Septennial Update
Seven years and a lot has changed, yet a lot is the same. I went through my household and removed as many plastics as possible, only to have them creep in from every direction fairly immediately. As soon as you get sick, or have any kind of emergency you realize how prevalent and systemic this stuff is. There’s no contending with it alone. There have been several waves of attempts to eliminate, especially takeout containers. Some of the go-to restaurants got used to it, but sometimes there just wasn’t time to show up early and wait for food to be prepped and placed in the glass tupperware. Now more restaurants have paper containers. A lot had to be let go of for periods of time.
What I realized from my study of the issues, my battle with PCOS as an endocrine disorder (with sensitivity to environmental toxins), study of Permaculture (rebranded indigenous principles) and our relationship with our home and self - is that people have to go through thinking about all of this in the context of their own lives before we can really contend with MANUFACTURING and EXTRACTIVE CAPITALISM. Any time I brought up why recycling was a myth, asked how many recycled products were we really use in our houses, people politely listened and agreed that it’s been shoved down our throats since the 80s, yet the world is STILL filling up with more plastic trash. People still want to believe in recycling, even now that China isn’t buying ours anymore. I couldn’t be the catalyst for everyone...people have to reach their own breaking point to make/demand changes.
At this point I’m going to be changing some things on this blog to reflect what I’ve learned is better than “sustainability”. Because we ARE sustaining....waste, classism, racism and destruction. And hopefully I can offer some ideas that have given me a good deal of hope about how we can be in relationship with each other and natural processes. All you have to do is look at a photo of ruins in the jungle to realize that the planet is FINE. It will regenerate eventually without us in the way. It’s a matter of whether we want to be here, with the diversity we were so lucky to enjoy, which requires learning to work with what is right instead of thinking we can always improve upon nature with technology.
More about stuff: I still often use my Thai bento/tiffins, and they are holding up amazingly. I’m pretty sure they still sell them at LAX-C where I got them. I am fortunate to make my own lotion and refill my shampoo bottle, dish soap and other liquids from the bulk aisle at the new cooperative grocery near my house. I haven’t ventured back into charcoal tooth powder in years.
I stopped being so vocal about what I was doing because I realized this is primarily an issue of economic privilege, and no matter how much I talked about it, posted, or showed up to the party with my zero waste supplies, I got sorted into the “cray” bin by default (because by default, ones own way of life can’t be wrong). It took several years of viral Facebook videos with suffering, plastic-choked marine animals for the general attitudes to change and now there’s the plastic bag “ban” (except we still use plastic bags from takeout for trash bags, and everything we order online or pickup at the store is still packaged in plastic), waiters don’t look at me like I’m extra when I ask for “no ice and NO STRAW” anymore ETC.
So...onward, hopefully more and more together than before!
What I realized from my study of the issues, my battle with PCOS as an endocrine disorder (with sensitivity to environmental toxins), study of Permaculture (rebranded indigenous principles) and our relationship with our home and self - is that people have to go through thinking about all of this in the context of their own lives before we can really contend with MANUFACTURING and EXTRACTIVE CAPITALISM. Any time I brought up why recycling was a myth, asked how many recycled products were we really use in our houses, people politely listened and agreed that it’s been shoved down our throats since the 80s, yet the world is STILL filling up with more plastic trash. People still want to believe in recycling, even now that China isn’t buying ours anymore. I couldn’t be the catalyst for everyone...people have to reach their own breaking point to make/demand changes.
At this point I’m going to be changing some things on this blog to reflect what I’ve learned is better than “sustainability”. Because we ARE sustaining....waste, classism, racism and destruction. And hopefully I can offer some ideas that have given me a good deal of hope about how we can be in relationship with each other and natural processes. All you have to do is look at a photo of ruins in the jungle to realize that the planet is FINE. It will regenerate eventually without us in the way. It’s a matter of whether we want to be here, with the diversity we were so lucky to enjoy, which requires learning to work with what is right instead of thinking we can always improve upon nature with technology.
More about stuff: I still often use my Thai bento/tiffins, and they are holding up amazingly. I’m pretty sure they still sell them at LAX-C where I got them. I am fortunate to make my own lotion and refill my shampoo bottle, dish soap and other liquids from the bulk aisle at the new cooperative grocery near my house. I haven’t ventured back into charcoal tooth powder in years.
I stopped being so vocal about what I was doing because I realized this is primarily an issue of economic privilege, and no matter how much I talked about it, posted, or showed up to the party with my zero waste supplies, I got sorted into the “cray” bin by default (because by default, ones own way of life can’t be wrong). It took several years of viral Facebook videos with suffering, plastic-choked marine animals for the general attitudes to change and now there’s the plastic bag “ban” (except we still use plastic bags from takeout for trash bags, and everything we order online or pickup at the store is still packaged in plastic), waiters don’t look at me like I’m extra when I ask for “no ice and NO STRAW” anymore ETC.
So...onward, hopefully more and more together than before!
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