PlasticLess.com

Bamboo is a versatile material. It’s as easy to grow as grass in many regions. Actually it is grass. We have new shading installed in our yard that was built and installed by the same guys that harvested it.

I think the coolest thing about this series of videos is how the documenter has his world view reshaped by the experience. I hope this video gets a lot of exposure so that many other people who have been complacent about plastic waste up to now will change as well. I am going to embed it on some of my other blogs that do not have an environmental theme as well.

The good news is that they are launching a new television channel that is completely related to environmental topics.

The bad news is that it is a load of crap just like the rest of television.

One program will feature Tom Green hosting an environmentally themed game show. I get it. His last name is GREEN. Maybe CNN Money should track down Eddy Money and get him to host a show too.

Here is a link where you can watch Tom driving an old Lincoln Continental for no particular reason.

Credit for this picture goes to www.wasteplastictechnology.blogspot.com, a blog promoting the use of waste plastic as a source of energy. I don’t think that is the best direction to take. It seems like it is just sending the pollutants somewhere else, namely into the air that we breath.

The blog gave me some things to think about, though.

I was reminded of the fact that cruise ships routinely dump their waste at sea. I think responsible consumers should insist on responsible cruise ships.

That warning is even more famous than Caution: Coffee May Be Hot, or whatever the cups say these days. I tried to find the warning on google. It turns out that lots of people make jokey photochops about coffee cups.

Both warnings state the obvious.

When I was younger, local strawberries came in wooden boxes. Any that were still reasonably clean would be returned on the next visit. The fruit trucks in my present locality have the local strawberries in plastic pint-sized containers. Strawberries are an impulse purchase for me. The lady that was in line in front of me yesterday knew what she had come for and she came with her own container. The hawker dumped three pints into her container and kept the plastic pints. I assume that he was going to reuse them.

I always look to my fellow shoppers for examples of good and bad ideas.

Most breakfast cereals come in a box that contains a plastic bag. I have mostly stopped buying breakfast cereals, but oatmeal is necessary for one family member. Quaker brand sells a box with no plastic bag, at least they do where I live.

I had been buying Jordans because of the conservation aspect and because they taste better. Jordans has a plastic bag.

If you have the option of buying breakfast cereals in bulk, it is worth considering.

It is going to ostensibly be spring soon. I know that many people in northern climates have months to go before things really start to bloom, but I thought I’d talk about picnics anyway.

My childhood memories of family picnics involved a lot of plastic garbage. KFC was often a go to place on the way to the beach. Plastic bags, plastic forks and knives (in their own little bag, of course), plastic tubs of potato salad, buns in their own little bags…

The biggest container was, of course, the bucket. If Kentucky Fried Chicken is something that you must have now and then, why not just get the bucket? You can plan ahead with a jar of your own coleslaw and a jug of iced tea. I used to have a four piece set of enameled metal serving dishes. They get beat up eventually, but they served us well for camping and picnics and also serving groups of children.

I will preface this post with a confession. The story that illustrates my ingenuity and resourcefulness predates my commitment to reducing plastic and I did eventually replace my homemade item with a plastic one.

Back when I lived on a property that has partly forested, I had the crappy little plastic arm that lifts up the chain inside the toilet tank break. Rather than go to the store 40 miles away for a new crappy plastic arm, I looked around in the back yard for a branch that would make a suitable replacement. It actually worked quite well. I did not count the flushes, there were probably less than 10,000. I think it was eventually replaced for social reasons rather than practical ones.