over lent, i fasted from single use plastic
as it turned out, i figured out how hard it is, for systemic reasons, to remove plastic from one’s life, even if one is well meaning
for one, it requires a great deal of planning. overall, i liked this. now that we are in eastertide, i will maintain the kind of mindfulness about making and packing my own lunch on most workdays, bringing a water container or reusable coffee cup as well as utensils along with me
but try as i might, i don’t always tell people at restaurants “please no straw”
nor have i figured out how to avoid plastic salad dressing containers that come with salad when i eat at my neighborhood places
secondly, there are ways that food safety concerns keep us from being able to refuse plastic: cheese at all of the supermarkets i frequent is always packed in cling wrap; requests to have it cut in placed in my own containers were refused on health code reasons
finally, do we risk a kind of self-righteousness here? after all, the ability to avoid single use plastic often correlates with kinds of social and real capital. one’s ability to shop at places that sell in bulk or to plan ahead, for example, are not evenly distributed in our society. does a kind of purism here cause one to reproduce a kind of class antagonism but cloak it in goodness?
still, i found pleasure in making my own conditioner and skin care products and bringing a DIY feel to bread and soy milk
also, i learned that in order for us to move away from plastic, we will need to figure out how to get grocery stores, restaurants, and retail concerns to use less packaging and to make more products available without plastic. that is political work
so it turns out that my lenten fast actually encourages me to continue the work of caring for the environment
