Stardate: March 20, 2014
16th Day of Lent
A day in which I was very aware of plastics (hooray! That's the point).
Being my day off, naturally I spent it shopping--not because I am a girl who loves to shop 'til she drops! But because I am a mom with only one free day in which to DO my shopping, so it all gets crammed into one day. And now, thanks to this Lenten Practice, it is further complicated. We choose our battles.
Today was the first day in which I committed to go to all the stores to get the items that were 1) not packaged in plastic if possible 2) cheapest. I think I went to five stores, and I still didn't get bulk granola cereal, so I still have at least one more to go.
Here's the rundown:
Dollar Tree: (everything is, you know, a dollar.) So I'll just list it here:
- 4 loaves bread (the bread truck cometh! It is amazing to get the good $3 bread for $1. You go nuts. Unfortunately, I timed it wrong, so I actually didn't get as much as I usually do--I freeze it). Of course, this bread is wrapped in plastic (sigh) but at 2/3 off, the cost savings go a long way towards assuaging my guilt. Similar bread from baker: $5-6. Number of people in my family who care besides me: 0.
- Bunch of seeds for the kid--keeps her busy, neat when it works.
- 4 boxes granola bars. Again, individually wrapped in plastic (where IS that recipe? Oh, I should just stop pretending. I could google it and find out. I just don't have the time or energy or patience to bake these right now! Maybe over spring break.) BUT at least these somehow don't have high fructose corn syrup; they are actually made with plain ol' sugar.
- a glass vinegar carafe, cause it's cute and will encourage me to cook with vinegar instead of salt.
- Kid's toothpaste
- Organics Blush (what was THIS doing at the dollar store?) I honestly wouldn't have bought it except the packaging was mostly cardboard, which I found intriguing and wanted to support even if its presence in the dollar store means the company is likely belly-up.
- small brown paper sacks (for the bulk granola and such). Paper sacks are packed in a plastic liner; irony, thy name is ...Irony.
* Explained to cashier that I was using my own bags, she was cool with it. She did, however, point out with glee that I was using "plastic" when I swiped my debit card. Touche, cashier, touche, it IS plastic...and no, I'm no sure what kind. I don't think this counts though, as I didn't purchase it during Lent, I'm just continuing to use it during Lent. I considered briefly whether I should use cash and checks instead...but no, that's dumb.
Walmart: now to be fair, I'd gone to Dollar Tree to also pick up some more small glasses, since we've tossed all the old plastic sippy cups and the kids have broken most of the others, only they didn't have it. All I bought here were some large glass canisters to store dry goods in like rice, beans and oyster crackers--I realized that IF there was any esthers leaching from packages over time, that taking them out of the plastic packaging might actually help that--also, they look cool, and stand a chance of actually keeping things fresher. So no, I didn't actually buy the one thing I came in for (either they didn't have them or I couldnt' find them).
* forgot bags in car, just loaded them back into my cart, got weird looks and at least one security guard stare, but whatever. Walmart.
Tuesday Morning: Where I finally found 8 juice glasses for $6. *no bag needed!
Walgreens:
- 8 packages of paper-wrapped single-ply 1000 sheet rolls of Toilet paper. There was another brand made of sugar cane husks and bamboo, but these were on sale, and I have a bunch of family guests coming for Spring Break, so we needed to get quantity for the money.
- 2 Gallon milk (plastic #2), although on sale for cheaper than elsewhere.
- Kid pull up training pants. Definitely plastic, and I'm not at all sure I want to do the research on this one. We did cloth diapers for his sister, but they seem SO HARD this time around that we just never got around to it. This poor kid gets laziness, pure and simple. He also gets parents quite a bit more relaxed than his sister had, and as a result he might not be so, shall we say, wired for action.
* Although I managed to remember to bring my own bags to the first store (a miracle!) and just avoid it elsewhere, here I had to explain the odd "no bags please." This was aided by the adorable boy-child, who was wearing his glasses (dang it, those are plastic too!) and being quite chatty. The line was smitten with his cherubic antics as he tried to balance multiple rolls of toilet paper while mommy tried to pay but kept swiping the card machine incorrectly.
Kroger: this list was much the same as last time, so I'll just note the new/different things
- organic, fair trade, packaged in plastic bag coffee is on sale! I buy five bags for $6 each. I feel no guilt at all. I am only sorry I bought all the coffee.
- get loose apples, bananas, broccoli, pineapple, potatoes, kale. Oranges in a plastic mesh bag.
- AUGH I just realized the stupid tomatoes are in a plastic container (for no good reason at all! They come loose!). At least it's #1.
- lots of yogurt, all in Plastic #5. Cest la vie, there is no other way.
- 2 cardboard cartons of cage free, extra omega-fat, vegetarian fed, all natural HAPPY eggs. They better be happy, they cost enough.
- more cereal
- 2 bags blue organic corn chips. I have actually NO idea what this plastic is; it's sort of brittle. You can tear it fairly easily. In fact, it's not like any other food-grade plastic I've seen. Huh, note for future research.
- 4 GIANT blocks of cheese, each wrapped in plastic, but also on sale. Mmmmmm, $.21 an ounce. Yummy.
- Natural peanut butter in glass jar NOT in fancy/hippy section; $3. I knew it was there somewhere. This seems more reasonable.
- Neufachel cheese. I like this better than cream cheese anyway.
- Pudding mix! Because, pudding.
* used personal bags again, no problem at all.
All in all, an improvement over last week's run, especially in that I also bought in bulk.
But one research question has arisen that MUST be answered soon:
So how, if at all, do you recycle PolyStyrene, #6? Chick-fil-a claims they do it, a QuickMart giant styrofoam cup claims that the company has recycled over 60 tons since the 1970s (really? How? Where?). I actually passed over a cup of coffee while at my bible study group because it was polystyrene, hooray for me. The last straw though was at dinner tonight, when I dropped by Alma Mater for an awesome presentation by Walter Bruggeman (fan girl squeal! He's 81, but he's so smart and funny that he's dreamy.) Anyway, I needed a bite to eat, so I went to the little shop in the Student Center. They had no glass or aluminum contained drinks other than Red-Bull (nope), so I got a(nother) cup of coffee, and a small grapes/cheese/boiled egg/bagel/nuts combo thing in a clear plastic shell. But it wasn't until I was finished with the meal that I realized that this too was #6! AUGH. So I need to go back to the drawing board to get more information on how one could, possibly, recycle polystyrene. It seems there is a way, but perhaps it is not popular, or easy, or efficient? Must find out. This seems important.
Why, does Jesus care?
I think God cares that we have choices, and that we consider them carefully. The content of Walter Bruggeman's talk tonight was on "A Dialogic Life in a Monologic World". What does that mean?? Well, he's referring to God and the Bible and the whole of Christian experience being the presentation of a counter-script to the 'norm' presented by the main culture--that there is a dialog being constantly presented to the monolog that is trying to control the conversation that is life in culture and society. One might want to say that Christianity IS the dominant culture, but I think we'd (me and Walt, since we're pals) both agree that no, the dominant culture is actually the market-driven, capitalist one--the one that is "increasingly an oligarchy...a pyramid where at the top it appears to have shalom, but there is none". I'm quote/paraphrasing Walt here, but I'm sure he'd approve. We're having coffee in the morning. Me and Walt and 30 of his favorite strangers.
But the issue at hand is this: that God's good news is the constant challenge of the status quo, the persistent placement of God's concern with the poor, the marginalized, the bodily wounded. Since the Big Bang of Creation, God has cared deeply about what happens to this material world, and what we are doing to our neighbors with it. I am starting to think that plastics are a big piece of it, a piece of the market-driven culture rooted in petroleum, as well as the capitalism that prefers profits over people.
Today I think Jesus cares about plastic because its ubiquitous use has come to be a standard practice of modern society, as unthinking as our overuse of most resources, and yet another 'disposable' piece of an irreplaceable planet. Our disregard for a material that does not behave like natural materials, ie does not break down again into healthy and safe soil, causes a cascade effect into our future. I'd like to say but who will think of the children? THE CHILDREN?? But I already know.
I'm thinking of the children. We built a garden recently in soil that likely hadn't been moved in 20 years. We found a huge chunk of styrofoam, as glittery white as the day it was made. My daughter knew immediately what it was, "Look, mom! Pollution." But it was hard to get out, it kept falling apart into smaller, pearly white bits. The wind caught it and spun it away, like feathers. Where did it land?
Dang it. I'm busy enough.
At least it's bedtime.
Peacefully,
Marie
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