Daily Detox: Plastic

We've been cutting down on plastic for years at home, for lots of reasons. Making plastic produces tons of harmful byproducts (and often consumes fossil fuels). Plastic sits in landfills for a looooong time, taking up space and leaching harmful chemicals. Many plastics leach BPA, pthalates, dioxin, and other harmful chemicals into their contents. So, when we're trying to be healthy but using water bottles that emit BPA into their contents, we're hydrating with water that can disrupt our hormones or cause cancer.

For more details about how plastics impact your life, do a quick google search or visit one of my favorites, Green America. Until then, here are some quick tips of how to decrease plastic in your life.

-"4,5,1, and 2. All the rest are bad for you!" When shopping for plastic products or anything sold in plastic, flip the container over an check the number on the bottom. Stick to the numbers listed. Watch out, because favorites (such as yogurt) often come in 6 or 7. Some companies, like Stonyfield Farm, are developing safer packaging.

-Think twice before you buy. Do you really need it? Do you have something at home that could work just as well?

-Use reusable canvas shopping bags instead of plastic bags from the store. Bring your own cloth bags for bulk purchases or produce. You can find cute ones at Etsy and Fair Indigo.

-In the kitchen, try glass or ceramic instead of plastic as often as possible. Don't use plastic in the microwave!

-Recycle the plastic you do have! Your disposable food savers could become a picnic table or sports equipment.

We love Preserve plastics. Everything is recycled--and they will take your #5 yogurt cups that are hard to recycle elsewhere. The plastics are BPA and pthalate free. Plus, the colors are great and the products are cute! It's much more fun to store my leftover soup in an apple green, screw-top food saver that I know is safe for me and had a minimal impact on the environment.

What does your family do to minimize plastic use at home?

treating the consumption

It's time for a consumerism fast around here.

A few times, for Lent, we've given up consumerism. We combined trips and used our bikes and the bus more. We remembered to conserve water, gas, and electricity. We watched less TV. We cooked at home and composted and recycled any waste. We donated items we don't need and found new uses for old objects. If we didn't need it, we didn't buy it. Period. Material needs are limited to nutritious food and gasoline to go to work and toilet paper and the like. We make a few mindful purchases, buying fair trade, recycled, organic, and local when we can. The rest, as my husband says, is all gonna burn in the end. We already have more than enough. By deflecting attention from keeping up with our consumerist culture, we have been able to turn our attention to what really matters.

Right now, we're adjusting to new schedules and still catching up from our trip. When we're stressed, easy fixes often overtake wiser, more mindful choices. So, like we do during Lent, we're hitting the reset button and returning attention to our core values.

Are we crazy consumers like some people out there? No. But do we use more than we need? Often. We're American, it's to be expected.

It might seem a little off-base that so many of the links and topics on Just Living concern products and shopping. This is supposed to be about living simply and changing the world in small ways! The fact is, we live in a consumerist culture. Most of us shop way too much, and so often, convenience wins the day, at the expense of justice for so many people. What we buy impacts neighborhoods, resources, health, safety, and dignity for so many people. I can't call myself a justice-minded person if I shop blindly. In a consumerist culture, money is king. Companies will listen to our spending more than they listen to our words. I really believe that if our culture shifts into one of gratitude for what we have instead of constant need to upgrade and acquire more, things will start to change.

While our little week of a consumerism fast may be small, it will impact:

-the environment, as we will produce less waste and manufacturing byproducts while consuming fewer resources; this in turn impacts people around the world
-worker's rights, as we avoid purchasing items made on the backs of exploited people
-our bank account, as we eliminate wasteful spending
-our thinking, as we remember to live with less and address inconveniences creatively
-our spirits, as we feel lighter and freer and have more to give to others

So, here we go again! Anyone care to join us? We'd love to hear your ideas.

And Happy Halloween!

Squeaky Clean

When people talk about developing renewable energy, it's often about replacing oil-based fuel with something else. Most everyone can agree the oil spill this summer was not ok (understatement of the century), and most everyone would like to keep it from happening again. But it's not only gas that contributes to our need for oil! It's plastic, cleaning products, and even personal care products we use every day. What we purchase directly impacts demand for cheap oil, which directly impacts the length to which companies will go to get it.

Petroleum-based products are just part of the problem with cleaning products. These chemicals can contain harmful odors; some can make us sick if they touch our skin. I've always wondered what we'll come to learn about these products in the future--don't forget, Coca-Cola truly used to contain cocaine! Sometimes it takes awhile to understand the long-term effect of certain chemicals. For those reasons, and many others, we opt for natural cleaning products like the ones found at Ecos. There are all kinds of options out there! Our favorites are formulas we can make ourselves with ingredients like lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda.

Be careful, though, as vinegar can corrode certain enamels (as we've sadly learned).

What natural cleaning solutions work well for you? What do you recommend to avoid?

Inspiration

If I could recommend one book on faith and social justice, it would be Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson. I wish I wrote it, and I am so thankful she did! It touches on justice issues that truly intersect with our lives daily and gives clear, meaningful information on why all of us should care. The writing is compelling and free of judgment, and the tips are practical and easily applied to daily life (for those of us in middle class US culture).

This book, among other things, inspired this blog. I hope my musings on discoveries, experiments, progress, and failures will help us all better understand how we can make daily choices which impact our world for the better. And I hope everyone I know reads Everyday Justice!!!

Simple Innovations

Thanks to DVR, Ben and watched a little Letterman the other night and saw President Clinton. He was talking about how many jobs we could create by building green energy and innovations. Simple example: put people to work whitewashing tar roofs in big cities. It's cheaper than roof gardens (which are better) but still saves a lot of energy and money for the building owner. He also believes that our country's best shot at economic recovery is building renewable energy sources on our own soil. It all made so much sense! But how do we prioritize real solutions and pragmatic progress when the political climate is so toxic?

We're registered independent. We like ideas that work.

Maybe Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity will change the tide of election season. It's hard to make progress when we're too busy fighting.

Wishful thinking? Maybe. I guess that conversation has been going for awhile.