One of the reasons I moved from Idaho to Oregon over two years ago is that I was interested in a community that not only realizes the benefits of recycling but encourages it. I will admit that Pocatello was moving more in that direction by the time I left but I didn't want to grow up with the rest of Pocatello. I wanted to move to a place that already had it figured out so that I could immediately immerse myself. I have learned a lot about my misconceptions but also that I was raised with the right ideals to eventually achieve the life I had idealized.
First of all Eugene as a whole does not have it all figured out. But there are people here that know what is right for the environment. I have learned from these people that I can make a difference even if I never convince another person to recycle. The rest of the world may poison the land water but someday myself and my children (I have yet to have) will be able to clean our water with plants that have been doing it hundreds of years and use that water to grow the healthiest food possible with our own bare hands. But it will take much learning and preparation to reach that point.
I have only just begun to understand that recycling is not enough. We must reduce our consumption and reuse our available recourses. If you are willing to buy something in the first place you should give yourself the benefit of using it until it crumbles or needs recycled. People don't do this. They are not conscious of what they are buying and what will happen to it later.
PLASTIC NEVER GOES AWAY. I knew this growing up, I had heard it before. Why did it take until I was 20 years old to understand what that meant? Everything else we use will eventually rot away and be absorbed back into the earth to become something else. So why do we use so much plastic?
I can't remember ever not using plastic. I was born in 1993 and plastic has always been a large part of my life. I grew up knowing that wood was more sturdy and more expensive and I practically have an emotional connection with wood furniture. You can sand it and stain it. You can carve it and paint it. It can be passed down from one generation to a next. Most plastic furniture I have had has already been broken or warped into an unusable item. Drawers made of plastic? Those things last a few years until the frame sags or cracks. But they are cheap. I do not blame my mother for the plastic invasion of our home. She made sure I had everything I needed and when plastic is the cheapest most convenient option who could blame her. But even before I understood what I really needed I knew I wanted something More.
I have torn apart book shelves and made them into something new. I have seen pieces of wood discarded in a field become moosh and return to the earth. I have fixed scratches and dents on wooden furniture with some simple sanding paper. When I visit my mother's house and sit at the kitchen table things are different. Someone once purchased her a very nice looking set of table and chairs. The chairs are all broken now with their plastic wheels breaking off left and right. I miss our old set. I vaguely remember those wooden chairs but I wonder what could have happened to them that they needed replaced with these fragile things. Who told my mother she was making an upgrade?
Our society pushes that we cannot be happy without a constant feed of new things. But I find that exhausting and just plain stupid. Why should we work twice as hard to afford twice the crap and get half the joy? Buying something that I can only enjoy for a limited time before it has to be replaced means I am buying a future trip to the store. I hated hand me down clothes as a kid. It meant we were poor. It meant I did not have the latest style or the best fitting clothes. Now as an adult I realize that means absolutely nothing. I am happy to receive my mothers worn out things and she sends them to me now, knowing I will enjoy making something new from them. I never have a reason to be cold. Being a short curvy girl means no matter how much money I have I am hard pressed to find already made clothes that fit comfortably. I have a large collection of store bought dresses but only three pairs of fitting pants. I feel like those are my only options until I step up to my own sewing machine and create something I have dreamt up for myself.
Plastic is the cheapest option because it is largely produced. Machines print out plastic bottles faster than glassblowers can make jars. Our lives are marred with our need for convenience and cheap products. We think that having more containers to wash is silly when you can just throw plastic containers away and get a new one filled with soda or yogurt. Our lives cannot change until our values do. I value a low stress lifestyle. I will admit that having more things to wash and sort takes more time but it is less stressful than making a trip to the store and handing over my hard earned money. Maybe other people don't worry about money the way I do. Growing up every penny mattered because we didn't have much. I think I gained other values that are much more enduring.
It is hard to go to the store and buy food without buying plastic, but the more we do it, and the more we ask our manufacturers to use less plastic, the easier it gets. Buying less stuff means I stress about money less. My partner and I do not have to work long hours and we get to spend a lot of quality time together. If you have never made something with your own hands you do not have the same sense of accomplishment as I do. During Christmas all the smiles I make with my gifts I pass out are truly mine to cherish. I do not have Victoria secret to thank or walmart, I appreciate myself. I love to shop for tools. I buy fabric and glue, I even buy plastic. My message, though it has been a long and passionate one, is that small things make a difference. Buying a little less plastic means you have a little less garbage and saves you another trip. Buying things that last gives you the chance to research what it is you really want and the time to appreciate it and make it your own.
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