Comments on: Wanna Hang Out With Me?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:36:46 +0000

It would be a relief to have you visit. If your ever thinking of a trip to Europe, I´m in a beautiful spot on the West Coast of Portugal. Oh, to not be the only “weirdo”

I mean it, if you come get in touch.

:-)

By: Angie

Angie — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:13:53 +0000

I had to revisit this. By far one of my favorites you have written so far.

By: Alyson

Alyson — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 09:21:39 +0000

No, you probably would have outstayed your welcome pretty quickly in my house. I wished to be encouraged for the efforts I’ve done so far not critised for not doing enough! Whilst I value you for the information you’ve imparted so far, I don’t fancy you nosying through my cupboards, tut-tutting.

By: Jack

Jack — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:20:05 +0000

I want to thank you for this post. I identify with this so so much, and it’s of enormous help to have super-powered voices publicly chewing on this problem too. Know that lots of people are listening out here, and we’d all have you to our parties. (Those of us who HAVE parties…)

By: Tiffany Norton

Tiffany Norton — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:45:00 +0000

Not much of a party-goer, but I am a teacher, and there’s plenty of food-sharing, lunches, snacks, birthday treats, etc. in the teacher’s lounge. I have made a project out of declining any kind of disposable anything. I am sure I annoy the crap out of my coworkers. I always show up to the lunch table without my own gear, and then say, incredulously, “oh – disposable plastic plates? Oh, I can’t use those! Oh, let me go and get my own stuff.” Just to make a point that I EXPECTED that we would be given washable stuff, and that it is STILL worth it to me to go back to my desk and get my reusable stuff. I always bring a few extra sets of dishes and try to offer them to my coworkers. I also wash my stuff right there in the teacher’s lounge instead of using the sink in my classroom. Does it have any impact? It might not look like it at first, but everyone EXPECTS me to act like this, and it makes them think twice. At least I can say that no one brings treats on styrofoam plates anymore, and when someone chooses biodegradable plastic, they always make a point to make it publicly known, like to make me proud. And still, I bring my thrift store plates… Baby steps, baby steps.

You can come hang out with me any time. I’d love to have your critique both in my workshop and at school. I would be honored!

By: ECline

ECline — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 15:12:04 +0000

Anna Fay – I am with you. I’m currently visiting family, and it pains me to see their use of plastic and, well, it isn’t disregard for the planet, but more unawareness of the consequences of what they do. I try to help, but even I hear myself and feel that I sound a little preachy.

For instance, my mother uses a small plastic grocery bag under the sink for trash, and then she ties that off and puts the little bag in a larger trash bag. Completely unnecessary, but she says that it makes it easier for her. She says while I’m here, we can try to just use the big trash can.

I’ve made a few comments here and there, and her recent response to me was, “Well I saw you do something wasteful. You put so much peanut butter on the plate, and it just gets thrown away.” She was referring to my son’s snack. I think she was just looking for something. I smiled and agreed with her. I’m willing to listen to new ideas, and I hope my family is too.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 13:43:55 +0000

I have similar issues (although not just around plastic…’Gee, ground beef sloppy joes sound really, umm…thank you for making them for the family party. Yeah, maybe I’ll have some in a little bit…yeah, you’re right, I am pregnant and I should eat something.’ *gag..gag..cows that ate other cows ewwww!…gag*).
Your comment asking whether it is worth it to save a few plastic cups while alienating everyone you know is spot on. That is a tension I live with right now as my parents think I have either gone crazy or been brainwashed by Al Gore.
They are completely overwhelmed with how to relate to this new Katie who won’t eat fast food and tells the kid that the general rule is not to put plastic in her mouth (even plastic kiddie-ware and cups and things). I understand it is overwhelming for them, and I try to be sensitive so we end up compromising when it’s not the end of the world (chances are drinking cold water out of a reusable plastic cup at someone’s house is not likely to cause bpa to leach and give my child menses onset at age 5, although if there’s a shot glass in a cabinet somewhere, I’ll give her ‘shots’ to drink instead. Last night at a party she did 5 shots of cranberry juice. :-)

By: Anna Fay

Anna Fay — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 06:12:03 +0000

I work at Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides and eat a pretty darn near 100% organic diet.. because of what I know from the time I have worked there. Scary stuff, kind of similar to chemicals in plastic! I have also been studying plastic for the past year as well. My interest first drawn by the Pacific Garbage Patch and an interview of Captain Charles Moore on The Colbert Report… I wrote a paper on it, which turned into an even bigger paper on plastic. My life has changed and I feel amazing!

My Dad says he “believes me” and “knows I’m right” and is pretty kind about my life choices. My mother on the other hand seems to giggle at it and continues to consume plastic like a regular American (Plastic grocery bags & juice in plastic!! She got me organic lettuce grown in mexico and packaged in a plastic bag)-ugh. Claiming she hasn’t always been this way and that the thing’s I’m {me} “in to” she did when she was younger.. and that it was “nothing new.” Her and my boyfriend have said that the way I feel like I’m trying to help them comes off as “pretentious” and that I dont make the best first impressions because plastic seems to always come up these days (IT IS EVERYWHERE!!) Haha.. so yeah…

How do you handle life when everyone seems to hate talking to you and when all your loved ones are mindlessly killing themselves?

Love the thread, I am pleased to know there are people going through the same societal difficulties. Could we have a thread on how to positively affect people in a way they dont get offended? I love helping people and education.. hoping to save le world a bit here. :) Beth & you all–friends, a revolution! Thank you and lets keep up the good work!

xxoo

Anna Fay

By: Whiskas

Whiskas — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:47:33 +0000

I do all that stuff at parties, but I still have lots of mindless fun!

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:10:55 +0000

The problem with getting really in to environmental issues is that it’s easy to cross over into mental illness. I was recently in a mom’s group with this woman who ONLY talked about organic food. It got to be so ridiculous that you could tell people were avoiding her. I think she got it and stopped coming to the group. It’s not like the rest of us are anti-organic and in fact, I do try to buy organic, but this woman was totally out of control. It’s easy to get so worried about the planet or health that you risk becoming completely unbearable.