Is There Life After Retirement?

Now, I think of myself as pretty good at ecologically sound behavior.  I carry at least one fabric Chico Bag in my handbag for purchases, many larger ones in my back seat and a metal beverage container lives in my car for takeout coffee.  I try to remember to recycle the easy stuff -aluminum cans, the plastic grocery store bags (when I run out of fabric ones), and so on.  So when our Rotary District Governor challenged us join his “no single use plastic” campaign for the month of July, I signed up.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to COMPLETELY avoid single use plastic, but I thought I’d do well.

My very first obstacle?  Simply remembering!  July 1: Bought a fountain soda at Costco, popped on a plastic lid and tore the wrapper off a plastic straw.  Ooops. Dang.  Made a mental note.

Next obstacle: Did you know that Starbucks has a policy that the baristas MUST put a lid on their hot beverages?  Yep.  For simple coffee orders, my reusable mug works great.  But to text in an order of something like a Grande Flat White, that’s a little more challenging.  New plan: wait in line, hand the barista my great reusable mug, and then watch the process to make sure my mug doesn’t accidentally hook up with someone else’s double mocha latte.

But the greatest challenge by far:   I belong to three organizations that hold several midday meetings with boxed lunches.  So of course that means disposable plastic flatware.  Ugh, this endeavor is proving harder than I expected! By mid-July I began to tuck a plastic baggie (yeah, I know) into my handbag, which contains a metal fork, knife, spoon and straw.  And I learned to stop, remove the bag of plastic stuff from the boxed lunch, put unopened plastic packet on the side of the food table and then continue to my seat.

And while I’m on the subject, here’s a major vent:

I understand why restaurants might assume a Take-Out order might need disposable utensils.  But a Door Dash order?  Why?  The food is coming to our houses, for crying out loud!  If you have a house, you probably have a fork.  Throughout the COVID-intense years, I considered starting a campaign to convince eateries to make “no plastic, no paper napkins” an easy option for both the consumer and the employee.  I wasn’t sure how to begin this project, so I did nothing beyond rant about it.

The bottom line for me?  It was WAY harder to reduce the ‘single use plastics’ in my life than I expected.  And I’m not even touching on packaging (shampoo, dish detergent, and about every other product I buy) or the lure of a plastic bottle of cold water on a hot day when there’s no other option. 

How’d I do?  Well, considering my goal was to reduce, rather than eliminate my usage, I’d give myself a B- on it.  The biggest takeaway for me wasn’t the impact that I made, but rather the awareness of how much plastic I continually use.  I knew, but sort of put it out of my mind.

Today is August 2, so I am released from my commitment.  Will I continue what I’ve started?  I can only hope so.

Oh, and I may re-think how to approach the “Door Dash doesn’t need plastic stuff” campaign.

How about you? How’s your plastic doing?