What we Take for Granted (or How we Just don't See it Anymore)
Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
I was sitting at the computer and talking with my husband, Bernd, the other day when the trash can to the left of me caught my attention. You can never know what will start me thinking. More particularly, it was the trash can liner that got me going.
Trash can liners. Wow. Now there is something that most people probably never think about, including me up to now. But consider this; when I was very young, there were no plastic trash can liners. Now and then my mom might put a paper bag into the kitchen trash can, but if she put anything wet in there, that rendered it pretty much useless. So, whenever one of our household trash cans was full, you walked with the can out back of the garage where the rubbish cans were located and dumped out the contents. Dad favored old oil drums because the lids fit so tightly. I don't think he gave much thought to the aching backs of the men who picked up our trash (there were no huge plastic waste cans and automated trash trucks back then). We had one can for kitchen garbage (and you were always sure to hose out the kitchen trash can after you dumped it), one for yard clippings and another one for all other waste. The oil drums got hosed out regularly so they wouldn't get too nasty smelling. The yard clipping can would take several weeks to fill up and the others required a couple. It seems to me there was less waste when I was younger.
But back to trash can liners. You can probably figure where this is all going. It has to do with the environment and saving natural resources and all the stuff we take for granted and don't really think about. Trash can liners are made from polyolefins and low and high density polyethylenes. Polyethylene is derived from natural gas and petroleum. Some manufacturers are recycling plastics to make their trash can liners. But realistically, most of them end up in landfills. Maybe in a million, billion years they will turn back into petroleum. Who knows?
Where possible, Bernd and I reuse the plastic shopping bags, in which we bring our purchases home, as trash can liners. Even so, that means that each bag is used only twice before it finds its way to the landfill where it mostly just sits undisturbed, holding within it the materials that would actually otherwise biodegrade. How stupid is that? They could be made from polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable polymer derived from vegetable-based lactic acid (there is still the pollution of its production to be considered). There is also a degradable polyethylene film, but it does not decompose in landfills and requires exposure to weather and ultraviolet light to degrade.
Most of the plastic shopping bags are made from polyethylene like the "official" trash can liners. One (mainly me) has to wonder how much petroleum we could save (and production pollution we could eliminate) if we all just stopped using plastic shopping bags and used those made of fabric and webbing over and over. And let's go one step further and consider ending the use of trash can liners. Okay, so we'd have to go back to washing out our trash cans, but it's a small thing compared to helping our environment. Right? Will I do this? I'm seriously considering it. We already have one stainless steel bathroom trash can that we do not line and that I wash regularly. It's a start.
It boggles my mind how easily we slide from one way of doing things into another. Three men, Canadians Harry Wasylyk, Larry Hansen and Frank Plomp, invent a trash can liner and suddenly we can't live without it. Can't conceive of not using one. Just take it all for granted. How many other things in our lives have we never wondered about? Things that surely warrant a second look.
Do you plan out your grocery shopping trips for the most efficiency or do you just hop in the car every time you run out of something? I grocery shop once a week and combine it with all my other errands. If we run out of something before the next shopping trip, we make do. Do you try to purchase items that have a minimum of packaging over those that are "insanely" packaged?
I do the bulk of my grocery shopping at Costco where they never send stuff home with you in paper or plastic shopping bags and I always decline a box (Costco recycles them). So I'm good there. But I will seriously have to get with the fabric shopping bag thing for my forays to WalMart. If I put the fabric bags directly back into my car after I get home, I will have them with me always. Then I just have to remember to take them in with me. No mean feat.
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the convenience of buying foods in resealable plastic bags, though I may never look at them quite the same way again. And I'm not going to cure all the ills of the earth by eliminating plastic shopping bags and trash can liners from my life. But as a starting place, it sure couldn't hurt. I will do my best to "see" where I can help. I never want to take the health of our planet for granted. And to my way of thinking, what's good for Mother Earth is good for me too.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)Your active mind is the very thing that makes you an artist. I would venture to guess that you are always trying to improve upon something.. I do recycle my plastic bags to our women's group for our food sharing program. Thanks for sharing.Hi Linda.Sometimes I wish my mind would just shut up. :) Like at midnight when I have to get up at six the next morning. But for the most part, I consider it a blessing. Your guess about always trying to improve upon something is most shrewd. :) WalMart takes in used plastic bags for recycling. A lot of people have nothing good to say about WalMart, but they at least do that. I believe they also recycle all their cardboard boxes.Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to leave a comment.Dianne
Good article Dianne, I enjoyed reading it.Hi David.Thanks so much for reading it and commenting!Dianne
I think we could probably all do better, at least I know I could! I've purchased cloth grocery bags and leave them in the vehicle, but often forget to take them in with me when shopping. Your article has prompted me to try harder. Thanks Dianne.Hi Brianna.I've always figured that remembering to take the bags in would be my biggest hurdle. I do refuse bags of any kind when all I've purchased is a few items that I can carry in my arms. There are so many little ways we can make a difference. It may not always seem like much, but it adds up. Like saving all your pennies and at the year you've got $18 of them.Thanks for reading!Dianne
I was thinking about the same thing the other day, Dianne re plastic shopping bags. I don't know why I haven't thought of it before, but I can easily sew a couple of shopping bags, and wash them regularly. Thanks!JenniferHi Jennifer.I've got all these old bath towels lying around that I figure would make great shopping bags. I just need to get out the needle and thread. I know how to twist nylon cord for handles. So why am I just sitting here? :)Thank you and big hugs,Dianne
I am so glad to see someone else who thinks like me. You have obviously done more research than me. I just try my best to re-use and re-cycle. It's so important and I wish more people cared more about our planet. I know there are many who do. But I think we need everyone to do their part. I get made fun of sometimes, called a "tree hugger" which I truly don't mind.I just can't help but think about my grandchildren and their children and how I want the world to be a safe and healthy place for them when I'm gone.Hi Sue.Research is easy. Implementing change is harder. But it seems to me that every day more and more people are at least talking about the need to take better care of our planet and ourselves. I have hope for the future of our earth and anything that helps it helps us.Thanks so much for reading and leaving your comments. I appreciate both.Dianne
hi diane,you reminded me of all the things i've thought the same thing about, but can't remember right now.i don't smoke anymore, but i never tossed the butt out the car window-i was told they aren't bio degradable. i also have made sure the kids and visitors kept their butts in their pockets when outside, until they got to the garbage. and they were told not to throw them in the lake.it feels good to do whatever one can to clean up years of unknown disasters to our environment.and, probably 20 friends, between 3 kids, were exposed to the idea of keeping the earth clean.good article, thanks for sharing,i hope all is well,my best,sueHi Sue.It's like what I said to Brianna. All the little bits add up. It may seem like a small thing (like a penny) but if you get enough of them together, it makes something larger. All of our little bits do make a difference.Thanks for stopping by. And yes, all is well. Bernd found a job as an optician for a local MD who does eye care as well as aesthetics ... and for more money than he was making at his previous job. Woo hoo! Trouble is, it is full time and we are both having a little trouble (me more than him) adjusting to his new schedule. But we are working on it. Mostly I miss having him around all the time.I hope all is well with you and yours, too!Hugs,Dianne
Great article on living simply Dianne. Interesting point in that if you fill a bag of biodegradable materials and seal it...they will not break down. I'm a avid gardener and try and recycle all my paper, cardboard and scraps down into the compost bin in the back yard.Hi Craig.Sometimes I wish I could get into the whole gardening thing. I always feel wasteful when I just toss out my kitchen garbage. But I just don't seem to have any lust for it. I've often thought of asking a couple friends if they'd like my waste, but think that might be a little weird. :) So I haven't gotten that far.Thanks,Dianne
Nice article and informative too.Hi Kaneta.Thank you. And thanks for reading it and taking the time to leave a comment.Dianne
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