Comments on: I'll take plastic…

By: High Wattage for Sustainable Living . . . « J. Ruth Kelly’s Blog

High Wattage for Sustainable Living . . . « J. Ruth Kelly’s Blog — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:20:54 +0000

[...] as is beautifully described here - “I’ll Take Plastic” - we go through a wrestling match over how “green” we are or are not, how “organic,” or [...]

By: matt

matt — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:32:42 +0000

This blog’s great!! Thanks .

By: Beth Terry

Beth Terry — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:07:13 +0000

Whew. I was really on a roll when I wrote that comment, wasn’t I? It’s loooooooooong! Glad you found it. I was worried I did all that writing for nothing. Thanks for your nice words and comment on my blog as well!

By: highmountainmuse

highmountainmuse — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:52:56 +0000

Beth, sorry for the delay in seeing and responding to your comment. It was in the “spam” folder, but I’m glad I saw it and read it. Thank you, you have some excellent points and ideas and I have a lot of respect for anyone who does what they believe is the right thing. We all have much to learn, but we all can start by trying.

By: highmountainmuse

highmountainmuse — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:48:28 +0000

Nancy, I love your goal! I’ll try for that, too.

By: goamwat

goamwat — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:41:46 +0000

I think a lot of the ‘bring your own bag’ deal is a fad and trend. It’s hip to be green right now, and one of the more visible signs of being ‘eco-chic’ is a reusable grocery bag. While I fully support any trend that asks people to jump on an earth friendly bandwagon, I’m afraid it’s gotten to the point of just image and not understanding. Hence, the SUVs that drive the people with the reusable bags to the fancy grocery stores. I’m just a whiner. Even baby steps are good steps.

And I fully support homegrown, homemade, and homebred. My goal is by 2010 to be able to have one day a week where all my meals are homemade.

By: highmountainmuse

highmountainmuse — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:16:29 +0000

I sometimes wonder if I think too much and still don’t figure anything out…
A big lesson I try to learn from my limited experiences shopping is that we just can’t judge. We can just try. I may not be able to afford everything I want (ie: organic produce), but I can make changes that work within my budget that I feel can help in any small way (ie: shop less). Hopefully all of our little changes will make a little difference.

By: Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish

Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:06:44 +0000

Hi. I found your site because I have an ongoing Google Alert for the word “plastic.” See, I am one of those arguing against plastic pretty strongly. I don’t do it while driving my big SUV. In fact, I don’t own a car. Usually, I’m on foot or on my bike. And I try to buy local foods as much as I can. Simple and local. But I do live in an urban area. And I think my life and the things I have access to are different from yours.

It sounds to me like you are doing a great job environmentally. Growing your own food. Only driving into town once a month. Buying as little as possible. Probably these measures outweigh the plastic bags.

On the other hand, what did our ancestors do before plastic bags? They baked bread without plastic. In fact, I remember my mom putting a damp towel over her rising dough. Not plastic.

I will admit that I use a plastic grocery bag for my fresh bread. But first, I put the bread in a cloth bag because I don’t want chemicals from the plastic leaching into my food. And then, I reuse that same plastic bag over and over. I haven’t needed to take a new plastic bag in nearly two years.

Bin liners? We don’t use them. We compost all of our food waste and food-soiled paper. After recycling everything we can, what’s left is not messy enough to require a liner.

These are just a few suggestions. I have come up with plenty of ways to avoid plastic, which brings with it a whole host of environmental problems. If you’re interested, you can find them at http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

But like I said, it sounds like you are living much lighter on the planet than many people who bring their reusable bags and then fill them up with un-eco products. I’m not criticizing. Just letting you know that doing without the plastic may not be as difficult as you think.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:33:54 +0000

Hear, hear! Although not buying much period, is even better than buying the “right” products. And unfortuantely, marketing often dissembles, making “wrong” products look “right.”

We have about a dozen canvas bags for grocery shopping (to handle those things we buy in bulk, on sale) but I’ll admit, sometimes I ask for the plastic; I use and re-use them too!

I think that you are doing great! Too many people don’t even think about it….

By: jruthkelly

jruthkelly — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:28:37 +0000

Had to smile and respond to this one. I so hear you. You start weighing what it really costs to make some choices over others and, in the final analysis, you have to go with what brings you peace. I use plastic bags, paper bags and cloth bags and drive my car thru town searching for organic, all the while wondering how much my car is crudding up the environment. I’m planting tomatoes this summer in my backyard. I suppose I’ll put them in plastic bags as I pick them off the vine. I use them like mad. I loathe Walmart. But sometimes I can’t not shop there. You do what you can because, you’re right, doing the “right thing” is a study in layers of consequences we can’t always fathom. Thanks for this…

By: Topics about Economy » Archive » I’ll take plastic…

Topics about Economy » Archive » I’ll take plastic… — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:10:01 +0000

[...] High Mountain Musing placed an observative post today on Iâ [...]