At times you make excuses for convenience or you can feel that there is no other option. Grabbing a cup of coffee at a coffee shop, getting food to go, not wanting to spend extra money on things you are given for free at the local grocery or retail shops (ie plastic bags, cutlery, straws). Plastic has worked its way into every moment of our lives.
Only in the last 5 years have I become aware of the amount I use. It started with walks in the neighborhood to merely pick up trash, paper, metal, plastic... it was all the same. Then we started working on landscape projects at beach and river sites where plastic naturally washes up on the shore, as if it were just part of the rise and fall of the sea.
Then I started doing research. Reading articles online and popular plastic free living books. The more I researched, the more desperate and helpless I felt. A dump truck unloading in a landfill or the ocean every minute. How could I possibly compete with that?
So I started to focus in. If I could change the way I live, promote plastic free living and live conscious of how much I was consuming - and if we could all influence each other to help clean and heal the world, I anticipated if that might be the path to a happier existence.
I have made a goal of publicly outing myself every week and my plastic consumption. This is an ongoing experiment to see if it changes the way I live and I hope you will take something from this. Some of this I can live without, some there is no alternative at this point, and some I need, but could have found an alternative.
I'm really curious, how do you deal with reducing your plastic footprint?
what do you struggle with the most?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
No human is an island, this will only improve if we work together.