I didn't even think there would be a battle. I assumed my family would merrily carry on their plastic buying ways, I had no intention of telling them what to do. I was simply looking for alternatives for my own usage, and if in the process any of these things worked for them, it was a bonus.
Today after church my husband and I stopped at the store because he wanted to pick up some things. Turned out he wanted to make us breakfast, and wanted bacon and eggs. I asked him if we could just make pancakes or coffee cake, and he said no, he couldn't cook those, and asked if there was a problem with what he wanted. I said bacon comes in plastic wrap, and I had been trying to avoid the plastic. I said it nicely, then realizing he just wanted to do something nice, I said go ahead and get bacon, it is not like this is written in stone or anything.
I also am trying to eat better post surgery too, but again, once is not going to kill me so I didn't even bring it up. We got the bacon, and since my hens are on their slow winter laying schedule we picked up eggs in cardboard. Naked veggies and some canned cat food and we were done. Of course I did not have my bag with me, so there went two more plastic bags in our house, but again, since my husband was being very nice offering to make us breakfast I let it go. No point in making all of us miserable, we certainly wouldn't last long.
He started pointing out over breakfast all the things I am going to have a hard time buying. He said there is no use trying because it will be a drop in the bucket for usage. That I cannot make any difference so why bother. That it cannot be done because plastic is ubiquitous (that means everywhere-I had to ask) That it would be a full time job for me to do this, it was too much work, and not worth the effort.
I asked him not to be discouraging, and he said he wasn't, he was being reasonable and realistic.
Maybe he is. I know I cannot change the world, I had no intention of changing the world. I just wanted to make changes of myself. The idea of living without plastic scares people and that is really depressing. It saddens me this happened, but I guess it does not suprise me. It just makes me more determined to reduce plastics to the perimeter of my life.
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3 comments:
It's worth it! It's worth it! I'm so glad you blogged about this. Maybe you could point your husband to my husband, Michael's, post on my blog. He talked a bit about what it's like being the husband of Beth "Fake Plastic Fish" Terry.
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/12/i-think-we-all-do-that-sometimes.html
The thing is, you're not just making changes for yourself. You're sharing your experiences with others through your blog. And you have no idea how many people you might affect by being out here and public.
And the other thing is that it will make you feel better about how you treat the earth. So what if no one else is doing it? Is it right to own slaves just because everyone else does? Okay, that's a totally extreme example. But you know what I mean. Some people have to stand up for what they feel is right. Otherwise, you're just going to be conflicted. No, one person can't save the world. But they can save themselves by living with as much integrity as they can.
Just my thoughts. Hang in there!
Biscuit,
My hubby is also a bit of a "Negative Nelly" when it comes to my environmentalism. But I tell you what, even if THEY think it doesn't make a difference, WE KNOW IT DOES!
Keep on keepin' on girl!
- Burbanmom (and ex-Upstate NYer!)
Thanks to you and to Fake Plastic Fish for opening my eyes to the fact that the plastic IS ubiquitous. I've tried for a long time to reduce the number of plastic bags I buy by washing and resuing, but those days are over. I want to follow the same path as you & FPF, but my wife is sort of in the same boat as yer husband: it's an uphill slog. Maybe if I could just get her to read the article http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/health-fitness/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we_2.shtml
Then maybe she'll "get it" that we HAVE to make the effort, that it's worth it… that some of us with kids feel COMPELLED to model a better example than the status quo. Well, that's my $.02 at least :)
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