Living Plastic-Free YearTwo: 2008 Progress Report

EnviroWoman has just finished YearTwo of living the NoNewPlasticPledge. 2008 plastic consumption weighs in at  meager .42 kg, that’s less than 1 pound. About the same as my YearOne usage.

I’m proof positive it can be done. And if I can do it, so can everyone else.

But will EnviroWoman take the pledge for a third year? 

Admittedly, choosing to not buy plastic has become a part of everyday life for me now. No different than my choice to be a vegetarian. No different than my choice to not wear leather, or not wear fur, or choose products that are cruelty-free. Sure, you have to deny yourself some stuff and your choices are more limited. But what’s good for the planet is more important than what’s good for me.

Dieting gurus say if you want to stay skinny and healthy then ‘only shop the outer perimeter of a supermarket’ – because all the crap that’s bad for you is in the aisles. Surprisingly, when you put yourself on the NoNewPlastic Diet you tend to shop the outer perimeter of the supermarket too – in my case the produce, bread and bulk food sections, because all the plastic packaged stuff that's bad for the planet is in the aisles. 

In EnviroWoman's opinion...we’ve just got TOO MANY CHOICES. And that’s why we want so much stuff. When I walk into MegaStores it irritates me that there is SO MUCH CRAP out there in the world for people to buy. Because all that stuff means Nature has been raped and pillaged because EVERYTHING COMES FROM NATURE.

Now this next part is going to be a UberHypocritical so prepare yourself….there are so many choices out there…and that means you can usually find a plastic-free choice. (Choice is bad. Choice is good...yuppers I'm a hypocrite) Oh sure, you'll have to don your hunting vest and go on a quest for plastic-free alternatives...but trust me, they are there. And once you know where they are, shopping gets easier. Taking the NoNewPlastic Pledge has opened my life up to new choices and new products which are better for the planet. And they’ve even been better for me too.

Oh sure, I really miss some things, like nail polish, pantyhose, Cadbury mint or raspberry chocolate bars (okay, okay...truthfully I miss 99.99% of the chocolate available on the planet), fake-chicken nuggets, potato & nacho chips, crackers, rice cakes, all frozen food, slurpees, scotch tape, potting soil, pop, oh....and especially tofu. (Yeah, it’s a weird list..but it’s MY list).

But I’ve discovered other wonderful things…like Cargo's Plant Love Lipstick, Piaffe Horse Chestnut Body Cream, China markers, good quality metal pens, jars, brown paper bags, and Ellis Design shopping bags. Oh, and definitely fruits and veggies. I eat much healthier then I ever did when plastic was in my life. I cook more and have become a food channel and Rouxbe.com groupie. Gotta love that. This year, I want to even try canning for the very first time.

The only day to day stuff I haven’t been able to find good quality plastic-free alternatives for are: a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hair conditioner. I used a toothbrush I bought back in 2005 (I am allowed to continue using any plastic I had in my life as of December 31 2006) until it disintegrated and then moved onto a travel toothbrush I had, but it too now is as soft as cotton, so pretty useless. And my hair is rattier and drier than I’d like. And of course its impossible to find plastic-free alternatives for computers, and phones, and electrical cords.

I had 2 big challenges during YearTwo. The first was I had to give up my car. After 19 years of dutiful service, MyLittleCar blew her transmission in the summer and the World’sBestMechanic said ‘EnviroWoman, she ain’t worth fixing’. (Ya gotta love a mechanic who puts YOUR pocket book before theirs). So MyLittleCar was retired to the parkade morgue and I’ve been taking transit ever since. Buying a new car would require buying a big hunk of plastic, and EnviroWoman can’t have that. Once every month and a half or so I rent a car and have a mega-errand day, but I take transit for everything else. This was just a natural progression from my ActofGreen made long ago to take transit to work each day. Adding weekends was just a way to take that ActofGreen to the next level. In 2009 I think I'll try a car cooperative for the very first time. (See...making new year's resolutions can really open up your life to wonderful new things)

The second big challenge was having to postpone renovations on MyLittleAbode. Renos would require buying things made of or packaged in tons of plastic – like light fixtures, flooring, glues and appliances. I’ve put renovations off for two years now while living the NoNewPlasticPledge But after 2 years of feeling like I'm living like a vagabond...it's time to take the plunge, bite the bullet and start renos in 2009. EnviroWoman’s inner EcoFreak has ruled for the past two years, but now her inner DesignFreak wants to come out and play for a while.

So what plastic did come into my life in 2008. Three kinds:

1. Conscious plastic (bought stuff I knew had plastic) – tampon wrappers, deodorant, mascara, clothing tags, produce labels, surgical gloves at the dentist and doctors office, hypodermic syringe/needles for a sick cat, buttons and zippers on clothes, jar caps
2. Unconscious plastic (forgot to be plastic vigilant) – drink cup from poolside at the Wynn during a trip to Vegas, plastic air-packing bags from an Amazon book order, foam packing from new bathroom sink taps
3. Friendly plastic (stuff other people gave to me which I couldn’t re-gift to others) – birthday balloons, birthday cake platter, gift cards

I have to thank my friends and family for being so supportive. Most have really jumped on the EnviroWoman bandwagon, put up with my EcoEccentricies (no plastic, no leather, no fur, no meat..and now no car) and played along. And I especially want to thank all the retailers I've dealt with who very happily catered to my 'No Plastic Please' requests. Everyone has been grand. EnviroWoman sends big kisses out to all of them. It would have been much harder if they hadn’t been willing to honour the pledge.

So am I gonna take the NoNewPlasticPledge for a third year. You bet. But, I’m calling a moratorium for all of January 2009 so I can buy some of the stuff for renovations and so I can finally buy a decent toothbrush and toothpaste. Oh...and an iron, (mine died and its hard projecting a professional biz-woman image when you're wearing a wrinkled shirt)

I can hardly wait to have minty fresh breath and bleeding gums again.

(Hey Kate Dugas, this blog post is proof you totally SUCKED ME IN with your email) 

And for those of you interested in the World'sBestMechanic...talk to Jerry at Granville & Avery Auto. Honest. Customer-centric. And since EnviroWoman can't take MyLittleCar to him anymore...he'd probably appreciate some other whacked out EcoFreak giving him their business.