Giving up on plastic

The other day I heard some kids chanting while biking up our street--“paper, plastic, Styrofoam.” I have no idea if this was some counting game they’d learned in a social studies class--a PC, 21st century “one potato, two potato. . .”--or if they just like the rhythm. A British blogger is recording his daily effort to live without plastic--not cutting up his credit card, but rejecting anything served or stored in plastic, and it’s harder than he thought. Even the loose fruit at the market he learns was shipped in huge containers of plastic to protect it--maybe more than those packaged fruits.

Glance around your house today, you'll see the problem. Looking around my living room, porch and kitchen here at Lakeside, I have some sympathy. It’s hard to live without plastic. After supper, I tossed out the plastic container and lid from the deli for the chicken salad; my Sunday coffee came in paper but has a plastic lid; I’m storing tomorrow’s coffee in a one quart plastic container; I made it with my new $14 Mr. Coffee machine, most of which is plastic; the shelves on the door of the 5 year old refrigerator are plastic, as are the drawers--I have 2 extra drawers taken from the 1960s model it replaced and they are metal; all the left overs and fresh stuff are stored in plastic containers or bags; the cord to my digital camera is stored in a plastic bag, as is the camera (plastic case) when it’s in my purse; my favorite #2 BIC (and I must have 50 of them) are plastic “mechanical pencils;" the basket on my 40 year old bike is plastic, the seat is plastic and I have it covered with a plastic grocery bag in case it rains; the bag from the optometrist for my new plastic frame glasses is plastic as is the bottle of lens cleaner; the cover on the 20 year old TV is plastic painted to look like wood; the flashlight under the TV stand is plastic; the jewel case for the several CDs on my desk are plastic; one of our porch wicker chairs isn’t wicker at all--it’s woven plastic to look like wicker and wears much better than the real stuff; the spiral binder on my blogging notebook is plastic and the cover clear acrylic (a plastic); over on my bookshelf many of my books have plastic spirals; all the pill bottles on the kitchen counter are plastic; the counter top is Formica--a plastic laminate; the kitchen trash can is plastic with a plastic bag inside ; the bag where I put the glass bottles and plastic containers for taking to a recycling location is plastic; our 10 year old outside trash containers which replaced the dented and abused metal cans are plastic; when I go to the Farmer’s Market and select lovely locally grown fruits and vegetables from the farmers’ wagons, the growers dump them into reused plastic bags; the kitty litter box is plastic and I scoop the poop into plastic grocery bags with a plastic slotted tool; my 20 year old dish drainer and dish pan are plastic as are all the containers of soap and cleaners under the sink which probably has some plastic pipes; I have a few colorful plastic drinking “glasses” and dishes in the cupboards; the doggie gate for our “grand puppy” which keeps her from pestering our cat is plastic; the cat’s feeding dishes are plastic--50 year old melamine; the night lights in all the rooms are plastic as are the wall covers for the outlets; our mini-blinds are plastic; the hand lotions and all my cosmetics are in plastic bottles; my computer case is plastic as is the mouse; the surge protector for my computer is plastic; my printer is plastic; the cover on the thermostat is plastic; the elaborate frame around a grandfather’s baby photo (ca. 1875) is probably celluloid, an early form of plastic; my white athletic shoes which look like leather are really plastic as are the tips of the cotton shoe strings; the buttons on my blouse are plastic (my slacks are so old that the zipper is metal, but most these days are plastic).

Environmentalists are really sort of snobs, aren‘t they? Especially the American and European e-nuts and greenies who jet around and want you to drive a little electric car so third world citizens will stay simple, culturally pure and starving. I’m a strong believer in recycling--it’s economical, saves resources, and creates jobs. However today's environmental movement is about 95% political and 5% spiritual. A huge power grab. Plastics have obviously enabled the ordinary person like me to live or buy the way only the wealthy could afford 40 or 50 or 100 years ago. Americans have lifted entire countries out of poverty by buying plastic doo-dads we really don't need in a global market. Buying locally grown produce and carrying it home in a cloth bag in the natural wicker bicycle basket to be stored in a cool root cellar or wind powered refrigerator, or growing your own, is fine if you live in rural California, or for 3 summer months in Ohio, but that’s a pretty restricted diet for most of us. People who can live without plastics probably have servants, or a 2nd world life style.

Also, is it just me misremembering, or weren't the environmentalists of the 1970s telling us to use plastic bags to save the trees and disposable diapers to save on water and utilities?