I see the devastation being dumped on the southern coastline and wonder when it will spread further. My heart goes out to all the folks in the area who are being directly affected. We will all be indirectly affected soon as prices will rise for us all.
I had an interesting comment from Anne in Colorado that made me ponder. She said we are all partially responsible as we are the consumers of plastic which is a derivative of the oil. She is so correct. We use plastic all day long and don't stop to think where it came from. There is not a plastic moth weaving plastic bags, clothing tags and wrapping. Plastic is made from the oil coming out of the refineries.
So I ask you to stop and think how many times you touch plastic during the day. Right now I am typing on plastic keys and have a plastic mouse. I opened a new package of under ware today from a plastic package. My half and half for my coffee had a plastic spout and my coffee grinder and coffee maker are plastic. The organic greens I will have for lunch are in a plastic tub. My salad dressing has a plastic lid. The shrimp I am planning on having in my salad is in a plastic bag (I bought 3 bags thinking the price of shrimp will go up because so much of the shrimp we eat is from the affected area and will not be safe to eat or not available at all). I then will garden with my plastic hand tools and wheel barrel. Get the point. I have been part of the problem all along. I buy plastic goods unconsciously and do not think I am adding to the problem.
Anyone want to do a 30 plastic free test? It would surely give the oil companies a direct message other than not buying a certain brand of gasoline for our vehicles. How can we all begin to make choices that are plastic free? We have to stop being part of the problem. I am open to any ideas. This would have to be a big movement. Many people would have to be involved from the producers of goods to the packagers, to the shippers to the stores right down the chain to the consumers. What difference would it make if we just changed a few things in our daily routine? Let's come up with a list of suggestions.
3 comments:
FF it doesn't begin or end with plastic and petrol. Any veggies you buy unless locally produced (and maybe even then) will have been sprayed with fertilizer made from petroleum. Rubber tires are strengthened with petroleum bi-products I believe, so no driving on them.
Almost every pension in the US or England is heavily invested in BP so a boycott will simply add to the unfunded liabilities of these funds. etc etc etc.
It is impossible to get away from oil and oil products and our use of them has forced drilling in dangerous places.
Very sad I know.
Hence opting for organic produce would be a start.. farmer's market even better as it is not only local, it is often much better quality.
The point is we are surrounded by it and most don't realize how much. I am guessing when she mentioned the spout of the coffee creamer being plastic.. not many realized the paper carton is coated in a plastic film.
Just because it would be impossible to completely remove all plastic without resorting to even more restrictive lifestyles than the Amish... does not mean give up. It means get wise.. there are alternate packaging options.. demand them... support them.
It's not easy... that's the point. We did easy, cheap, convenient and this is where it led to. Thing is you can yell and fine them all you want, the only thing the companies listen to is the dollar.
Sorry for ranting.
*you can sometimes find good gardening tools second hand. Some of those old tool may need a little TLC but back then they were built to last
*invest in glass containers for saving leftovers/ packing lunches
* opt for plant based cleaning products
* skip the Osmocote and other synthetic fertilizers- alternate options would be bone meal/ blood meal in paper bags- compost- vermicompost
*a local butcher will wrap in paper
(although freezer paper has plastic on 1 side. )
If you can't eliminate it... try to minimize how much you use, or try to reuse when you can.
I think you have completely missed the point Ann.
The point is not that we are surrounded by it (which we are) the point is being sure that the path of getting away from it doesn't do more harm than good at first.
Much like an addict who's body cannot go without the substance cold turkey too much anti-oil sentiment and boycotting might add too much strain for financial reasons right now. With BP's stock losses already huge the unfunded liabilities are going to grow even more without boycotts.
Too often these days we jump at things especially business and racial/gender/ethnic areas without really knowing the whole story and make things much worse.
Just my opinion anyway
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