PROGRESS REPORT: MARCH

I’ve finished my third month living plastic free in 2007. I’m now officially one quarter of the way there. This photo shows all the new plastic I’ve let into my life during 2007. It’s a pretty paltry amount, I’m proud to say.

Like February, March has been a pretty easy month to get through. There’s been some positives and negatives.

Good plastic fortune this month....

• I found a local pharmacy that will let me re-use my own prescription pill bottle.
• Someone on TreeHugger.com discovered EnviroWoman and sent many new readers who generously offered great suggestions for non-plastic alternatives – like using honey and baking soda for shampoo. Someone has to be working with a pretty bright bulb to discover that particular combo makes shampoo.
• I went to the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo and found some great plastic alternatives and biodegradable plastic options.
• MyLittleCar and TheBeast, despite appearing to need surgical interventions, both magically repaired themselves this month, which not only saved mechanic and vet bills, but also the use of new plastic for parts and surgery.

Plastic aggravation this month...

Its been a grueling and exhausting month at work, which means that ‘after-hours’, I power-down so much that not all the buttons on my etch-a-sketch have been working. This has lead to two incidents of absent-mindedness which invited new plastic into my life.

• SharWoman and I were checking out the new ENVY condo development designed and built to LEED eco-standards – the first of its kind in our area. Her glucose levels started to plummet so we pit-stopped at a Tim Horton’s for a beverage-break. Even though I AM CANADIAN and know The Rant by heart, Tim and I don’t cross paths very often. I’m sure the last time I entered his house of doughy-sugary morsels I received tea in a china cup…but this time it came in a paper cup (two to be exact which seemed super-wasteful) which I happily carried back to the table. To my horror, as SharWoman and I sat down, I realized….Damn, damn, damn….there’s a plastic lid on this thing.
• MetroCDMan and I were at an after-work function and he chivalrously sacrificed his freebie drink ticket and got me a 'refreshment'. We were so busy gabbing I didn’t pay attention to the bartender as he filled the glass. It was 10 minutes later that MetroCDMan clued me into the fact I was sucking back on a plastic straw. Damn, damn, damn.

The big challenge this month...

Like MyLittleCar and TheBeast, my WeeTV also is quite ancient by current standards. The plastic UHF/VHS thingymebob which connects the WeeTV to the CableGod began to show signs of on-its-last-legs-decrepidness.

To avoid buying a new one I whipped out my handy soddering gun and went at it. On several occasions. Alas, these were short-lived repairs. It finally gave up, dying a proud and honorable death after providing many years of service.

After consulting with LumberYardGuy, and the TVRepairMan, I resurrected it from the ashes by surgically modifying the transformer with a transplant of picture-hanging copper wiring I had in my tool box…plus two more wads of soddering. (EnviroWoman is also a HandyWoman).

But just like Frankenstein, Zombies, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – anything brought back from the dead is never ‘quite right’. So, although I’ve restored my cable connection, my TV now has a serious fuzz factor.

I’ll have to say, this has been my one temptation this month – to go out and just buy a new thingymebob, but it’s made of plastic and packaged in plastic and would count as a MAJOR SIN. So for now, I’m opting to repair instead of replace.

Lessons learned this month...

• Most people try to help. I’ll have to admit, this little venture is restoring my faith in the human race. We are not all ignorant parasitic twits…there really are some very wonderful EcoConscious people out there - in all corners of the Earth. We just have to get the rest of the human race closer to the fulcrum of the tipping point so the tides will turn and we can save the planet.
• I am so, so lucky. I've had 'an attitude of gratitude' for many, many years, but the lesson has been reinforced this month. Cosmic karmic plastic forces are working magic in my life. Maybe there really is something to ‘The Secret’.
• You must be vigilant. Aware at all times. Never let your guard down. Otherwise, ‘plastic-UNenlightened’ people will slip evil-plastic into your hands without you realizing it - and then it's just too late...Tag... it's yours.
• Making a change can be empowering...and even fun. Quite surprisingly, there have been refreshing moments when I deludingly feel like I am 'doing things differently and it shows'. Mostly, this has occured when I'm standing in the check out line at the supermarket.
  

And here it is, my sweets, just to keep me honest, an account of my SINs for the month of March….

MINOR SINS for March 2007: see below for a MINOR SIN definition.

• Plastic lid from Tim Horton’s teaPlastic drinking straw in my Pepsi at a work function
• Tampon wrappers (close your eyes boys)
  

MAJOR SINs for March 2007: see below for a MAJOR SIN definition.

• None (MAJOR SIN #2 was actually committed in Feb, but reported in Mar)
  

Challenges Ahead:

As current supplies are dwindling I’m starting to hunt for the following non-plastic/packaged, cruelty-free items:

• Mascara
• Nail polish (what can I say, EnviroWoman is a girly girl)

If you have any suggestions where I can find these items please post a comment.

Plastic-free: Prescriptions

I needed a prescription filled. But prescription bottles are plastic and I’ve sworn off plastic for 2007.

You’re probably thinking ‘Surely they’ll let you reuse your current pill bottle, and just slap a new label on it.’

Or will they?

London Drugs said ‘No, Sorry’. I’ve been a loyal customer of their pharmacy, but hey, I’m willing to change allegiances for the good of Mother Earth.

So I went to Shoppers Drug Mart, and asked ‘Will you reuse my old prescription bottle to fill my new prescription’. ShoppersGirl said ‘Sure’. But, 20 minutes later when I picked up the prescription PharmaWoman had used a new plastic bottle and told me ‘We don’t re-use customer’s containers’.

Hmmm. A dilemma. I had asked for my own bottle to be reused (my rules allow me to reuse any plastic I had in my life as of Dec 31, 2006). But they hadn’t. If I took the prescription, I was committing a SIN by accepting new plastic in my life. Would it count as a MAJOR SIN or a MINOR SIN? And….I knew if I refused the prescription they’d throw out the new bottle, which now had a label on it. Maybe even the pills too. Would that be their SIN, or mine?

I selfishly thought of my blog. Did I want another addition to the plastic shrine in this month’s PROGRESS REPORT? Then thoughts turned to ‘If I don’t accept the prescription, that’s the only way to make a point to Shoppers, that they need to be more eco-friendly’. So I said ‘Sorry, if I can’t reuse my own bottle, I don’t want the prescription at all’. I’m sure they threw it away. And I’m gonna count it as their SIN, because I would never have filled my prescription if they’d just got their story straight.

Even so, humble apologies Mom Earth, for wasting your precious resources.

Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life…Try and try again.

So I went to another Shopper’s Drug Mart, Dunbar store to be exact, and asked ‘Will you reuse my bottle’. And they too said ‘Sure’. So I queried them further…..'Are you sure you can reuse it?’ and the NicePharmaMan said ‘Yes, if you want to reduce your impact on Mother Nature, we’re gonna help’.

Amazing Answer. YOU ROCK NicePhramaMan!!!! I hadn’t even told him I was living plastic-free in 2007. I didn’t even have EnviroWoman tattooed on my forehead or emblazoned on my clothes. I was totally incognito. And to be honest, I was also a bit shocked!

It gets even better….he showed me this huge recycling bag filled with a wide assortment of plastic bottles and medical stuff in all colors and sizes that they were collecting for recycling. And this plastic wasn’t just their in-pharmacy plastic – they actually accept old medications (non-liquid) from their customers. NicePharmaMan throws the pills into their hazardous waste recycling, and tosses the pill bottles and stuff into the recycling bag. How impressive is that?

I said ‘You do know you can’t recycle grade 3 and 6 plastic, don’t you?’ (Here’s where it gets really good…) They said ‘We know, but we do’.

It turns out one of the NicePharmaMen, has a side-line business, Pharm-Ecological that collects and recycles ALL grades of local pharmacy plastic. If it's plastic, they'll take it!

The concept is great. EnviroWoman gives them an ‘A’ for effort.

Too bad they ship some of it all the way to China for processing (probably Grade 3 and 6 which aren’t accepted by our local blue box program). But quite honestly, from what I’ve read, a lot of the plastic we recycle gets shipped to China for recycling with lousy consequences. But that's another blog entry.

I'm sure it's a hard pill to swallow, but London Drugs, you’ve lost a customer. Shoppers, you’ve won one. Well, at least Shoppers Drug Mart on Dunbar.

And kudos to ‘corporate’ Shoppers Drug Mart that allows its eco-conscious employees to express their inner-green...now, if you’d just stock toilet paper that isn’t wrapped in plastic, I’d be putty in your hands.

Lessons Learned:

• Persist! If you do, sooner or later the Powers That Be will accept the fact that ‘Hey, this Chick is serious’ and make the karmic forces work in amazing ways.
• There are green warriors everywhere. Maybe we really can wake up the world, shake up the world, and save the planet.

Plastic free: Pop

Last year one of my New Year’s resolutions was to lose 15 pounds. So I became a JennyGirl and lost 25. This year I resolved to get a 6-pack. I haven’t been to the gym once yet, but today I realized I had already achieved this goal.

In fact, I didn’t just get me a 6 pack....EnviroWoman is flaunting a 12 pack. (What can I say, when I take on a resolution I do it in a big, big way.)

You see, when I gave up plastic January 1st, as another one of my resolutions, I had to stop buying Pepsi in plastic bottles.

I now buy it by the can, in the handy 12-pack size. (6 packs are a No-Go because they come with those nasty plastic ringy things that kill wildlife).

But, EnviroWoman is not deluded. In no way do I think that buying 12 cans of Pepsi overpackaged in aluminium cans AND a cardboard box is in any way ecologically better than buying Pepsi in a plastic bottle. And lets face it aluminium is probably as environmentally evil as plastic. The Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association says it takes 100 years for a tin can to dissolve in sea water, 200-500 years for an aluminium can and 450 years for a plastic bottle. What’s an EnviroWoman to do?

Well, my rule is ‘no new plastic in 2007’ and I gotta live by it. So I’m saying ‘No’ to Pepsi-in-plastic and opting for the 12-pack.

Now, maybe you’re thinking – ‘Hey EnviroWoman – if you’re into cotton grocery bags and tofu-burgers, how could you drink gut-rot like Pepsi. Surely EnviroWoman is into Evian water from the French alps and herbal teas from the far reaches of Bangalore.’

Ah……NOOOOO. I have no use for bottled water (well, except for when our municipal water supply gets polluted from flooding because we’ve clearcut our watersheds and all two million of us are forced to buy bottled water for two weeks ….which by the way, those bottles are still taking up space in the fridge, and its been 5 months since the water ban was lifted). I think bottled water is just marketing hype. And that herbal tea crap just makes me gag.

NO. Proudly count me as a member of the Pepsi generation. Admittedly a hot cup of orange pekoe tea is really my beverage of choice (which I may have to change because boxes of Tetley tea come packaged in plastic). But, sometimes I’ll admit Pepsi is my breakfast of champions on those work days when I really have to kick butt.

In fact, give me the Pepsi taste test, and I can pick Pepsi over that other dirt-water every single time. And if I’m really feeling in a wild and crazy mood, Dr. Pepper is my drug of choice. (Especially when going through the airport security check)

I know, I know. For those of you who think of me as some kind of eco-goddess (I’m SURE you are out there somewhere), I have totally burst your little green bubble. Trust me, that is a good thing.

I gotta say this though. Product packaging is a very curious thing. Why is it Pepsi and Coke come in either plastic bottles or aluminum cans, but Snapple and Jones Soda mostly come in glass bottles? I’d love to know the rationale for this. Is it a brand differentiator decision, or an economies of scale decision, or a distribution logistics decision? (I've got an email into Jones Soda to find out) But if you know, please enlighten me.

Hmmm, perhaps EnviroWoman’s next diploma should be a PhD in product packaging.

Anyway, here’s how things add up:

Category: Soda Pop
SAINT: Pepsi, Coke, Dr. Pepper, Seven Up…you name em. If they do plastic bottles, they also do aluminums cans
Price: The same
Quality: The same
SINNER: Pepsi, Coke, Dr. Pepper, Seven Up…you name em. If they do aluminum cans, they also do plastic bottles too

Lessons learned:

• Pepsi is the breakfast of champions!! But I knew that already.
• SINNERs can be SAINTS. SAINTS can be SINNERs. I guess no one is perfect. Even EnviroWoman.
• Ya gotta pick your poison ‘cuz there’s no perfect nirvana solution. Cutting trees is bad, smelting aluminium is bad, non-biodegradable plastic is bad. Let’s be really honest here…a wee heart to heart….from me to you….what it really comes down to is this…being human is bad.

Plastic free: Shopping Bags #3

My visit to the recent EPIC Sustainable Living Expo was like striking ‘no-plastic gold’. There were 5 booths that heralded ‘no-plastic bag’ options.

I bought these cotton alternatives from BringYourOwnBag.ca, a Vancouver, BC, Canada entrepreneur. It’s too bad they don’t handily fold up into a tight little bundle that fits in your purse or pocket like the ones shown in this British video, but hey, they do the trick.

I bought them mostly because they are so damn cheeky and help me spread the message of my mission to live plastic-free in 2007.

Plus, since they are made from cotton, they are more biodegradable then the other nylon options out there.

$40 (CDN) for 2 is the price ya gotta pay to be this earth-friendly. But hey, it’s worth it.

I have to admit, when I go shopping with one of these puppies slung across my shoulder, and my handy wire shopping basket in tow, I feel like a true Eco-Warrior. And one crazy lady!

It's just EnviroWoman's way of making an eco-fashion statement!

Plastic free: Dishwashing Liquid

Living plastic-free requires a ‘back to basics’ approach to living. For the most part I’m fine with that. I’m a back to basics kinda-gal. I’ve always washed dishes by hand, for example. But I may have to rethink this. Because now that I’ve pledged to let no new plastic into my life in 2007, my fav-fav-fav Sunlight Lemon Fresh, Grease Fighter Dish Washing Liquid has become off-limits.

In my EnviroWoman books, it’s now considered a SINNER because it’s completely packaged in plastic.

In February, when my Sunlight started to sputter and wheeze the way only an empty bottle of dish washing liquid does, I started my search for a non-plastic packaged alternative. Alas, no success. Even all the enviro-safe-options at Capers, the local shopping destination for all organic-granola types, came bottled in plastic. All are SINNERS (for definitions, see below). For Shame.

So I was forced to resort to using powdered automatic dishwasher detergent, which comes in a cardboard box.

And, I gotta say, it just isn’t the same. I miss my Sunlight. No bubbles. No fresh lemony scent. No ‘sweaky clean’ noise. Plus, ya gotta use HOT HOT water to get the dishes clean (more energy used), and ya gotta wear rubber gloves (which are probably really made of plastic anyhoo and will be something else I’ll have to give up once my current supply meets its demise). And what’s with that kinda slippery film you get on the dishes with the powdered stuff? Yuk, I don’t like that.

But all of that stuff is just about 'the experience' of washing dishes. Do the suds really make the dishes cleaner? Does the fresh lemony scent? Probably not. Come to think of it, there are probably alot of extra ingredients in dish washing liquid that are there more for the consumer experience than to get the dishes clean.

I bet that's true for alot of consumer products.

Anyway, I still Googled for home-made recipes for dishwashing liquid and found none that didn’t require ingredients that came packaged in plastic.

I’ve thought about trying my LUSH shampoo, which bubbles nicely in the shower. But at $11 for a bar-of-soap-sized-block.....that’s just too pricey for dishes – hey it’s almost too pricey for my precious golden locks.

I’ve even thought about using my liquid shower soap (a plastic-packaged leftover from the year 2006), but that kinda defeats the purpose of finding more earth friendly alternatives, doesn’t it?

Thus far I’ve been able to find non-plastic alternatives for most of the products I use in my daily life. Excluding deodorant (my own personal-plastic-nemesis). But I’m at a loss for a dish washing liquid replacement.

So if any of you know of any liquid dishwashing detergents that don’t come packaged in plastic…please make a comment or send an email. It would be hugely appreciated.

But if you don't, I'll just accept a less enjoyable 'dishwashing experience'. Afterall, I haven't suffered an out-break of Salmonella yet, so I'm assuming my dishes are still getting just as clean. I'm just not enjoying getting them clean as much. And that's a small price to pay for Mother Nature.

So here' show things add up:

Category: Dishwashing Liquid

SAINT: Any boxed powdered automatic dishwasher liquid detergent

Price: Comparable

Quality: Sub-par, and that's being generous. It's not the same Martha-experience at all, which makes you think (probably illogically) the dishes aren't getting as clean either.

SINNER: All Liquid dishwashing detergents, (Sunlight, Palmolive, Dawn, you name 'em, their a SINNER)

Lessons Learned:

• Choosing a plastic-free lifestyle forces you to get in-touch with your ‘back-to-basics' alter-ego. You know, the one you take when you go camping on some remote mountain top.
• Consumers need to 'rethink' the 'product experience'. Are there ingredients in our products that are there only to satsify our senses rather than to do the task at hand? Should Nature pay the price for us wanting a sensory experience? Are you willing to give up suds and lemon scents in order to consume less of Nature and have a healthier planet?

MAJOR SIN #2

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned again. It’s been 2 months since my last confession.

And what is the sin you have to confess this time, my child?

Well, Father, this year I’ve pledged to live plastic-free. As an atonement for being a nature-consuming-resource-sucking human being.

All was going fine. I was avoiding buying or letting anything into my life that contained or was packaged in plastic. Oh sure, there were small bits of plastic that surreptitiously sneaked into my home, on clothing and stuff. But for the most part I was staying true to my vow of plastic-celibacy.

But Father, one thing I was really having problems with was – body odour.

I had found a totally plastic-free deodorant at LUSH, and was using it faithfully, but quite honestly Father, it didn’t work. I stunk - and sweat - to high heaven. Co-workers were beginning to notice. Clothes were being ruined.

So I committed my first MAJOR SIN Father, way back in January, and bought a new deodorant that came packaged in plastic…. Nature’s Gate Spring Fresh Deodorant.

Yes child, I remember. You confessed your sin to me at that time. But child, I need to perform a wedding in ½ hour so why don’t you just cut to the chase, and tell me what the sin is you want to confess today.

Well, Father. It turns out, Nature’s Gate deodorant wasn’t any better. I still stunk. I still sweat. I still had ring-around the armpit. And Father, this was the first time in my life this had ever happened to me. And it wasn’t stress at work. Or way-way-early-onset Hot-Flash-Menopause, either Father.

I went back to LUSH and tried every non-plastic deodorant they had, on the recommendation of people who made comments on one of my blogs. All to no avail.

So I sinned again Father, and resorted to buying my usual deodorant Doves Cool Essentials. It comes packaged in a big wad of plastic, that’s not even recyclable. I feel terrible. But at least I don’t stink or sweat anymore. All is dry on the armpit front, finally.

My child, this is a serious MAJOR SIN indeed. I am deeply shocked. You have fallen right off your high and mighty polyethylene pulpit.

Yes Father, I know. I hang my head in shame. I know my credibility and conviction appear to be melting like a snow cone in Hell.

Have you fallen off your no-plastic pledge completely, then?

No Father. I continue to live my life plastic-free. Failure will not stop me. It just makes me stronger. In fact Father, initially I thought I would only make the plastic-free pledge for the first 90 days of 2007, but now I have decided to do it for the full year.

That is good, my child. It is true, both you and I are only human. But it is also true, that through the pledges we both have made, we aspire to be Higher Humans and set the example for others. So your penance today is to say 5 Hail-David-Suzukis, and 5 Hail-Al-Gores....And you must kiss my rosary.

I can’t Father, it’s made of plastic….

Oh, you're right. Okay then, just go forth and continue to preach the Gospel of Plastic-Free.

Plastic-free: Shampoo

They call me the Queen of Denial. Because this year is all about giving up some of my favourite things in the quest to live plastic-free for 2007. It’s like a lent-induced abstinence - for 365 days.

Case in point - my favorite shampoo of all time is Freeman Botanicals. I’m a long-time die-hard fan. I’ve even lived through three total product rebrands and one episode where it magically disappeared Jimmy-Hoffa style from the shelves for over a year. So now, when I find it, I buy it in bulk. That is, until Jan 2007, when I swore off buying anything packaged in or containing plastic.

I now live in Freeman-Denial.

Because, Freeman Botanicals, like ALL the other shampoos and conditioners in the haircare aisle comes packaged in plastic.

Sad, but true – shampoo+plastic=unholy union.

Fortunately way back in December 2006, when this no-new-plastic pledge was just a simmering thought in my higher enviro-brain, I realized I’d no longer be showering with my Freeman friend – so a non-plastic shampoo replacement was one of the first things I hunted for way back in January.

I found a non-plastic variety at LUSH, wrapped lovingly in wax-paper. LUSHGirl told me they didn’t have a conditioner though, but the particular Trichomania I picked had conditioner mixed right in. It’s steep at $11 bucks a chunk (I could buy a whole year’s supply of Freeman for that price) and from what I can tell it will probably only last a month or two. Fortunately it has performed much better than LUSH’s deodorant (which was lousy with a capital L).

On the plus-side LUSH’s shampoo produces a nice lather and leaves my hair clean.

On the minus side – towel-dried hair is like a tangled mess of straw which abandons ship when I comb it out - even with a hair pic. I may be bald by 2008. Another minus - it leaves my hair quite ‘fly-away’…and we’re not talking in a sexy kinda a way either.

Fortunately, when I dropped by the LUSH booth at the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo this weekend, I asked if they had a non-plastic conditioner (sometimes you know, it pays to ‘Ask again’) I struck LUSH gold once again. Because LUSHGirl#2 introduced me to their Jungle Hair Conditioner.

I haven’t tried it yet, but if it works as well as the shampoo, I’ll be a happy, plastic-free camper. Added bonus – it’s also entirely cruelty-free.

Gotta love the LUSH.

So here’s how things add up:

Category: Shampoo
SAINT: LUSH
Trichomania Shampoo bar
Convenience: 8/10
Price: Expensive. But mom-nature is worth it
Quality: Not as good as Freeman, but surprisingly, not bad…not bad at all
SINNER: Too numerous to mention….let’s just say ALL the shampoos and conditioners in the haircare aisle.

Lessons learned:

• Don’t take NO for an answer. They say ‘Ask and ye shall receive’ but if the first time you ask and you don’t receive…ask again.


• Eco-friendly goes hand in hand with eco-expensive. But at least in 50 years when we are all hunkering down in our eco-bunkers to get out of the tornadoes and floods, and soaring heat you can say ‘hey, it wasn’t me…’

PROGRESS REPORT: FEBRUARY

I’ve finished my second month living plastic free in 2007. Although January was a big adjustment, February was much easier. Maybe it’s just the calm before the storm. The reality is, the ‘big’ choices have yet to hit…like car oil, toilet paper, prescription bottles. I've added a few MAJOR and MINOR sins this month to the plastic shrine (see pic at right), but not too much in comparison to the Progress Report for January.

There’s been some good fortune this month.... I lucked out and discovered a Dan-d-Mart in my neighborhood that has a good supply of bulk-bin foods. I now faithfully make the trek every weekend with my chinese-take-out boxes to stockpile on nuts, soy cheese, and pasta.

There’s been a few challenges this month too – buying and wrapping a birthday gift for a 5 year old (wow, almost everything in kiddie-land is made or packaged in plastic), and then there was bringing food-to-share at a brunch with the GIRRRLLLSSSS!

There’s been some aggravation this month. It really bums me out when other people bring plastic into my life, which I feel still counts as an EnviroWoman MINOR SIN. Like the fellow who delivered an original piece of art to me – that had plastic wrap on each corner – damn! Or when I went for an annual physical and the doctor used one of those disposable black plastic caps for the thingy-mi-bobber-scopes used to examine your ears.

There’s been one ‘everyone grab a shovel’ moment. David Suzuki on the Vancouver leg of his If you were Prime Minister Tour commented on the use of plastic bags, and how unconsciously we have all accepted them into our lives. Admittedly, for 99.8% of the audience his comment was slightly less momentous than the opening of an umbrella. But to EnviroWoman it was like a small victory (not that I am so pathetically deluded to think I had anything to do with it) but I hope it got people thinking. Cuz, hons, we gotta move a mountain here to stop this global warming stuff, so everyone better grab a shovel.

Okay, okay. There’s even been at least one ‘intelligence of a shoelace’ moment this month too. One day I was shopping for veggies with my faithful wire shopping basket, only to realize at the checkout that the green beans I had lovingly deposited in my basket ‘sans plastic bag’ seemed to have magically evaporated like the morning dew…Alas, I had left a hanzel-and-gretel trail of the wee emerald gems all throughout the store. (Sorry SafewayGuy)

I don’t think I have anything to add to the lessons I’ve learned this far. But here it is, my sweets, just to keep me honest, an account of my SINs for the month of February.

MINOR SINS for February 2007

See bottom of page for definition of a MINOR SIN.

• the little black plastic cap covering the thingy-mi-bobber ear-scope
• the four plastic corners on a piece of artwork
• tampon wrappers (close your eyes boys

MAJOR SINs for February 2007

See bottom of page for definition of a MAJOR SIN.

• Dove Clear Essentials deodorant (A) (I just couldn’t stand sweating and stinking, and all the non-plastic varieties I tried failed miserably).

Challenges Ahead: As current supplies are dwindling I’m starting to hunt for the following non-plastic/packaged items:

• Toilet paper (looking for janitorial supply wholesaler willing to sell retail)
• Face/eye cream
• Hair conditioner

Stay tuned as I conquer the challenges of living plastic-free

Plastic free: Shopping Bags #2

When was the last time you were asked ‘paper or plastic’? It used to be the norm, but no more. Eco-do-gooders have to take the initiative and declare ‘paper please”. But, last week, my request was met with ‘We don’t have any’. EnviroWoman was so aghast SafewayGirl obligingly trekked over to the bakery department in search of a bread bag. I had left my handy wire grocery basket in the car as it was already chock-a-block full of books for the second hand shop. Gotta admit, I felt like a fool stuffing potatoes and rice into my purse and broccoli and oranges into a bread bag…but it's worth being a fool for Mother Nature.

I bring this up because Ikea has been in the news because starting March 15th, it will charge its US customers 5 cents per plastic bag (it currently supplies 70 million of the little darlins’ to US shoppers). This is just IKEA’s first step to ending plastic bag use altogether, all in an effort to reduce the ~100 billion (yes, BILLION) plastic bags thrown out by Americans every year. Watch the news coverage.

IKEA is also cutting the cost of their reusable bags from 99 cents to 59 cents to encourage customers to take the more earth-friendly option, and donating the money from sales to American Forests.

This isn’t the first time IKEA has implemented this initiative - last June, it began charging U.K. customers for plastic bags, and reduced its bag consumption there by 95%.

Bravo IKEA! Bravo! But when are you going to introduce the same to Canada? Please, oh, please. If you do, maybe even EnviroWoman will shop your unholy mecca of first world excessive consumerism more.

In a way, it’s a sad fact that the only way you get most people to change their ways is to hit them in the pocket book. But whatever works…

Here are some interesting facts (many taken from one of the best resources I’ve found on all things plastic bag: reusablebags.com):

Plastic usage:

• ~500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.
• The average American family of four throws away about 1,500 single-use
  plastic bags (EW: I think that’s probably per year, too)
• Less than 1% are recycled. Most are used for trash bags which take ~1,000 years to degrade in the landfill. Wow, isn’t that scary

Plastic bags versus Paper:

• Plastic is cheaper to manufacture than paper.
• It costs 1 cent for a standard plastic grocery bag, 4 cents for a paper bag. No wonder why stores have headed in this direction.
• Plastic bag production consumes 40% less energy than paper bags, generates 80% less solid waste, produces 70% fewer atmospheric emissions, and releases up to 94% fewer waterborne wastes. Source: Film and Bag Federation, a trade group within the Society of the Plastics Industry based in Washington, D.C (EW: no bias there!)
• In the U.S. alone, an estimated 12,000,000 barrels of oil are required to produce the 100 billion consumed annually... furthermore, paper bags are no better than plastic.Paper bag production delivers a global warming double-whammy -- forests (major absorbers of greenhouse gases) have to be cut down, and then the subsequent manufacturing of bags produces greenhouse gases. In short, carry a reusable bag and when asked paper or plastic, say neither...’ Source: An Inconvenient Truth (pgs. 315-316)

National plastic bag bans/taxes:

• Plastic bag litter has become such an environmental nuisance and eyesore that cities in Ireland, Australia, Taiwan, South Africa, and Bangladesh have heavily taxed the bags or banned their use outright. Several other regions, including England and some U.S. cities, are considering similar actions.
• When Ireland introduced their 15 cent “plastax” on plastic bags in March 2002 usage dropped from 328 bags per person to just 21 – that’s a 95% drop. By 2003, 90% of shoppers were using long-life bags, compared with just 36% in 1999. But, the number of plastic bags increased to 30 bags per head in 2006 so the Irish government is increasing the tax to 22 cents in July. (see, ya gotta keep on hitting humans in the wallet to get them to act planet-friendly) The millions of euros raised by the plastax funds environmental projects.
• Taiwan also used 80% fewer bags after charging for them.

What’s the bottom line? Paper and plastic bags both come at great cost to the environment. Use a reusable bag when you go shopping. And the next time you shop IKEA, thank them for forcing people to be more earth-friendly.

Plastic free: DVDs

Oprah’s been letting fans in on ‘The Secret’ over the last 2 weeks. And since EnviroWoman has ‘SUCKER’ tatooed across her forehead she headed down to Banyen Books (the local mecca for all things New Age) to see if they had any copies so she too, like millions of Oprah-devotees, could become ‘enlightened’.

This was the first time since pledging to live plastic-free in 2007 that I was truly tempted to commit a MAJOR SIN not out of necessity, but just because the lure of the plastic-thingy was just too, too provocative.

In this case, the plastic thingy was a DVD...of 'The Secret'.

I mean, the answer to ‘wealth beyond your wildest dreams’ was on that DVD. How could I resist?

But DVDs, the little beggers, are made of plastic, so are off-limits for 2007. So, I held firm and opted for the more primitive, more earth-friendly, more user-friendly option – the book – hey, I can wield my pink highlighter to my heart’s content all over the pages of a book, and ya can’t do that with a DVD.

To be honest, I’ve never been a big DVD buyer anyway. I own exactly 1. They seem like such un-necessary consumerism. I mean why buy, when it’s so easy to rent. How many times are you gonna watch the same movie anyway. (Except for Pride and Prejudice, the Colin Firth version…I’d buy that on DVD any day, and watch it over and over and over again because that Mr. Darcy is a TOTAL hunk….I bet he’s a Scorpio, all broody, high-morals, and drop dead gorgeous in that wet shirt...). But, I digress.

Even though I’m not a big DVD buyer, I am a big DVD renter. And that’s why when I set out upon this little no-plastic repent I made one of my rules that I can borrow or rent products that have plastic. That way I can rent Pride and Prejudice and enjoy the warm glow of all that testosterone all year long.

Hey, does anybody know if DVDs are recyclable? They don't appear to have a plastic grade marked on them, so I assume not only are they plastic SINNERs, but they also aren’t readily recyclable (DOUBLE WHAMMY SINNERS). Oh hey, looky here, there's a little tiny label 'CAUTION: May cause Mr. Darcy excitability'.