Personal Plastic Ban

Hello Dearest Ones!
How are you all doing? I really do want to know. Send me a note or drop me a line, and let’s catch up.

I have felt somewhat blank inside lately. Words don’t seem to be as available to me. And when I’m not feeling blank, I am feeling disturbed and that there are many cultural and environmental issues that I want to explore; that make me want to scream and yell a bit. I’m not really a ranter (usually), so until I can figure out how to broach those topics with some decorum, I’ll share information on some of the more optimistic and helpful aspects of my current life.

I’ve been working hard to eliminate single use plastic from my life. Even the recyclable kind. Eventually, I will also eliminate the reusable plastic. Although, for now, it feels equally wasteful to not simply continue to re-use my current Tupperware and yogurt tubs. Once they become unusable, they will be replaced with non-plastic products. As you might have noticed in your own lives, neither of these things are easy. Some of the products that I use and need (at least I have still convinced myself of this), are not available without plastic, but I’m trying to be really diligent about it.

When I was a kid, I remember plastic packaging being a lot less common. In fact, I have watched our use (in this country) of single use plastic rise exponentially. None of use had ever heard of plastic bottled water, at lease not single serving, when we were kids. Any soda or juice we drank was in a glass bottle or a can. Then the whole take-out coffee and single serving plastic bottled drink worlds exploded. This isn’t only a plastic issue, but a general waste issue.

I was already starting to shift many of my habits prior to the pandemic, and my efforts have become more definitive since. It may have been a reaction to my complete disgust with all of the take-out that has happened during the pandemic. At least in my state. It isn’t that I don’t get the need for restaurant owners and employees to survive, I truly do. In fact, my brother owns a restaurant and I know how hard it has been for him, but I had already discontinued the practice of ordering take-out long before the pandemic. I had stopped ordering take-out, and I carried my own to-go containers with me in my car for any possible leftovers when I would eat out. I also carry a small cup in my car so I can get a drink at doctor’s offices and other locations without using a disposable paper or plastic cup.

Now, with the fear of contagion, I am not able to use many of those practices. That has resulted in a few things for me: 1) I continue to not eat take-out, 2) I only eat out if the restaurant is using real dishes and utensils and I can dine there, and 3) I have turned to other ways that I can minimize my own personal waste.
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I had stopped buying baby greens in those big plastic bins already. Do you remember that just 5 years ago those bins were plastic bags that used far less plastic? About 5 years before that, you could take your own re-useable produce bag to the grocery store and fill it with baby greens from a large bin at the store. You couldn’t buy cut up watermelon in a plastic container. You just had to buy a watermelon, packaged and protected by its very own rind. Goddess forbid we eat smashed lettuce or have to cut our own watermelon!

I told you I was having a hard time coming up with words that aren’t screaming and yelling. Sorry! I’m stepping back down off my soap box now. Thank you for your patience!

Anyway, here is what I’m doing right now. I hope the list continues to grow:
~I make homemade yogurt from local raw milk that I receive in a glass jar that I have to return after use.
~I use bar shampoo and conditioner. It took a while, but I even found organic, environmentally friendly products that leave my hair happier than all those fancy products in plastic bottles. When I need extra oil, I use Macadamia Nut Oil (food grade, that comes in a metal container).
~I dissolve a locally made bar hand-soap in water so that it is available in a glass and metal pump bottle for my clients. This is to keep things cleaner and more sanitary than bar soap.
~I started making my own chap stick a couple of years ago because I couldn’t find a product that worked well for Southern Colorado level dryness, and this week I started to make my own lotion. Still experimenting with this one. It’s a bit more complicated. I’m learning all about oil in water emulsification. Fun!
~I buy loose heads of lettuce or bunches of spinach and take them home in my reusable produce bags, and whenever possible, I grow my own greens.
~I found a bulk herbal chai tea that I like and stopped buying the boxes of individually packaged tea bags. This is more of a waste than a plastic specific issue.
~I take my own glass or metal bottles of water with me on hikes and when I’m going to be in the car for a while.
~I store food in my fridge, freezer and for picnics in reusable containers: glass, metal or those reusable plastic containers that I’m still trying to take advantage of for non-heated items.
~I began using a reusable silicone menstrual cup years ago. I love it! So Tawa friendly and nothing goes into the landfill.
~I went back to using powder laundry detergent that I can buy in a cardboard box.
~I’m using a 100% bamboo toothbrush. I actually love this. It’s so soft and gentle on my gums.
~I’m still using up the plastic tube of toothpaste I have, but will replace it with “Bites” (natural toothpaste tablets).
~I’m not a big deodorant user, but I found a great one in a cardboard tube from Humby Organics. My guy, who is a fan of antiperspirants, even likes it. Big win!

I would love to hear what you and your family/ loved ones are doing to love up on Mother Earth and yourselves. I’m sure there are many things I haven’t thought of. I also hope you continue to be well (physically, emotionally and mentally) in this unusual moment in time that we are experiencing together.

I love you,
Tawa