Happy New Year 2021
It is that time of year for some of us to create our New Year’s
resolutions. Something we are going to resolve to make us better. A goal. To be
honest, I’ve never been any good and making a goal and sticking to it. Even
during Lent, I choose not to give up anything, instead I would try to do
something. Like, helping others, read more, spend more time with my family and
friends, you understand, right? Instead of a negative I would try to put a
positive spin on the season.
This year without so many distractions, because of our new
friend Covid-19, I hope to make my resolution last not just until December, I
hope to change my thinking and my small world.
Wow that’s quite a statement.
Let me explain. I had planned to write an article about
“litter”. Which led me to an article that Kathy Fell shared with me about
“plastic” and the changes to recycling, not just in our area but in the world.
The article and subsequent articles, and images, for lack of a better word,
woke me up! Especially the images.
After reading the articles on plastic and trash. I took an
inventory of the plastic that is in my life in a 24 hour period of time. I was
astonished. The amount of single use plastic on a daily basis was ridiculous.
From cat litter and soap containers, to meat trays and of course the plastic
bags and wraps not to mention straws, innocent enough, but not so good for the
planet.
We have always been a family that practiced “reuse, recycle,
reduce” and we felt really good about this. To be honest, I have always been
good at stacking the recycling on the counter and my husband has always been
really good at keeping everything sorted and taking the recyclables away to
some magic place, that handles that sort of thing. 😉
I, on the other hand like to reuse and recreate stuff. I am certain this drives
my husband a little crazy. Since we share the garage and I save stuff that he
believes to be trash.
This is where my resolution comes in. These plastic items
started me thinking. How can I reuse them? How can I “really” recycle them? And
how can I reduce my use/need for these items? What I am hoping to accomplish in
2021 will be to make smart purchases that have little to no effect on adding to
more plastic in the landfill or heaven forbid traveling aimlessly on a barge
looking for a port to leave the garbage.
To date I have changed my laundry detergent, cat litter, and
pasta sauce. I made a bird feeder out of a 2 liter bottle. (I would attach a
picture, but it was carried off by a creature in the night). Hopefully soon,
when we can begin to have gatherings again (which I like to call parties) I
will notify everyone no single use plastics. They can bring their own metal
cup. And no 2 liter plastic bottles. It is a start.
I hope to keep track of these changes using a journal. If
you are interested in my journey, I can make a post here or you can email me
janice@markhwalker.com
Further Reading:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/climate/recycling-landfills-plastic-papers.html
https://blueocean.net/where-does-all-that-garbage-go/
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/marinedebris/plastics-in-the-ocean.html
https://smithriveralliance.org/coastal-cleanup/
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