Life Without Plastic - Day 28 (ending with a whimper)

[siglinde99]

I really started to understand just how difficult eliminating plastic is this weekend. I went to the hairdresser and got doused in a variety of products to bring my hair back into condition. Usually, this is not an issue, so I think I have to lay the blame on the homemade alternatives to shampoo and conditioner. The real problem, though, was how good my hair felt. As much as I want to avoid commercial hair products, I'm pretty sure I'll be seduced by the plastic bottles of wonder goop the next time my hair feels like straw.

The grocery store was equally depressing. I avoided plastics in the vegetable section easily, and didn't buy any meat of significance. However, I stocked up on supplies of things the girl likes - various kinds of cheese, hummus, kielbasa, rice crackers, apple juice. Everything came in plastic (I could have avoided plastic juice bottles, but I can't afford to skip a sale in favour of my principles right now). Even the chocolate chips I bought to make her muffins from scratch came wrapped in plastic.

Then I bought her some ice cream. There was an entire wall of ice cream, frozen yogurts, sorbets, etc. to choose from. It's hard to believe that, less than a century ago, it was an exotic treat. I found myself singing this under my breath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfh7FTV2CYQ.

In fact, far too much of the store was filled with convenience foods. However, the reality is that, as a society, we have lost the time and skills to produce sufficient food locally, let alone survive through a long winter. Short of willingly going back to a time when we had a much lower standard of living, with most of us doing hard physical labour every day, I can't see how to eliminate this insidious product.

And the fact is, it does have some value. It keeps food more safely (and reduces smells in the fridge, as I discovered when I stored something in its earthenware pot this week). It is essential for biomedical safety (for which I was grateful as I donated blood to a health research project this morning). There may be ways to reduce plastic use in these essential areas, if we were to reintroduce latex where possible, and increase our use of glass or metal containers.

Mostly though, we need to reduce our consumption, bring our own bags to carry purchases, bring our own water bottles everywhere, cook from scratch whenever possible, recycle every scrap we can, and push for support to researchers and entrepreneurs who are working to find uses for plastics that can't be recycled now, and those who are finding biodegradable alternatives.

Comments

[litlebanana.livejournal.com]

I feel like a number of plastic bags that are used on every supermarket purchase is out of control. They use a plastic bag practically for every item, it seems.

[siglinde99.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's insane. Up here, most grocery stores started charging about $.5 per bag at the same time as they offered reusable bags for $1 at the cash; consumption has gone way down in just a few years. Even so, I always seem to have more bags than I know what to do with (mostly milk bags that I use for trash).

[one-raido.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the last graph. I really try to but products with less packaging. I always have a reusable water bottle/cup and recycle recycle recycle.

[siglinde99.livejournal.com]

Every little bit helps, I hope.

[pink-lady2.livejournal.com]

We should be charged for the plastic bags we put our fruit and veggies in. I bought the mesh bags a while ago and am much happier with them but many veggies are pre-packaged (spinach etc.). I am looking forward to the summer. I hope to stock up on fresh veggies and stuff and freeze them. I do have plastic for that as I use tupperware but for me that is an investment that helps me not use ziplock bags or purchase the seal your own bags though I do have one of those sealers. I use glass jars as well when I need too. I think this has been a great series of posts and I have enjoyed traveling with you.

[siglinde99.livejournal.com]

Charging for those bags would be a great idea, even if it would be hard to police, at least until people got used to the idea. We should do some freezing together - I hate it compared to canning but wouldn't mind with company. Glad you had fun - I sure did.

[bend-gules.livejournal.com]

Ireland (as in Eire) started charging 5 eurocents per bag across the country. Cosumption dropped by 95%. Really.

In Germany there are no bags at the cash. Everyone brings their own, and the staff stare at you blankly if you stand around waiting for bags to materialise.

It's totally do-able. Just have to make it a priority.

I live in hope that in the future we'll be able to mine our mass garbage dumps, like open cast mining now, for metal, glass, plastic and compost, and possibly isolate a generation's worth of toxic metals and chemicals carelessly dumped since the 1950s.

People already make livings by garbage picking in the developing world.

There's no reason we couldn't recycle our own from the dumps we've created, instead of shipping it overseas.

[siglinde99.livejournal.com]

Growing up in France and Germany, we always went shopping with our string bags or baskets until the late '70s, when plastic bags started to show up at the supermarkets. I kept it up even when I moved to Canada, but always felt like a bit of a freak. I'm glad it's normal here now.

I share your hope for mining the garbage dumps. The way it's done in the developing world is dangerous and hazardous to the health of the pickers (and others). All the heavy metals, medical waste, and even radioactive materials (I remember a particular case involving X-ray equipment) need to be processed safely.