First can I just let everyone know that I took a two minute and forty three second shower after swim practice this week? Even though I may not have washed all the chlorine-smell from my body, no length of shower ever seems to be able to, and I got clean enough-I promise. Other than water, this week I really tried to do a better job with the garbage part of the project and I was pretty impressed with the results. First, I didn't realize how many things are covered and wrapped and enclosed in plastic! I think that the recognition of the extent to which we throw things out without even taking note of what we're throwing out is incredibly important. For example, I'm almost out of the vitamins I take in the mornings. I wanted to open a new bottle because the old one doesn't have any of the flavors I like in it (they're gummi-bear vitamins...they're really good!), until I realized that the new bottle had a plastic seal around the lid. I was bummed that I had to eat some of the yellow-I don't know what flavor-ones but more bummed that I don't know how to approach the situation of packaging in general. For example, other than recycling, what will I do with the plastic from the vitamin bottles I buy in the future? And the wrappers on cough drops. And Day-Quil. And antiseptic spray for my throat?! (I was a little sick this week...) Now I take note of every single seemingly-minute piece of garbage that I throw out--or think about throwing out. I think that the recognition of the amount of garbage we produce is the first step towards permanently changing habits.
Once I made this realization I tried to act in a way to limit the amount of trash I had to come in contact to, more so than last week. I was thoroughly impressed by Starbucks. Although it's not a local company and in many ways is flawed, the ease at which one is able to limit garbage use there is incredible. I brought my own mug and got a piece of coffee cake on a plate, and I didn't use one napkin (so I guess my messiness is improving!). The woman who served me seemed genuinely upset that she didn't have any real silverwear to offer me but I assured her that I would reuse the plastic spoon she gave me. In addition to being so positive and helpful, she told me that anyone who brings their own mug gets ten cents off their beverage! How neat. It stinks that we might need monetary incentives to do things that seem right, but it's also really awesome that some places are able to provide incentives at all. Another example: I wanted to get some yogurt from the grocery store and realized that each little one-serving container of yogurt is garbage! Just buying a larger container that has multiple servings in it made me feel like I was doing my little part, small as it was, to save the world. And maybe I can use the container as a flower pot when all the yogurt's gone!
So this week, not only did I feel like I did a better job with reducing garbage, water and electricity useage, and meat consumption, I also felt that I gained a personal sense of well-being and a sense of accomplishment. I think that in this world where corporate and "big" successes reign, being able to gain some sense of accomplisment from something that seems much smaller and easier and just plain old better--like reducing waste--should put a huge smile on anyone's face.
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