I've been so busy. Greg has crazy hours, right now. I've been constantly online researching and buying things. After a lot of reading about how terrible plastic is- I'm trying to "deplastic" our life. The chemicals in plastic mimic hormones and disrupt estrogen levels and change mammary glands in INFANTS. This is just a TID BIT of the stuff I've been reading. It is linked to SO MANY bad things that happen to everyone. When you think about the rise in infertility, autism and cancer and there's NO EXPLANATION. I am NOT saying this is the one culprit but more and more research is turning up that it IS one of the major culprits. So I want it out of my family's life. I know I can't get rid of everything- but we bought stainless steel water bottles for EVERYONE, even Brighton. I'm getting rid of ALL our plastic dishes and tupperware. We bought stainless steel plates, bowls, etc for the kids and stainless steel containers for snacks. They're awesome- but a lot heavier. But I don't care.
So I feel REALLY GOOD about all of this! Except toys. Oh man, that will take a lot more $ and effort to replace. I have been looking online a lot for wood, natural rubber or cloth toys, but they are EXPENSIVE and though there are a lot of choices- it doesn't compare to the millionth degree of plastic options. I go back and forth between "I'm fine with it. I can't replace all their toys. They'll survive" to "OF COURSE we can replace there toys! Let's get rid of EVERYTHING! Do you want Brighton to die?!?!?!" Ok, that sounded a little dramatic, but you know- it wasn't TOO off. The more I read about plastic the more HORRIBLE I realize it is. It's really terrible, even if it's BPA free. It's all just bad. And I'm trying to do all this before our move, which is seriously close! I need to be focusing on THAT, but I just want to get all THIS taken care of. I feel really driven to do this. It makes me think I'm SUPPOSED to be doing this.
I tell ya, the last year- day by day I have transformed. I hate to say the word HIPPIE, but that's what I am. I hate to say that word because it makes me think of a person who talks like they're stoned, whether they are or not, who smells bad and has dread locks or just coarse, wavey has gross hair. Which, I hope nobody would ever say of me, but I used to think people were so crazy talking about vegan this, or natural that. And I would just roll my eyes thinking they were so stupid. And now I'm one of those people (but not a vegan). But I don't think I'm stupid at all! I've never felt so driven about this topic in my life! I just want to get it under control! At first it's overwhelming when you realize how much it is around you. And then you have to come to terms that it's just gonna be in your life. I mean, we're not gonna get rid of our tv or my digital piano or a few particular toys. But I REALLY want to cut back as much as possible. ANYWAY. That is where MY mind has been.
Lately I feel so funny talking to people. The common question, "What have you been up to?" And unless I'm REALLY close to that person, I just feel odd saying, "I've been reading and obsessing about plastic." 'Cause they're gonna say something about how BPA free stuff is fine, and I just don't agree with that at all. But I don't want to tell them they're wrong, so I don't say anything, and then I just feel like I'm lying when I say,"I've been up to nothing". I just hate having conversations where health comes up and someone says something about cheese or yogurt being healthy and good for you and in my mind I just say, "No it isn't." Or WHATEVER it is. I just hate those conversations where I just want to say out loud, "You're wrong." But I don't.
Yesterday I went to a neighbor's house for the first time and she is Indian and she went all out of her way to buy AMERICAN food and I didn't want any of it. Cookies, ice cream, soda. She kept offering it over and over until I finally said yes and she kept saying how she never has these things in her house and bought them because she didn't know what to feed us. So sweet but I just wanted to say no!
Blah, it's midnight. I can't BELIEVE I am up this late. HORRIBLE! I'll post pics later. Hopefully. I have been so busy.
4 comments:
Finally, Megan. I believe the same thing about the BPA free stuff and convinced my mom to get rid of the plastic tupperware. I do use nalgene. I am not going to carry around a glass jar everywhere but can't/won't spend 25 dollars on a water bottle.
SO interesting. Can't wait to talk to you more about this. I will have to call you next week when things calm down. I totally get what you mean about talking about certain subjects with people- you just want to be like...uhh no? But with me...I rarely remember exact facts...so I feel stupid like I just heard it somewhere...you know? Anyway- super cool. I wondered cause I saw you pinning a ton of wood toys on pinterest under "safe toys" and I was thinkin...hmm what is that about? :) Love you
ok that is hilarious about your neighbor feeindg you "american food" that is so sad- that american to her is chips and pop. haha. and it really sucks cause i knwo you would have loved her kind of food! man! megan you are so silly why haven't you told me about this plastic thing. actually maybe it's good cause maybe i'd obsess over it too- ha. how you are with plastic is how i was with our beef- it's all i thought about, and every peice of meat (which is alot in our home) i analyzed, and it was exhausting, it's so nice that we have our perfect meat, and i don't have to think about it, which is what it will be like for you when you replace everything plastic, you'll feel relieved and better. where did you get the tin plates? online? love you- OH- and yes wooden toys are expensive. there are these wooden people that are SO FREAKIN CUTE on etsy, that iw ant- but they are SO EXPENSIVE! i can show you the link if you're interested.
I really appreciated this blog post. I started trying to transition our household away from plastic a few years ago, and was met with a lot of scorn from both inside (ahem, not to blame the poor guy) and outside my house. So it became a very small, very quiet crusade to make changes, but it was exhausting because it was a battle and I felt all alone. So I'm SO GLAD you have made the decision to decrease plastic and you wrote about it. It reminds me that there are totally normal people out there -- not just the crazy extreme "hippies" -- who see the risks of plastic and want to change.
It has also reminded me that I need to get back to my goal and do more. The last few days I've been looking around and seeing all of the plastic that still lingers in my house. Food containers that should be glass or metal; toys that need to be replaced; and other containers that just need to go!
I know it's not possible to get rid of everything, but I can do more. I can be better. Thanks for your post.
Post a Comment