Living plastic-free: PROGRESS REPORT MARCH

I’ve finished my third month living plastic free in 2007. I’m now officially one quarter of the way there. This photo shows all the new plastic I’ve let into my life during 2007. It’s a pretty paltry amount, I’m proud to say.

Like February, March has been a pretty easy month to get through. There’s been some positives and negatives.

Good plastic fortune this month....

• I found a local pharmacy that will let me re-use my own prescription pill bottle.
• Someone on TreeHugger.com discovered EnviroWoman and sent many new readers who generously offered great suggestions for non-plastic alternatives – like using honey and baking soda for shampoo. Someone has to be working with a pretty bright bulb to discover that particular combo makes shampoo.
• I went to the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo and found some great plastic alternatives and biodegradable plastic options.
• MyLittleCar and TheBeast, despite appearing to need surgical interventions, both magically repaired themselves this month, which not only saved mechanic and vet bills, but also the use of new plastic for parts and surgery.

Plastic aggravation this month...

Its been a grueling and exhausting month at work, which means that ‘after-hours’, I power-down so much that not all the buttons on my etch-a-sketch have been working. This has lead to two incidents of absent-mindedness which invited new plastic into my life.

• SharWoman and I were checking out the new ENVY condo development designed and built to LEED eco-standards – the first of its kind in our area. Her glucose levels started to plummet so we pit-stopped at a Tim Horton’s for a beverage-break. Even though I AM CANADIAN and know The Rant by heart, Tim and I don’t cross paths very often. I’m sure the last time I entered his house of doughy-sugary morsels I received tea in a china cup…but this time it came in a paper cup (two to be exact which seemed super-wasteful) which I happily carried back to the table. To my horror, as SharWoman and I sat down, I realized….Damn, damn, damn….there’s a plastic lid on this thing.
• MetroCDMan and I were at an after-work function and he chivalrously sacrificed his freebie drink ticket and got me a 'refreshment'. We were so busy gabbing I didn’t pay attention to the bartender as he filled the glass. It was 10 minutes later that MetroCDMan clued me into the fact I was sucking back on a plastic straw. Damn, damn, damn.

The big challenge this month...

Like MyLittleCar and TheBeast, my WeeTV also is quite ancient by current standards. The plastic UHF/VHS thingymebob which connects the WeeTV to the CableGod began to show signs of on-its-last-legs-decrepidness.

To avoid buying a new one I whipped out my handy soddering gun and went at it. On several occasions. Alas, these were short-lived repairs. It finally gave up, dying a proud and honorable death after providing many years of service. After consulting with LumberYardGuy, and the TVRepairMan, I resurrected it from the ashes by surgically modifying the transformer with a transplant of picture-hanging copper wiring I had in my tool box…plus two more wads of soddering. (EnviroWoman is also a HandyWoman).

But just like Frankenstein, Zombies, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – anything brought back from the dead is never ‘quite right’. So, although I’ve restored my cable connection, my TV now has a serious fuzz factor.

I’ll have to say, this has been my one temptation this month – to go out and just buy a new thingymebob, but it’s made of plastic and packaged in plastic and would count as a MAJOR SIN. So for now, I’m opting to repair instead of replace.

Lessons learned this month...

• Most people try to help. I’ll have to admit, this little venture is restoring my faith in the human race. We are not all ignorant parasitic twits…there really are some very wonderful EcoConscious people out there - in all corners of the Earth. We just have to get the rest of the human race closer to the fulcrum of the tipping point so the tides will turn and we can save the planet.
• I am so, so lucky. I've had 'an attitude of gratitude' for many, many years, but the lesson has been reinforced this month. Cosmic karmic plastic forces are working magic in my life. Maybe there really is something to ‘The Secret’.
• You must be vigilant. Aware at all times. Never let your guard down. Otherwise, ‘plastic-UNenlightened’ people will slip evil-plastic into your hands without you realizing it - and then it's just too late. 'Tag'... it's yours.
• Making a change can be empowering...and even fun. Quite surprisingly, there have been refreshing moments when I deludingly feel like I am 'doing things differently and it shows'. Mostly, this has occured when I'm standing in the check out line at the supermarket.

And here it is, my sweets, just to keep me honest, an account of my SINs for the month of March….

MINOR SINS for March 2007: A MINOR SIN is when EnviroWoman buys a SAINT product that (gasp) have wee bits of plastic parasitically implanted in them (like those Octopus-like-larvae in Aliens, that jump on your face, implant a tentacle into your guts and suck the life-blood right outta ya). We’re talking labels, zippers, those little T-shaped bits of plastic that attach the price tag to clothes, etc., MINOR SINs are added to the plastic shrine when they have been used up and are ready for recycling

• Plastic lid from Tim Horton’s tea
• Plastic drinking straw in my Pepsi at a work function
• Tampon wrappers (close your eyes boys)

MAJOR SINs for March 2007: This is when EnviroWoman falls right offa the bandwagon and buys or uses new plastic, flagrantly throwing her morals (and resolution) to the wind and thereby putting the future of Mother Earth in jeopardy. This may occur when (A) a cruelty-free (first priority) non-plastic (second priority) replacement cannot be found in EnviroWoman’s realm. Or it may occur because (B) the allure of the pretty plastic thingy reduces EnviroWoman’s will power to that of a lima bean. MAJOR SINs are added to the plastic shrine after they have been used up and are ready for recycling.

• None (MAJOR SIN #2 was actually committed in Feb, but reported in Mar)

Challenges Ahead: As current supplies are dwindling I’m starting to hunt for the following non-plastic/packaged, cruelty-free items:

• Mascara
• Nail polish (what can I say, EnviroWoman is a girly girl)

If you have any suggestions where I can find these items please post a comment.