A Stitch In Time Saves...

Recycling is a good idea and I'm a proponent. It doesn't take that much time and effort. The world has limited resources and frankly, I want to continue living on it and enjoying access to clean air, water and food.  And then there's that kid of mine.  I want her to have those same things and an earth to live on that isn't some version of Mad Max.  And I can't wait around for someone else to ensure this. My actions directly impact the world I live in.

In our family, we produce much of our veggies, eggs and meat on our farm.  We try to buy in bulk, reuse glass containers and resist a bunch of excessive packaging.  And we recycle quite fanatically. We have six bins we sort our waste into each week and take them into the local recycling depot. We always feel good that our garbage can barely fills up once a month.

Lately though, I'm feeling like recycling isn't cutting the mustard.  Just this last week I learned that our local counties in Southern Oregon are no longer going to be hosting the annual plastic recycling event that I save up for all year long.  So, those bags and bags and bags and bags of plastics I have in my barn attic have to go into the landfill and I feel sick about it.

Because I want to focus on love and spreading happiness, not on rolling in the mud and feeling bad, I have an EASY SOLUTION THAT YOU CAN DO TODAY TO HELP!!!  Please keep reading to learn how we can help mamma earth.

Buy in bulk at stores. And, rather than just buy in bulk using using those plastic bags that come in a roll next to the bulk bins, or the plastic containers they offer for honey, shampoo and soy sauce in bulk, why not just use one of your own recycled glass jars and take it to the store with you?  I simply write the weight of the container on it so the check-out person can easily subtract the weight from the total.  Then I carry my groceries in my own cloth bags. Totally not a big deal and, voila! today's quick stop into town:  two less containers and a plastic shopping bag wasted.

**If you don't have a scale at home, the check-out person can weigh before you fill.  

When I look at the plastics I've saved and have to now throw away, I see a common theme in my consumption that I'm going to work diligently to change:

• To-Go containers for take-out food and beverages (bring my own containers;ask/use less)
• Plastic wrap (use more glass containers for left-overs)
• Plastic liners for boxed items (buy more in bulk, avoid products that are wasteful)
• Tortilla Chip bags (Costco...)
• Bulk plastic bags (bring my own containers)
• Various grocery products (larger bulk options)
• Chicken Feed (buy 6 months at a time in large delivery)
• Soil amendments (buy in bulk)

My goal isn't to make anyone feel bad, rather it's to offer a tangible incentive as to why we would want to change our behavior and ways to change.  And so I arm you with reasons to begin to make those changes.  I know I like real reasons my efforts matter:

Plastic Pollution:

(click ^^ for a larger list)

50 percent of the plastic we use, we use just once and throw away.

Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times.

We currently recover only five percent of the plastics we produce.

The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year.

The production of plastic uses around eight percent of the world’s oil production (bioplastics are not a good solution as they require food source crops).

Americans throw away 35 billion plastic water bottles every year 

Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling convergences in the oceans making up about 40 percent of the world’s ocean surfaces. 80 percent of pollution enters the ocean from the land.

Plastic constitutes approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the ocean’s surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile.

One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans.

And there are so many important reasons to be concerned about the plastics.  Follow this link to read more.