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A few weeks ago I went into a local supermarket and purchased a salad, a chocolate bar ( dark chocolate) and some flowers for my wife. The salad disappeared the same hour after I bought it, as did the chocolate. The flowers lasted almost a week. The event has gone and whilst enjoyable I liked the salad and chocolate and my wife kissed me over the flowers the event lives on.
The salad came in a plastic container and came with a plastic knife and fork with a paper napkin hygienically wrapped in plastic. The chocolate bar came in a metalised wrapper. The flowers came wrapped in plastic. The whole thing would have been placed in another plastic bag if I had not declined it.
I find it strange that a rather sad if very enterprising archaeologist in a 1000 years might be able to put together this very minor lunchtime episode from the plastic that will still exist 1000 years from now. I wonder how we have reached the state that such a minor lunchtime event could leave behind such an indelible mark for such a long time.
Is there anything we can do to reduce the throw-away plastic we use?
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It’s such a shame, but true that our lives have become so dependent on plastics. Cutting down on the plastics takes a bit more energy on your part, but is better all the way around for the planet and your health.
When I go to the grocery store I ALWAYS bring my reusable cloth grocery bags. Also, when I shop I try and stick to the outer perimeter of the grocery store – fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and breads. For the most part, these items can be purchased individually (no need for plastic at all). The prepackaged salads – why don’t you make your own? Grab some lettuce and some fresh veggies and get to chopping! Plastic cutlery – everyone has cutlery in their home. Bring a set to work to use there. Skip the plastic! The flowers are a bit more difficult – they are all wrapped in plastic. At home in the States we have flower markets on the streets. This is nice because you can pick a bunch of flowers that are fresh and if the vendor does wrap them up, it’s usually in paper, not plastic. Even if you can’t cut out ALL the plastic you use, you can cut down a little. And, every little bit helps!
Thanks for taking the time to comment Ann. You are so right we need to be more aware as individuals, that includes me!
Finally took the time to go through your website and I must say you did a hell of a job! And all this time I thought you were too busy for such things!
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Your introduction (if I may call it that) “Is half of what we think we know still wrong?” provides your patients with a bit of insight into “you”…which is kind of nice considering the impersonal relationship we usually have with our doctor.
All articles were interesting and informative, although we could not get into the article “How to make us take the stairs more often?” Kept getting “You 404’d it”.
Other than that, it was truly appreciated and we look forward to more articles. Thanks for taking the time!
I really appreciate that you took the time to look and your feedback. I updated the link on the “exercise” post which is worth checking out – its a video on youtube