Plastic free: Grapes
When EnviroWoman first decided on her New Year’s Resolution back in December 2006, she intentionally didn’t give a whole lot of thought to what she’d have to give up. In a way, she wanted it to be a surprise. She limited her forethought to those things she really loved and didn’t think she could live without.
But for most everything else, it’s been a year of surprises. Chocolate – hmmm, big cramp in that addiction. Meat substitutes – a no go for all of 2007. Crackers – fewer carb binges in her future. C’est la vie.
One day in February, as she was hunting Safeway for one of her all time favorite foods, globe grapes, she came to another sad realization. Globe grapes were gonna be off limits.
Yeah, it’s freaky isn’t it? It’s fruit. The brain synapses don’t naturally link ‘grapes’ with ‘plastic’ do they? But the grape growers and supermarket produce guys sure do. Green grapes, red grapes, black grapes, and globe grapes….all come nestled in plastic packaging.
In a way, EnviroWoman can see the rationale of this. Unless tethered, those wee little fruit beauties have a tendency to jump outta shopping carts and wire baskets and do kamakze dive bombs to the supermarket floor. But rational or not, it bummed EnviroWoman out majorly to find out those ambrosial beauties wouldn’t be part of her diet for 2007.
And then, one day in August, as she was scoping out the produce market in her new ‘hood’ she came across red globe grapes - completely plastic-free. Stacked carefully in green cardboard containers with not an iota of plastic in sight.
So she stockpiled. Yes indeedy, MyLittleWireShoppingBasket did runneth over.
Now, word traveled fast that EnviroWoman had an abnormally large quantity of grapes on hand. And even better - she was cruelty-free too.
Because every fruit fly in LaLaLand, (whose population has multiplied several thousandfold above normal levels because of a 7 week long city-wide garbage strike) has been paying EnviroWoman’s new realm a visit. She can practically hear them pounding on the fridge door and demanding‘Let us in, let us in’ in that same 'help me help me' voice from The Fly. All smug and bold, knowing that no harm will come their way in her household.
Yuppers, those little drosophila darlings have it made!
Lessons Learned:
- Small victories and abundance must be savoured, relished, celebrated, and shared. Even with fruitflies.
- Life is full of surprises. Some nice. Some not so nice.
