Throughout Plastic Free July, we’ve offered ideas to develop new plastic “freer” habits. Don’t give up! And don’t feel guilty when you mess up. We’ve all been there: when trying to create a new habit, we revert to old habits and feel bad.
It might take some of us 2-3 years to learn to remember to take a reusable bag into the supermarket and to ask restaurant staff what type of take-home container they have and, if it’s plastic, to wrap the food in foil instead. And how many times have we forgotten to say no to straws or plastic utensils? Plenty! And when the cashier has already taken out a plastic bag and we say, “No plastic!” we know that the now-crumpled plastic bag we reject will not get reused but trashed. It still happens! Sometimes we are just not fast enough. Sigh!
The goal is to keep trying. We do better each time we mess up. It’s a learning experience. When we mess up, the Earth says, “Thanks for trying. You’re going in the right direction.” And every time we do remember, the Earth sends a big, “Thank you!”
Here are a couple of new ideas to leave you with:
Keep the plastic or even compostable plastic produce bags to reuse the next time you go shopping. Rinse and dry them if necessary and put them in your car or reusable shopping bag so you’ll have them on your next shopping trip. Remember, reusing is good! Not using is even better: you can invest in reusable cloth or mesh bags (Trader Joe’s sells them) and skip the plastic altogether.
Come to our meetings to support each other all year long. Contact goplasticfree1@gmail.com
Phyllis Rubin
Wendy Greenhouse
Go Plastic Free
