This month we're home in our Illinois house for summer vacation and I'm literally surrounded by plastic and it's making my head spin.
The thing is, our Paris apartment was a blank slate. And I knew as we were moving in that I wanted to focus on using less plastic -- getting creative and avoiding certain things that I've already detailed on earlier posts. (For example, not accepting plastic bags at stores and finding alternatives to the packaged food.)
But now that I'm back in our home of seven years, it's full of plastic ... and the food we're used to is packaged. (Trader Joe's, damn you!)
Luckily, it's summer so I have a weekly farmer's market I can shop plastic-free.
But, otherwise, we're in plastic-packaged food wasteland. It's crazy.
For example, I was carrying a bunch of spinach and carrots (because I forgot my reusable produce bags) and a helpful produce man ripped off a plastic bag and offered it to me. Argh. (I thanked him kindly for being considerate.)
And the number of shopping carts I see piled with plastic shopping bags is terribly disheartening. I'm honestly considering making posters to hang all over the front doors of the store shouting at people to bring their own bags. It's not that hard. Sheesh!
Also, none of my local big-box grocery stores offer bulk anything. I've looked.
So, that's the current state of it.
My next steps are as follows:
- Do the best I can. It's a plastic world, after all.
- Be mindful about what we're buying and try to keep the cart under 50% packaged food.
- That means buying more produce and shopping with a list/menu plan.
- Use the butcher counter, so I'm not getting extra packaging or styrofoam.
- Use up the plastic I have and slowly acquire plastic-free alternatives.
- Be extra-vigilant to recycle all of the plastic that's coming in. Or reuse.
We don't live here full-time yet, so there's only so much I'm willing to spend my time and money on. But the more I consider what's around me and what's "normal" the more I'm frustrated at the choices we're making.
Just reminding myself that even the smallest, simplest choices make a huge difference.
Related posts:
More Sustainability posts
The thing is, our Paris apartment was a blank slate. And I knew as we were moving in that I wanted to focus on using less plastic -- getting creative and avoiding certain things that I've already detailed on earlier posts. (For example, not accepting plastic bags at stores and finding alternatives to the packaged food.)
But now that I'm back in our home of seven years, it's full of plastic ... and the food we're used to is packaged. (Trader Joe's, damn you!)
But, otherwise, we're in plastic-packaged food wasteland. It's crazy.
For example, I was carrying a bunch of spinach and carrots (because I forgot my reusable produce bags) and a helpful produce man ripped off a plastic bag and offered it to me. Argh. (I thanked him kindly for being considerate.)
And the number of shopping carts I see piled with plastic shopping bags is terribly disheartening. I'm honestly considering making posters to hang all over the front doors of the store shouting at people to bring their own bags. It's not that hard. Sheesh!
Also, none of my local big-box grocery stores offer bulk anything. I've looked.
So, that's the current state of it.
My next steps are as follows:
- Do the best I can. It's a plastic world, after all.
- Be mindful about what we're buying and try to keep the cart under 50% packaged food.
- That means buying more produce and shopping with a list/menu plan.
- Use the butcher counter, so I'm not getting extra packaging or styrofoam.
- Use up the plastic I have and slowly acquire plastic-free alternatives.
- Be extra-vigilant to recycle all of the plastic that's coming in. Or reuse.
We don't live here full-time yet, so there's only so much I'm willing to spend my time and money on. But the more I consider what's around me and what's "normal" the more I'm frustrated at the choices we're making.
Just reminding myself that even the smallest, simplest choices make a huge difference.
Related posts:
More Sustainability posts
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