Blogging and Journalism used to have a LOT of sibling rivalry. AssHats like Karl Rove still deride bloggers as less than valid when it suits them. But there is a lot more symbiosis these days. Big news media is co-opting the blogging format and bloggers are being invited to the party. I think that this is mostly a good thing.
Another positive change involves the increased attention to the cause of reducing plastic use. The BBC hosts a blog called Month Without Plastic. I found out about it because I am on the blogroll (Yay!!!).
Chris Jeavans is attempting to live a normal life with one big change, no new plastic.
In 2003, National Geographic put a well written article about the danger that plastic shopping bags pose to our planet. If you do a search for plastic bags, this article ranks just below a company that sells the bags. I ask everyone who blogs about this topic to provide a link to the National Geographic article.
I think the plastic bag issue is going to become more and more high profile as time goes on. I think there may also be a blip of interest during the summer as people are getting out into what they expect to be pristine outdoor recreation areas and they find bags blowing/floating around.
Yes, there is a patent. Specifically, IBM holds a patent on card reading technology that stores a holders preference and displays it at cash points in stores. I personally think that having at least four words pass between a shopper and a cashier is a good thing, and we don’t need any technology to alleviate us of that onerous task.
I am given plastic bags occasionally. As often as possible, I tell the vendor that I do not want one. I have to confess that social awkwardness prevents me from doing so. I still have a small number of tasks that involve reusing plastic bags. My neighbor was happy to receive my compost for his fields and he specifically requested that it be placed in a plastic bag before being tossed over the wall.
The key aim of this blog is to promote reduced use of plastic. I know as well as anybody that using plastic stuff is almost unavoidable. With this in mind, I am adding a link to some information about which plastics are more hazardous and which ones are less hazardous.
This post is going to be a poorly constructed laundry list of lifestyle alternatives that may reduce plastic consumption even though that is not their primary purpose.
Going Barefoot: I went beachcombing a couple of years ago and the vast majority of the detritus on the beach consisted of footwear. It was surreal. Spending a proportion of your life barefoot will reduce your consumption of shoes. Many shoes are partly or completely made from plastics.
Grow a Beard: If you don’t see any available alternatives to plastic razors and shaving cream with plastic caps, consider just not shaving.
Buy Secondhand Clothing: You would be hard pressed to find a new item of clothing that doesn’t come with some amount of plastic in the form of packaging or labelling.
Get a Vasectomy: Children are the target market for pointless plastic stuff. Most temporary forms of birth control; involve some plastic packaging.
Rent Movies Online: If consumers shift away from the bricks and mortar Blockbuster model, fewer DVDs and DVD cases will be manufactured.
Live Communally: I’m not suggesting that you share a toothbrush with your buddy, but reducing the number of households per capita would reduce the need for a lot of stuff, much of it plastic.
Go Carless: My spell check doesn’t even think carless is a word, but I did it for about 14 months recently and I am considering doing it again. Cars contain a lot of plastic.
This is a high quality bucket for temporary storage of compost material in your kitchen. I do not personally have one of these. I am reusing a container that I already had kicking around. Food preparation for my family of five tends to fill a small bucket almost every day, so it doesn’t have a chance to get very stinky before it goes outside.
This blog is about reducing our personal consumption of plastic. So far, it has been a hodgepodge of old ideas and new ideas. Old ideas can make a lot of sense, most of the time. Plastic has only become a ubiquitous part of our lives in the last few generations. Before that, other materials were doing just fine at meeting our needs… or were they?
You need to be very cautious about antique items that contain dangerous materials like lead and mercury. I would suggest a ‘better safe than sorry” approach with regards to old cookware, utensils and serving dishes. Even decorative antiques can pose health risks. Looking into the issue of lead poisoning was very depressing for me. I did not know that a proposed ban on lead paint went before the US House of Representatives in 1910 and that it took 68 years before the Consumer Product Safety Commission eventually banned it. Over 4000 tonnes of lead paint had been slapped on walls and toys and various other things in the interim.
I wonder if the push and pull related to chemicals leaching from plastic drinking containers will drag on that long? Actually, I am certain that it will not. Things move faster in the information age. Several companies removed products containing Bisphenol A as soon as the issue started making headlines. Interestingly, I think the scandal about lead in products made in China may has sensitized the media and consumers in such a way as to catalyze the reaction to Bisphenol A.
Another depressing issue involves the modern low watt light bulb. Al Gore et al. want to ban incandescent light bulbs in homes. The present alternative is a CFL that contains mercury. They also contain more plastic than a typical incandescent bulb.
Proponents of these efficient bulbs say that the fact that they contain more hazardous materials and the fact that they take more energy to produce are more than offset by the energy savings. I am worried about the environmental impact of their production because they are presently made in China. I am also worried about the mercury. There have been advances, with some bulbs having 1/5 the amount of mercury of typical CFLs.
I have personal experience with cheap CFLs that did not have the long life that is touted by their promoters. The answer might be higher standards. Right now, they are trying to compete with standard light bulbs. When legislation kicks in this will be less of an issue.
Teflon is a plastic. Using non-stick cookware also precludes the use of metal utensils. Many people choose to use plastic spatulas. I recommend wooden spatulas.
I have a non-stick pan that was supplied with my rented house. I do not use plastic utensils with it. I prefer wooden spatulas. How many plastic spatulas have you destroyed from excessive heat? When the edge of a wooden spatula gets worn and ragged, you can fix it with a utility knife.
Teflon is the only surface to which a gecko cannot stick. I don’t know of anybody that has gecko and eggs for breakfast, and I think that responsible consumers should avoid consuming Teflon cookware.
Polytetrafluoroethylene was discovered by accident during the first half of the 20th century. My generation is the first for which ‘non-stick’ cookware is not a novelty.
A carcinogen is used in the production of Teflon and Dupont paid residents near its plants $400 million out of court after perfluorooctanoic acid was found in ground water.
Cast iron pans are superior to Teflon coated pans in many ways. The proper care of cast iron pans is slightly more complex than with other cookware, but it is worth the effort.
Ok, I think people have a right to express themselves with their yard. If a lady wants to have a cluttered up front yard, it’s her business.
I am free to express my opinion. In my opinion, a government should consider passing laws against things that use up resources and pollute the environment while serving no useful purpose. It should be against the law to produce or import pink flamingos. Auto racing should be against the law. Drinking straws should be against the law.
This guy is Umbrella… ella… ella on some kind of bamboo instrument. It’s not my favorite song, but I like the tone. I have a few scrap pieces of bamboo at home and I can’t resist hitting them occasionally.
