Where’s That Money I Left Lying Around?

I know it was there the last time I checked. Where’d it go?

When I heard the topic of this month’s Green Mom’s Carnival was “Conserving Resources,” I was stumped. I mean, I write about the topic every single time I post, right? Using less plastic = conserving resources. Plastic comes from oil. Use less plastic and conserve oil. Almost every consumer product these days comes packaged in plastic. Buying fewer products in plastic packing = buying fewer products in general = conserving resources. All of our electronic devices are made from plastic. Avoiding plastic means buying fewer technological toys = conserving materials and energy, right? What new thing can I say on the topic?

All this conservation should make a difference in my wallet. So how did I find myself at the ATM last week unable to withdraw cash because my checking account was empty? “Wait!” I thought. “I don’t buy things! Th… Read the rest

Reusable Bags and Stainless Steel Bottles – Do our personal changes matter at all?

I’m depressed. Down in the dumps. Anxious and overwhelmed. For over two years I’ve focused on personal change: eliminating disposable plastic from my life, reducing my energy consumption, and living as simply as possible. But when I step out my front door, the evidence of overconsumption and waste smacks me squarely in the head: piles of trash, pallets of cheap plastic crap, plastic bags and bottles and packaging. Turning on the TV, I am bombarded by messages to Buy. More. Stuff! Are any of my individual actions making any difference in the bigger picture at all?

Last month, about twenty different people forwarded me an article by Derrick Jensen in Orion Magazine, “Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change.” I resisted reading it because I feared it would cause me to question the personal actions I’ve been engaged in and promoting on this blog. But in the last few weeks, I̵… Read the rest

Do you know your life’s purpose?

I am not religious. Although I was raised in the Mormon faith, I currently hold no belief in a personal god or any other type of intelligent creator. I don’t pretend to understand how the universe and everything in it came to be (although I’ve read some pretty cool theories), and I’m (usually) okay with the mystery. I love this planet and this life just as it is and derive meaning without any need for supernatural forces.

I realize many Fake Plastic Fish readers hold different beliefs and that’s fine with me. I only preface my post this way because what I’m about to share and the questions I want to ask you are normally discussed within the context of religion or other spiritual system. But to me, knowing our place and purpose in this life is basic, simple, and completely natural.

So here goes. A few days ago, I was walking home from the BART station very late at night and feeling tired and overwhelmed once again. I’d f… Read the rest

Dear Planet Earth, Are you sad? Or am I just anthropomorphizing again?

Dear Planet Earth,

How are you? I am fine. Well, not exactly fine. I stay up late at night blogging. About you. Sometimes with a glass of organic wine. I’m kind of obsessed with you, actually. Wondering if you’re doing okay. If you’re sad about how we drill into you to fill up our cars, cut down your trees to wipe our butts, remove your mountain tops to keep our lights burning, and pump noxious gases into your atmosphere. Does it piss you off that massive areas of your oceans are filled up with our bottle caps, cigarette lighters, and cheap plastic toys, that coral is dying and beaches are washing away?

A lot of people have ideas about how to save you: recycling batteries, turning the lights off for an hour, or not turning off the lights, watching a movie, carrying our own bags, etc. There are even iPhone Apps to Help Save the Planet. Do these things make you happy?

And will you still be our BFF? We’re giving up buying new plastic and red… Read the rest