Breaking the Plastic Addiction - Self Accountability

In our effort to be as sustainable and as unharming to the earth as possible, we realized that we have some very un-economical ways of living. A lot of these "bad" habits were broken with the change of our diet, but one thing still remained: THE PLASTIC ADDICTION!

We were truly awakened about our bad habits when we ran across the book, 'Plastic Free - How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too' by Beth Terry, the author of www.myplasticfreelife.com.

Our eyes were opened immediately when we took a look around us; from the plastic container the shea butter was housed in , speakers with plastic shells, clothes baskets, and even all of the containers that I house my jewelry materials in. Everything is plastic! We were saddened to realize our favorite raw snacks from Whole Foods were also housed in a plastic casing. How sad! How could we do this? How can we really make such a BIG and conscious change without losing ourselves in the proccess?

Well, any great change starts with a bit of education. So what is the big deal with plastic?

• Plastic comes from Polymers meaning plastic is something synthetic that was derived from something natural.
• Plastic is made of Fossil Sources such as petroleum and natural gas.
• Although all plastics are not created equal, they all contain toxic chemicals.
• PLASTIC IS NOT BIODEGRADABLE and often sits in giant landfills in the middle of the Pacific where innocent and unknowing birds and sea animals feed on it.
• Plastic harms the entire ecological makeup from the land, to the water, to the animals, down to the fossil fuels.
• Plastic manufacturing plants cause much pollution and harm both employees and the surrounding community.
• Recycling factories take our plastic bottles and downcycle them into carpet or some other synthetic fabric which means that the production of NEW water bottles is still continuing.

Getting back to 'Plastic Free'...
Beth Terry decided to take control of her mindless consumer habits and began a Plastic Trash Challenge that made her self accountable for her 'trashy' impact on the world. She decided to save, list, and picture anything plastic that was used up or purchased for a week (and eventually longer) to be truly aware. With trash piling up in your face instead of a landfill, it's a sure wakeup call. By the end of the following year she was down to ONE grocery bag full of plastic for the ENTIRE year!

So with that in mind, we took to our own version of a Plastic Trash Challenge and we actually have been keeping daily tabs on our consumption. Here are the results for the past 2 days:



Day 1 - 8.14.12


This day we had a plastic container from the Whole Foods bar with 'biodegradable' plastic utensils, 2 bags of raw snacks, condiments from the bar, date container (none were available in bulk), plastic utensils, plastic packaging for plasticware, ziplock bag that was housing half a lemon, and our lighter conveniently died when we decided to take this plastic challenge.

Day 2 - 8.15.12

This time we have tons of produce bags from a trip to the international market. Seeded grape bag, cherry bag, blueberry carton, bags from spinach and romaine, and the plastic wrap that housed our endives. This would have been more but, we remembered ONE reusable bag and went to a farmers market the same day. No plastic there.

Day 3 - 8.16.12

Wholefoods bag, Date container from Johnee's secret 9-5 date addiction, Salad container from Whole Foods, 'biodegradable' utensils, 2 condiment cups with lids, plastic wrappings from utensils.

2 people, 3 days, That much plastic!

We are currently housing all of this plastic in a paper Whole Foods bag(s) for now with our Plastic Bible nearby.

We challenge you to do the same! Learn to be a responsible consumer and begin your plastic challenge today! Change starts with YOU! We are going follow up in a few days to talk about all we've learned during our first plastic-conscious week! Stay tuned! <3