The day after

It is the day after Earth Day, did you miss it? Ty and I were discussing the sad truth that only one day is set aside for the ONLY place we have to live, even though we live here every day of our lives. While every day should be considered Earth Day, Ty made an uplift point. Ten years ago would every television station, talk show, stadium, company, small business or the Internet be paying homage to the destruction we have reaped and the spectacular beauty we live upon, no. Ten years ago many people didn't know such a day existed, so yes there is a silver lining.
Last blog I implored you all to find new and simple ways to adjust your life to help limit your consumption and in the end your waste, e.g. replace paper napkins and paper towels with cloth (saves money), use chlorine free bleach, turn off the light when you leave a room, buy biodegradable trash bags (wow are those simple or what!). I said I wanted to find three more ways my family can reduce our foot print. I have decide to go with one major change, NO MORE PLASTIC! This one is a doosie and not for the faint of heart. I really don't know how we are going to do it, but we can start with not buying or bring anymore plastics into the house. I have been trying to weed it out of the house already, but I think we are ready for the next step.
Now I don't like to admit I, on occasion, watch Oprah (rarely!), but I happened to catch a few minutes yesterday where they were talking about a garbage heap the size of Texas floating between California and Japan, in some places it is 90 feet deep. I did a little research on the net and it seems to have been around since the fifties, it is created by trash being thrown strait into water systems or the majority has been blown off the land into the water, the swirling currents collect the trash and consolidated it in to what has now been loving dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In the beginning the trash raft was largely made up of biodegradable garbage, but in the passing decades plastics have taken over and it is now 80% plastic. I was horrified that such a thing existed, but more so that I had never heard of it before.
So, as I make my grocery list I am taking a time out to think about the products that are significantly packaged in plastics. I'll try and find a better alternative and if I can't we will juts do without. A lesson I think all of us (especially Americans) could learn a little better. Living without, living with less, do really really need all the junk. Well, off the store, thanks for listening to another rant. I should be better by tomorrow and back to my usual cute kid and farm pictures. Ciao!