Plastics. The never ending polymers.

We all know plastics have been around for a long time in various uses in our society.  Did you know that they are all still around though?  Every piece you’ve ever used, every bubble tape you’ve ever purchased, water bottle you’ve quenched your thirst with, those plastic sushi pieces at Aloha Sushi, and those popular yellow cancer bracelets, yep those too.

Estimated at a size twice that of Texas, may I present Plastic Island.  A floating island of semisynthetic polymerization products.

I’ve added a new link today on the right side of the page, Rise Against Plastics!

Visit their site for a glimpse into all that is plastic and all that will be forever more.

Think before you drink…how can you commit to the plastic pledge and ban yourself from those water bottles?  How can you limit your use of plastic in a plastic world?

Some quickies but goodies:

a.) Use real silverware and dishes for your lunch at work.  Go to the Salvation Army or Goodwill and pick up some mismatched funky 70’s dishes or pottery and make up a story to go with them!

b.) stick to jewelry that is recycled, vintage, reinvent your own, and purchase on etsy.com (handcrafted goods not made in China, though I cannot say whether the materials were or not)

c.) Buy CD’s online instead of in the store with plastic jewel cases.  Most of us live in a digital music world now, and put music straight onto our iPods or other music devices…why not eliminate the middle man of plastic blunder?

d.) Carry your own bag!  This movement has gained much attention in the last year, and I am sure anyone reading this is familiar with the concept.  Keep going though!  One time is not enough, every time is where it counts!

e.) Buy pens with refillable ink.  This is a random one, but as I am sitting here at a desk, made of wood, with plastic stopper on the legs   I am looking at the pens surrounding me, each of them disposable and not refillable.  It occurs to me that I should look into this as a small but important step.
How many fish are now trying to write with my discarded pens to no avail?  One too many I pressume.

f.) Reduce Reuse Recycle.  Find ways to reuse your plastic items.  Reduce the amount of plastic you consumer.  Recycle that which you cannot reuse.

The lesson is this.  Plastic has created many “things” without which we would not have a thousand+ useful everyday items.  Some medical, some trivial, some just funny.  But we lived thousands of years without them.  If they are going to destroy the oceans we count on, and come back to us in the form of the ahi steak we consumed last night, is that really advancing as a society and culture?  History repeats itself.