Living the low plastic life

I have described myself as a "lazy environmentalist" more than once but lately I'm becoming more and more active, this could be because I'm no longer in the Midwest--environmentalist no-man's land--or because I'm working at an environmental NGO, which has contributed exponentially to my guilt (so really I'm a guilty/lazy environmentalist).

Anyway, for work I've been doing a lot of research on plastic and its impact, particularly on the ocean. This plastic business scares me. Do you know that all plastic that has ever been made basically still exists? And that really, it can't be recycled! It's "downcycled" instead. Since doing the research, which also made my coworkers more environmentally aware (a formidable task at an environmental NGO), I've become both aware of how impossible it is to escape plastic and subsequently depressed when I use plastic items. This week I bough some salad dressing primarily because it came in a glass bottle, and of course, I hated it and will probably need to go get something else now. sigh.

For more information on plastic free living, check out this often hilarious blog about a woman try to go as plastic free as possible: FakePlasticFish. I personally laughed out loud (at work) when reading her Valentines Day posts. Oh the unexpected impacts of trying to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

Update: I caved today and bought my favorite plastic-container salad dressing.