Were all guilty of contributing to this mess. I LOVE nature. I love the #beaches, #lakes and #oceans. And were destroying it at an alarming rate. Last year, while on vacation, I noticed how the beaches had changed over the years. The sand at most of the resorts had to be raked every night, and the intake was mostly rubbish that had washed ashore. I saw with my own eyes the bits of #plastic that speckled the #sand, escaping the rakes grasp. And by walking a few miles along the waters edge from the resort, you could see the masses of (mostly plastic) garbage swept away, just out of the tourists sight. Ive noticed over the last few years that many veggies now come pre-packaged in plastic. Like #corn, which already comes wrapped by nature, is shucked, shrink-wrapped and sold on a #styrofoam tray. Because people want to SEE that the corn is ripe? Because its too much work to shuck a cob? Guess what! It stays fresher, longer in its natural wrapper! (Pick corn that has tightly folded husks with silk at the end that is dry and turning brown.) Most lettuces now come in a plastic #clamshell. Juices are sold in plastic #bottles. Ive even seen pre-peeled grapefruit available in individual plastic containers.... because its too much work to peel a grapefruit? You dont want your fingers to get all sticky? Im sure youve come across other examples of this ridiculous over-packaging too. #Recycling helps. But its not the whole answer. Most of this plastic doesnt get recycled, and there are many communities that just dont have the facilities to do it. And there are many communities who just dont realize the damage done by tossing a plastic bottle into our waterways. Just as we are all guilty of contributing to this mess, we can all make a difference too. I propose a new 30 day challenge: Choose one item and #CHOOSE_NOT_TO_BUY_THE_PLASTIC version of it for 30 days, and then keep it up! If you normally buy the salad clamshells, choose heads of lettuce (and dont put it in one of those disposable plastic bags, cause that would defeat the purpose!). If you normally buy single-serve plastic water bottles, get yourself one of those stainless steel ones and use it! Bring your own cloth grocery bags. Avoid buying plastic-wrapped foods that come in their own natural wrappers. You get the idea. Can you think of some other ways to reduce plastic use over the next month? Be sure to check out the article too. These powerful images might help you in deciding to take action. Peace!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 13:39:12 +0000