this stuff can be given a second or even a third go around.

When we get junk mail, my youngest gets the "reply" envelopes they put in there. She uses them to play Valentines. We have an ever growing collection of plastic cheese buckets, spaghetti sauce jars, and brown paper bags- just waiting, waiting for the day they are useful once again!

Here is to doing what we can today with what we have, and waiting for tomorrow to make a difference again.

Beginnings

So today I went out and got some new shopping supplies; burlap grocery bags, some brown paper lunch bags, and some reusable sandwich containers (we are heavy-duty picnickers around here).

I have begun paying close attention to what I throw both into the garbage can as well as what I throw into the recycle bin.

Recycling is good, right?

I saw a film on PBS the other night that says yes, recycling is better than right to the landfill but the recycling of plastics in this country is shoddy at best.  You should check out Bag It. . .

So now I keep things like sushi take out containers and sour cream containers and use them to put bulk goods in at the local market. It's not as expensive as you think. And ponder this if you will. . . how many times have you had to buy a $15 bottle of ginger for a recipe that needs 1/2 teaspoon? At the local food co-op you can go and buy 1/2 teaspoon of ginger. No kidding.

So it saves you money, wasted food, and saves on plastic and packaging waste. That's a deal.


I'm not telling you to go vegan and stop driving your car. . . just be aware. 

An Introduction

I found this sign while touring thrift stores in Longmont Colorado about 9 years ago. And it stirred something within me. Just stirred.

Well, it hung on the kitchen walls of various places I lived. It moved with me, sometimes never making it out of the packing box before I moved again. My life took me places and this sign came along for the ride.

I found myself living in northern Colorado and I began a career in glassblowing. One of the products I began making was glass drinking straws. I was inspired in part by a woman who said that when her organization does a beach clean up the thing they find the most is plastic straws. The garbage on the beach was interfering with the sea turtle life cycle.

        Interesting. We all know that small things add up but- wow.
So I make straws and advertise them to my beverage toting clientel...
                   "Saving the world, one sip at a time!"
and       "Make a difference without making a sacrifice!"

And then I had one of those moments when one sentence changes everything. It shook me to my core- shaken, not stirred. . . Someone ever so gently notes that I was packaging my plastic-free straws in bubblewrap. Plastic bubblewrap.

So what kind of difference am I making really? I felt a little hypocritical. And so it began. . .

Now the sign hangs in my kitchen and reminds me everyday that- hey, I am somebody. And every little thing I do means something to someone somewhere.

Since my awakening I have a plan. Everyday I make a wholly conscious effort to leave the world a little bit better than it was, or would have been had I been in my previous unconcious state.


This is my journey. Because if something as small and seemingly insignificant as a plastic straw can make such an impact on the world- then surely something small that I do can make a huge impact on the world too.

I am somebody doing something. . .


This is the last straw. Follow this blog and be prepared to be shaken and stirred.