OMG - plastic is everywhere!

When I first started thinking about plastic, I thought I would try to cut down on the amount of plastic packaging when I purchase food at the grocery store. I've just spent the last three weeks watching videos and reading news stories about plastic, recycling, landfills and zero-waste lifestyles. I feel like I've had an awakening that I can never go back to sleep from.

Now instead of cutting down on plastic at the grocery store, I'm contemplating composting in my apartment's kitchen, researching buying wine in refillable 750 ml bottles, and giving serious thought to whether I can still ethically wear contact lenses. (Daily I use four different contact solutions, all sold in plastic containers.)

My sweet boyfriend says, "Why don't you pick one item to eliminate plastic from and see what happens, one at a time." He's right, of course, but after watching all those videos, Every time I look at plastic, I can't help seeing dead marine animals with the plastic I'm purchasing in their bellies and mountains of plastic waste in India and China shipped from the United States to be "recycled".

Today at a diner with a friend, I took my meal home in the tin bottom of a take out container and asked the waitress not to bring the plastic top. I also gave her back the unused drinking straws. I felt like I should tip her more because I was asking for more, even though not taking plastic saves the restaurant some money. I immediately went home and put metal bowls in my car for future takeout dilemmas.

I'm not usually so black and white about anything. Indeed, my favorite color is gray, and I tend to make decisions on a much more fluid basis than most people, especially most other professional organizers. Beth Terry calls plastic an addiction -- I feel a little like I have to go cold turkey, or it will insidiously snake its way through my life.