PROGRESS REPORT: MAY
I’ve finished month #5 living the ‘no-new-plastic’ pledge. And I gotta say….it’s been a bad plastic month.
I’ve almost doubled the size of my plastic shrine and it could have been prevented if I had just avoided two PlasticBlondeMoments.
PlasticBlondeMoment #1 & #2
The first ‘blonde’ moment occurred when I ordered a glass-blown necklace from an artisan shop in Victoria and forgot to tell them ‘Don’t package it in plastic.’ When it arrived in the mail in a foam pack envelope I’m sure the whole neighborhood could hear EnviroWoman barking 'Crap, crap and triple crap.'
And I had no one to blame but myself.
And if that wasn’t bad enough…I had another PlasticBlondeMoment at that very same instant. Because half way through filleting the plastic out of the envelope to add it to the plastic shrine EnviroWoman realized….'I should have just sent it back and told them ‘thanks but no thanks…please reuse this envelope.'
So that’s my strategy going forward…Return to Sender. I've been using it on junk mail (especially those with plastic windows) so why not on other things.
PlasticBlondeMoment #3
There was another PlasticBlondeMoment. It happened when EnviroWoman was distracted at a social engagement and realized she had been drenching her sushi in a plastic dipping sauce cup destined to be thrown away after EnviroWoman finished having her way with it.
But instead, that wee cup has taken up residence in EnviroWoman’s plastic shrine. See how happy it looks with all its plastic buddies!
Do not despair my sweets! Those three PlasticBlondeMoments increased EnviroWoman’s plastic awareness and helped avoid a major disaster.
Averting Disaster
As mentioned in April’s Progress Report, MyLittleCar had been the victim of a ‘hit and leave a note’. When I took it into the body shop for a repair estimate I told them about my No-New-Plastic-Pledge and they said ‘No problemo. The plastic door trim isn’t damaged enough to warrant replacing and we don’t need to use any plastic when fixing and repainting the door.'
Excellent! The Eco-Gods were smiling on EnviroWoman.
But when EnviroWoman finally took MyLittleCar in to get fixed, and had her wits about her enough to ask for a second time ‘Are you sure you guys can honor my No-New-Plastic-Pledge’ she was told…. ‘Sorry, we were wrong, the entire car will be covered with plastic when painted, and this plastic will be thrown out.’
EnviroWoman took a stand ‘Well, in that case MyLittleCar will have to wait until next year to get fixed…’cuz there is no way I am adding a whole car-load of polypropylene to my plastic shrine.’ She turned on her ruby red slippers and high-tailed it out of the body shop.
She was so proud of herself she had to bend over and check between her legs to see if she had grown balls.
But when she jumped into MyLittleCar and glanced in the rear view mirrow, she noticed the words TotalWhackedOutEcoFreak were magically and officially stamped on her forehead.
Please forgive me MyLittleCar.
RudeAwakenings
Let’s see….the inside of Pepsi cans are sprayed with plastic, soda in glass bottles have plastic liners under the caps…beer has the same problems. Metal toothpaste tubes have plastic liners….as do most canned foods.
Ooeee, and even CFL bulbs contain plastic (oh yeah...you're gonna hear about that one, watch for the June post on CFL Light Bulbs #2 coming soon).
And anything in a glass jar also has plastic under the lid to help seal the jar. Yup folks, it’s everywhere.
EnviroWoman has resigned herself to the fact when she buys anything in glass jars (which she’s been limited to) she’ll have commit a MINOR SIN because of the plastic cap seal and sometimes even the cap itself. Bummer, huh?
Sayonara
In January EnviroWoman waved goodbye to meat substitutes, crackers, chips and The Body Shop. In March, it was dishwashing liquid. In April she gave the boot to her beloved Pepsi and ended her affair with Dr. Oetker’s frozen pizza
In May she said goodbye to highlighters and….it really hurts this GirlyGirl to say this next part…EnviroWoman kissed nail polish goodbye. Yuppers, it’s made of plastic. I first weaned the fingernails. Then two weekends ago, I bit the bullet and removed the last red remnants from my toenails. Look at those bland, white freaky little digits staring up at me!! They look totally naked, and ugly and very, very boring. But they ARE plastic-free.
And today, May 31st, EnviroWoman said goodbye to another good friend - Lawry’s Seasoning Salt. Tofu will never be the same again.
Watch for upcoming XtremeMakeovers
In April's Progress Report EnviroWoman reported TheUrgeToPurge was starting to get aggravating. This month she’s turned the problem into a challenge, as she often does. It’s kinda her own version of Flip This House.
Mini NoPlasticMakeovers are happening all over the place. It started with the office desk, then migrated to the pen-stash drawer, then the medicine cabinet and the cutlery drawer, and now the bathroom cupboards. Wait until she hits the closet – it will be What Not To Wear like you’ve never seen it!
Watch for upcoming episodes airing soon on the Living Plastic Free in 2007 channel.
Good Plastic Fortune this month
Anyway, despite all of this here has been some good plastic fortune this month....
- Finding Toilet Paper
- Discovering how great expensive pens are
- Being interviewed on Australia’s ABC radio
- Brain food: Plastic Ocean
The big challenge this month
Kicking the nail polish habit. Plus, I’m still on the hunt for plastic free mascara. Now I’ve added eye shadow, foundation, eyeliner and body lotion to the list. These are my holy grails…because cruelty-free cosmetics that are also plastic free are impossible to find.
And here it is, my sweets, just to keep me honest, an account of my SINs for the month of May….
MINOR SINS for May 2007
- 8 plastic liners from soda pop bottle caps
- Tampon wrappers
- Plastic liner from a foam pack envelope
- 2 mini straws hiding in cardboard packaging from utensils bought at Ikea
- 2 plastic labels
MAJOR SINs for May 2007
- None. But mascara is definitely starting to put a voodoo hex over me, as is nail polish...at least for the toes ('come back to the dark side EnviroWoman')
Challenges Ahead
As current supplies are dwindling I’m starting to hunt for the following non-plastic/packaged, cruelty-free items:
- Mascara & Eyeliner. Potential for a MAJOR SIN
- Body Lotion
- Scotch tape
- Lint rollers
- Eye shadow
- Motor Oil
- Bandaids
- Sunglasses
- Sun tan lotion/Sun Screen
- Thongs/Sandals
- Powdered Milk
- Clothes. I haven’t bought any since January because not buying polyester, nylon, spandex, etc, is gonna be hard.
If you have any suggestions where I can find these items please post a comment.
23 comments. Read or write:
Don't know if you can get it in Canada, but as far as I know, Sellotape brand adhesive tape is made of cellulose, and therefore theoretically is biodegradable. I have only seen it packaged in plastic, but maybe it's like the toilet paper and if you buy a big quantity you can get it in cardboard.
instead of mascara, why not get your lashes tinted at a beauty salon. lasts for a few weeks at least.
Why the plastic tampon wrappers? I understand if you don't want to switch to a keeper, but plenty of tampons (ex. Tampax brand) come wrapped in paper.
Clothing-wise, you're pretty lucky you live in Vancouver! I'm on the same kick with trying to avoid plastic, and I'm mainly buying organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, or wool.
For organic cotton...
There is a great company based out of Vancouver that creates organic cotton clothing... www.twice-shy.com
For merino wool clothing, your best bet is MEC. They have the cheapest clothing of this type that I've been able to find. Other brandnames include Icebreaker (the original NZ company, but it's super expensive!), Arcteryx (good quality, also expensive), and Smartwool (don't get their wool clothing because it pills terribly!) You can buy these other brands at Valhalla Pure or elsewhere.
For bamboo, Lululemon on 4th started bringing in bamboo clothing a while back, and the girls that have the store above lululemon have all this funky organic/bamboo/etc. clothing.
For hemp, I'd love to buy more of this, but the clothing is often so dorky! But there's a store on 4th that sells hemp clothing (and twice-shy clothing)... I can't remember the name of the store though.
For body lotion... is it possible to buy some in a glass jar? Capers on 4th must have something??? I know that Agnes Jean Boutique in Squamish has some incredible environmentally friendly, non-toxic beauty care products that come in glass jars, but they're pretty expensive... You could also just try using coconut oil...
And for tampons... well! I haven't tried this yet, but it's on my list of things to buy because several friends swear by it...a keeper... There are also pads that you can buy made out of organic cotton that you just wash in your washing machine. I've seen these around, but can't remember a brand name or where you'd get them. (Also on my list of things to buy...)
:o)
The all-cloth brand of pads is Glad Rags--there's another brand of cloth pads too, but IIRC they are lined with plastic, so they would be off-limits.
ecco bella seems to hit a number of your cosmetic concerns - this reseller
http://www.ericsnaturalpharmacy.com/ecco_bella.htm
seems to represent ecco products better than ecco does
http://www.eccobella.com/index.php?cPath=42&osCsid=c0852f5d8543d3bf83b3475a10d7beae
i've seen motor oil in large metal containers for bulk purchase, but a 55gal drum might be a bit much. Maybe you could ask an oil-change place to sell you some for a container of your choosing?
Non-prescription, metal frame glasses from any optician can be tinted? -big variety?
They can paint MyLittleCar with a brush, it might look a little rough, but better than rust. You may need to provide it.
My sunglasses are prescription, and my lenses are glass (not plastic), and the frames are metal. So, you could get sunglasses from an optometry shop.
I'm not sure about your "rules" but I buy almost all of my clothing at Goodwill. I figure that there is so much perfectly good clothing out there, I might as well use it. There are loads of suits, dresses, brand-name stuff, and the best part is, it's already pre-shrunk, washed and dried, and the jeans are worn-in and soft! The price is right, too!
For sandals, what about Birkenstocks? Mine look like they're just made of leather, cork, metal buckles, and some kind of rubber stuff for the sole (is that plastic?)
There is a line of environmentally-friendly shoes. I cannot remember the name, but they use bamboo and cork and canvas and all-natural stuff to make their shoes. Argh! I WISH I could remember! They have such a cute website, too!
I found the shoes! They're called "Simple Shoes" - how could I forget that?
http://www.simpleshoes.com/
Maybe they have something.
Excellent focus!!
there are a TON of mentstrual cloth pads out there! if you do a search on hyenacart you would find a plethora of work at home moms selling them :)
hi
You've entered my world! my family and I decided a long time ago to give up packaged food we make almost everything from scratch even soy milk.We spend most of our time in the kitchen what with bread, muffins, soup, dog food to make we've become quite creative. we've given up coffee, tea, and juice except when we make our own.I'm learning how to make apple cider which can be hard cider and apple cider vinegar. The tape issue I sew bags for gifts or we use paper mache to goop things together. As for car oil just get the shop to take care of it for you because they purchase by the barrel, although oil used to be sold by the tin maybe someone still does. The other person who commented about the second hand store is right on I even buy my wool and material there. A friend of mine uses a masage bar as a lotion substitute I'll find out where she got it but I think it was lush or someplace like that. I use oil but I believe burts beezwax {spelling?} can be found in a tin.I've been stumped with the shoe problem so I'm planning on learning how to felt wool into a shoe and reuse my old bike tires for the soles I'll let you know how it goes, maybe I'll gift you a pair for the new year, these things take time. what a wonderful challenge you've given yourself you are courageous!
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I love your blog! I found you via Noimpactman. I just wish the rest of the world would get on board to this type of action.
Anyways, on the lintbrush... This will probably constitute a sin for you, but it might be the best solution. Safeway (Westcoast ones at least) have a reuseable lintbrush. I believe the handle is plastic, and so might be the tube. BUT - you might be able to use it for the next couple of years! Let me know if it works.
Hmm... I stumbled upon the Aveda Environmental Line. Refillable lipstick containers! Mix and match refillable compacts! It might be worth checking out - though they may package things in plastic.
I found some lovely leather thongs and sandals from Børn at jjill.com. They were shipped only in cardboard and paper - no plastic! (I'm noticing these things after a couple months of reading your blog.)
Finally, the off-brand (Nexcare I think?) we have in the States has paper bandaids designed for kids (which I prefer to plastic for breathability.. and the Pooh Bear designs). I'll happily send you some if you can't find any up in Van!
Yes, why the plastic tampon wrappers? There's Keepers, which are OK, but I don't really like mine that much - I didn't find it that comfortable. I prefer the sea sponges.
And you don't have to buy cotton pads. I make my own. find old cotton clothes and an old bath towel. You make them with an outside envelope and put a strip of terrycloth inside. I'll bet you can find a pattern online, but you can design your own, too.
It's a fun (plastic-free) project.
:)
Laurie in Taiwan
I'm not sure if you've addressed this in the past (I've read all your posts as they've been written, but this has only been on my mind recently), so point me in the right direction if you've already posted about it. If not, this would make an interesting post sometime...
I'm curious how you go about talking to people about your plastic pledge and whether you get much positive feedback, or simply just have positive interactions. You must get people that just don't really understand why you're doing what you're doing, that don't understand why plastic is bad. You must get some strange looks sometimes -- I know I do when I say I don't need a plastic bag and then struggle to fit everything in my arms determined to make it work, or when I bring a reusable or already used vessel with me when I order take-out.
What sorts of things do you say to people who try to put plastic in your life? How do you say and do things so that your actions are understandable and make people view your lack of a need for plastic in a positive way?
I find that it can be somewhat of a challenge. People don't understand, and so they react in negative ways. You don't want to lecture them or deliver a diatribe about the evils of plastic. You only have a few seconds to explain it to them -- how do you do it?
Cross pens work. And they're not plastics.
I've heard that inside of lint rollers, some people use felt. Probably have to google it to see how it works, but it makes sense.
Oh no! Did EnviroWoman stop blogging?
Envirowoman,
I'm missing you ... are you OK?
Wow, 20 comments while I've been gone. My sweets! You've all been busy!!!
It's gonna take me a couple of days to answer 'em all, so hang in there.
EnviroWoman
Just came across this entry, don't know if you'll read it. Someone posted on craftster.org, and in livejournal's craftgrrl community the pattern for a crocheted cotton tampon. Very kind of her to do that.
If that is one aspect of "plastic-free" you have not yet addressed to your satisfaction, consider that you can REUSE the plastic sins in your shrine to bring used washable products home.
Hi there! There is a great cosmetics line from Germany called Dr. Hauschka. i'm not sure if their packaging contains any plastic but it is all natural-even the mascara! For female issues you should check out lunapads.com.
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