Plastic Free July: The Conclusion (Two Weeks Later)

 

Did anyone notice that August happened? I thought it was still July, and then it was August, and now the weather feels like October, and I'm just confused.

(And now it's two weeks later from when I started drafting this post and I still have no idea what month it is. Happy Pandemic!)

There was a plastic challenge I was doing, wasn't there? That's probably why there's a bunch of trash sitting in the corner of my kitchen. All right, I photographed it. Catalogued it. Tried to write about it. Forgot to post it. Posting it now…

First, some interesting links:

I Work in the Environmental Movement. I Don't Care If You Recycle. by Mary Annaise Heglar. One of her many excellent articles, focusing on why we shouldn't drown in guilt over our individual choices. "The belief that this enormous, existential problem could have been fixed if all of us had just tweaked our consumptive habits is not only preposterous; it’s dangerous. It turns environmentalism into an individual choice defined as sin or virtue, convicting those who don’t or can’t uphold these ethics."

Vegetarian Diets Are Not Going to Save the Planet from Climate Change by Chris Newman. A Black-Indigenous farmer weighs in on the common advice to eat vegetarian to lower your carbon footprint, and presents a vision for what a truly sustainable diet would look like in his region.

20 Ways to Go Zero Waste at Home When You Can't Leave the House by Polly Barks. Some great practical tips for quarantine.

Indy Srinath is still fundraising for her urban farm near Skid Row in L.A.! 

Now, my trash!

Maple syrup jug— (Recycling) Used this over the course of several months.

Pita chips bag— (Trash) This could've been avoided, since I know how to make pitas, and how to make pitas into pita chips, but… there was a family birthday party and I had two hours to make something so I just made hummus and called it a day.

Soy sauce jug— (Recycling) Used this over the course of several months.

Coffee bag— (Trash) I'll be honest, trying to get this package-free has fallen pretty low on my list of priorities right now. At this point, I'm just glad we can support a great local company. I'll get around to the packaging thing some decade…

Plastic bag for magazine— (Recycling at store) This is a free magazine that my mom also subscribes to, so I'm planning to cancel my subscription and just take her old issues.

Carrot bag— (Recycling at store) I've been pulling some carrots from my garden, but not enough to satisfy my carrot sticks needs.

Lettuce bag— (Recycling at store) Again, if I had known on Saturday that I'd be attending a family birthday party and bringing a massive salad, I could've bought these package-free at the farmers market. But who plans that far ahead nowadays?

Spice container— (Recycling)

Peanut butter jar seal— (Recycling at store)

Tortilla bag seals— (Recycling at store)

Butter wrappers— (Trash)

Beef packaging— (Trash)

Floss— (Trash)

Produce sticker— (Trash)

Results of last month's goals: 

1. Don't get Covid— SUCCESS!

2. Get well from the cold— SUCCESS!

3. Use points 1 and 2 to be able to actually visit my injured mother again— SUCCESS!

4. Figure out where to buy silk floss— UTTER FAILURE!

5. Write one blog post (it's currently half-finished after I rage-quit)— UTTER FAILURE!

6. Make a list of zero-waste swaps and resources to research later when I'm not so physically and emotionally exhausted— UTTER FAILURE!

7. Write one email asking a brand to take responsibility for its plastic packaging— UTTER FAILURE!

8. Eat more bread— SUCCESS!

Sooo… what is my final take on Plastic Free July, failures and all?

-It's very hard to do a challenge like this when you're distracted by depression and existential dread. Since I don't feel these things all the time, I have privilege to try to use my voice for good to help enact policy change that would make it easier for people who don't have emotional energy all the time (not just some of the time, like me).

-You can recycle flimsy plastics along with plastic bags at the grocery store. This was a huge discovery! I'm now saving bits of plastic to take for recycling. This isn't a great long-term solution, but it's a helpful thing to know in the meantime. See this link for more details.

-I shouldn't waste energy on nitpicking every scrap of plastic. Especially when emotional energy/brainspace is at a premium, I need my energy for research, writing, educating, and seeking solutions that will help everyone… not just me. 

-I don't mind the "failures" because I can continue to work toward my goals. I failed to complete some of my goals on a certain timetable, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up! They're very manageable goals and I'll continue to focus on them. Just during August… or September… or October… instead of July.

All in all, it was a fairly easy challenge and I'm glad I did it: I learned more about recycling in my area, was motivated to visit the farmers market more often, and tried out a new brand of toilet paper (Who Gives a Crap) that doesn't use plastic packaging. Again, I'm still going to work on my failed goals, because there is no timeline for eco-friendly activities. Onward!

Take care of yourselves this week!

~~~