The Changes

So I went on my first official BIG grocery shopping trip the other day and I brought along my green crate for the veggies.  It worked WONDERFULLY.  As I shopped, I put all my loose and naked veggies into the crate - but I ran into a problem.  I wanted to buy green beans.  I couldn't exactly throw them into the crate - that's a little too annoying, even for me.

I found it a bit scary to hear about the level of effect that the global production of beef has on greenhouse gas emissions!  Yikes!  Part of this is due to the land clearing to have a place to put your cattle, and the other main part goes to the actual animal flatulance (COW FARTING!!!).  Now, I've heard that some 'scientists' are working on finding a solution to fix this bovine farting issue, and have come up with a wonderous pill to give the animals to help them with this (Aside: Do you think they know they have a gas problem?).... However, apparently this wonderful pill is the size of a human fist.  Can you imagine?  Might need a little sumfin to wash THAT down with! Ewww....

Today I've taken a step to creating a pocket of change in an area where old mindsets and ways are very much in evidence. what does it matter if we are burning trash and using up a case of paper plates every week. We're buried in the north. What does it matter if we shoot a bear? They are so scrawny and hungry and aggressive up here... In the larger picture, there is a bleed in this country in the various natural resource industry whether it be oil sands in Alberta or diamond mining in Northwest Territories. I wrote a story years ago about the march of technology and change and how it affects our dwelling place. I can't place it here because it's too long to type but I will post it on my website clare.ws . It's called the Seven Sisters and was inspired by a trip I took in Northern BC some years ago where I was utterly enchanted by 7 majestic peaks near Hazelton. They inspired me to write this creation story for our province and someday I hope to publish it as an illustrated book.

I'm sorry that my last post also bashed TELUS a bit. I don't have a personal vendetta against TELUS -- it's just that they keep doing things that I feel I need to talk about.

So, tree planting... http://promotions.telusmobility.com/tree/

This is certainly a perfect example of opportunistic environmentalism. I guess you can't really bash this since they're technically doing some good.

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....

My visit to the recent EPIC Sustainable Living Expo was like striking ‘no-plastic gold’. There were 5 booths that heralded ‘no-plastic bag’ options.

I bought these cotton alternatives from BringYourOwnBag.ca, a Vancouver small business. It’s too bad they don’t handily fold up into a tight little bundle that fits in your purse or pocket like the ones shown in this British video, but hey, they do the trick.

I bought them mostly because they are so damn cheeky and help me spread the message of my mission to live plastic-free in 2007.

I needed a prescription filled. But prescription bottles are plastic and I’ve sworn off plastic for 2007.  

You’re probably thinking ‘Surely they’ll let you reuse your current pill bottle, and just slap a new label on it.’

Or will they? 

Last year one of my New Year’s resolutions was to lose 15 pounds. So I became a JennyGirl and lost 25. This year I resolved to get a 6-pack. I haven’t been to the gym once yet, but today I realized I had already achieved this goal.

In fact, I didn’t just get me a 6 pack....EnviroWoman is flaunting a 12 pack. (What can I say, when I take on a resolution I do it in a big, big way.) You see, when I gave up plastic January 1st, as another one of my resolutions, I had to stop buying Pepsi in plastic bottles.

Living plastic-free requires a ‘back to basics’ approach to life. For the most part I’m fine with that. I’m a back to basics kinda-gal. I’ve always washed dishes by hand, for example. But I may have to rethink this. Because now that I’ve pledged to let no new plastic into my life in 2007, my fav-fav-fav Sunlight Lemon Fresh, Grease Fighter Dish Washing Liquid has become off-limits.

In my EnviroWoman books, it’s now considered a SINNER because it’s completely packaged in plastic.