Big Picture

Continuing down this road to zero waste is occupying a lot of my mind-space. Constantly criticizing myself for forgetting my reusable bags or my mason jar. My life is not always well thought out. I don't always plan my days to the moment and as a result I don't always have the supplies I need at the exact moment that I need them. I also don't want to carry around a small suitcase to contain all my reusable goods. This is, I suppose, how and why the culture of waste came to be, but nonetheless it is a struggle as I try to change my ways.

I had a rousing conversation with a very forward thinking friend of mine and it was, in a word, discouraging. Discouraging only because I know he's mostly right. I was describing to him my attempts to decrease my waste and he basically said, "well, that's great and all if it makes you feel good, but you're not actually helping the planet." We discussed and he's right in thinking that what really needs to change are corporations and protocols.  The big picture.

I was listening to a story on NPR about the California drought and they said that 80% of the water usage in  California is from agriculture and yet they are only restricting urban water usage.  It makes me wonder how much shorter showers and one day less of watering the lawn will help if almond farmers continue to use 1.1 gallons PER ALMOND.

In the same since, how much is me choosing to bring my own bag or cup going to impact the big picture? Millions of people will continue to do what is convenient and the corporations won't even notice I'm gone. I know the idea is "one by one is how change gets done" and voting with your dollar and spreading the word. I get all that. And I totally agree with all of it and that is why I continue to persevere. But I also agree that nothing will actually change until the big beasts of business change their ways.  I just have no clue how to do that. Chicken vs the egg ordeal, but I'm going to bet that they won't change unless it is demanded from the people.  Hence we push onwards.

Despite the struggles, I have enjoyed the challenge and creativity in decreasing waste. And I'm working on becoming more vocal to help "spread the word" to help it catch fire. (which is equally as challenging as remembering my to-go mason jar).

One thing I have done this month was an attempt at a zero waste (technically low waste as it is not compostable in the end) menstrual cycle by using a Diva Cup. I had tried this a few years ago, but inevitably didn't like it and was afraid of infection/complications. So this time I did some research before hand and I was convinced. I read this article and it jived with me. I realized that you can leave it in for 12 hours, which decreased my jitters of dealing with it at work and you can't get TSS. It took a few days to get it right, but in the end it was kind cool.

I suppose the take away from this month was to do what I can, yes, but also the act of being vocal and spreading the word is just as important.