Natural World and Plastic
While it was forecasted we would have snow all week last week, the expected storm didn’t arrive till Thursday night, and it ended up to be a “one-night stand.” On Friday morning I put on my snowshoes and got out before others got on the trail in my woods nearby. I love getting there after the snow when there’s no track other than some pawprints of wild animals. It is so quiet and still. The only sound I hear is my own my breath and crunchy footsteps as I walk on the freshly fallen snow. When I stop to listen — listen to the silence — I become a part of the scene.
In my Eco-Chaplaincy program, I am given a homework assignment to go somewhere in the nature to “connect” every week. Again, I am so lucky that I am where I have easy access to do my homework. And as I contemplate how I am to care for this earth per my homework, I can’t help but to remember I do live in the world the human created. As much as I would love to live without harming this earth, I still live very much in the consumer-based world, which continues to generate greenhouse gas, plastic and other toxic waste, etc.
I fantasize a lifestyle where I live in a net-zero energy and carbon home, grow my own vegetables, only drive or ride no-emission vehicles, consume responsibly and fairly produced products. Trust me, I have been really trying to do my part by recycling as much as I can, driving an electric car, and even getting my house more energy efficient. But honestly, I am far from being perfectly “green.” I am mostly having a major difficulty to eliminate or even reduce plastic in my life.
My biggest sin is that I shop at Trader Joe’s for grocery. Even though TJ’s has announced a while ago they’re working on eliminating plastic packaging, and I do tend to believe they’re trying their best. Yet, I do buy vegetables and other produce that come in plastic bags or packages because convenience often wins over my desire to be a conscious consumer. AND where I currently live do not have a recycle bin for much of the plastic waste I produce, and I end up putting them in the trash. Ugh!
They say let’s all do something small to help this problem, but I’m afraid it’s no enough. We all have to do much more than putting all the packaging in the recycle bins. It really requires us to be mindful of our behaviors and consumption, and it’s not easy. It is an ongoing quandary for me for sure, but as long as we, at least, “care,” I am hopeful we, as human species, will continue to make progress in healing our beloved Earth.
#YouCanSitWithUs #YouCanSitWithMe