by Beth Terry
It was an interesting week. Attended a funeral. Ate a whole lot of chocolate. Bought a bike. And began a Vision Quest. Went through a bit of plastic, too. So here’s the tally.
Plastic items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:
- 1 Sicilia lemon juice bottle and cap. It took over a year for us to finish this, and we’ve got another one (expired) in the cupboard. We mostly use fresh limes and lemons now. I guess we should use up the bottled stuff before it gets moldy, if it hasn’t already.
- 1 Sicilia lime juice bottle and cap. Same as above. And we’ve got another one of these in the cupboard too.
New plastic purchased since the plastic project began and used this week:
- 1 prescription bottle and cap. As I’ve mentioned before, these bottles cannot be refilled in California. It’s against the law. Even our vet won’t reuse them.
- 1 bit of plastic from a bunch of organic bananas. No, I haven’t found any other brand of organic bananas in my area without the plastic, as another commenter suggested the last time.
- 1 fork from the after funeral luncheon. An amazing man died this month. He was one of the founders of the company I work for and the father of the current owner and her sister. He survived prostate cancer for over 15 years and rode his recumbent bike all the way down the West Coast of the United States. In his latter years, he became a vegan for health reasons but still liked to sneak the ocassional cigarette. He enjoyed hanging out in the accounting office with my co-worker and me, and we will miss his energy and humor. So yeah, I ended up with a plastic fork that day (and a plastic cup which I washed and replaced in the kitchen) but honestly I had other things on my mind.
- Plastic return envelope from Cell Phones For Soldiers which came with a book I express ordered from Amazon.com. Okay, where to start with this one? I don’t normally order from Amazon.com, but I needed a book right away for a group I joined this month and couldn’t wait to find it used. The group is run by Jonathan Gustin, the founder of Green Sangha, and as a member, I’ll be partaking in a Vision Quest retreat later this month. Please don’t ask me what a vision quest is. I’m still finding out. Suffice it to say, (or suffice to day, as some believe the saying goes) I didn’t expect a plastic Cell Phones for Soldiers envelope and I just can’t even start to analyze my ambivalence about that.
So there’s the plastic waste I ended up with last week. But there was more plastic waste that I had a hand in generating. While my parents were in town a few weeks ago, they discovered a chocolate bar that they absolutely fell in love with. Divine Milk Chocolate. They loved the sweet, creamy taste. And while I much prefer dark chocolate, I loved that the bar is organic and fair trade. So for Father’s Day, I ordered 20 bars to be shipped to Maryland.
Did I think about what it would entail to ship 20 bars to Maryland during a heat wave? Kind of. I did request no extra plastic packaging materials in my order. Alas, the message was not relayed. The chocolate arrived at their house in pristine condition, “And look what came with your delightful gift,” my dad writes in his thank you email, “(the choc is in the small plastic bubble-wrapped box in front of the STYROFOAM cooler) plus a dry ice plastic bag, plus 4 plastic bags containing gel plus – YAY – a slew of paper packing –”
Look how cute my mom is.
“Are you going to count this on your web site for next month’s tally?” my dad asks.
Well, no. It goes in your tally, Dad. But I did report it, just to keep us all honest. Please reuse the ice chest for your next picnic.
I’ll have more plastic to report next week related to the bicycle I bought this Sunday, and a full report on the bike with photos tomorrow.
