The "Cleaning Up The World" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Enjoying a meal at the French restaurant known as Le Piment on the island of St. Martin.  I have written many times about the island and quite a few of those stories told of having a meal at Le Piment.  It is one of the favorites of my wife and myself for many years.  But, this year there was something very different about the service we received.  

I realize that mixed drinks come with
a straw, but why not use an alternative?

After ordering our meal and drinks we were delivered our drinks without a plastic straw.  I know, you don't usually drink a mixed drink or a beer with a straw, but we usually don't have a mixed drink or beer with our meal.  We love the peach tea that they serve in a can.  And, we like to use a straw.  We asked about the straw and were told they are trying to cut down on the use of plastic straws since they are harmful to the local environment.  So, we just poured our peach tea into a drinking glass and had it that way.  Many local governments are trying to reduce the reliance that people have on plastic supplies in order to clean up the environment.  Others seem to think that something as small as a plastic straw isn't going to help clean up the environment, but it is said that Americans use more than 500 million straws DAILY, which is enough to fill 125 school buses.  

Too many shorelines look like this in the world!

Plastic straws are said to have a 200-year lifespan so you begin to multiply the 500 million a day times all those years and you see why there is so much plastic in our environment.  In the United States, Colorado declared in 2013 that July 11 would be "Straw Free Day."  So who else is trying to help in this effort to reduce the use of plastics?  The Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship line has said bon voyage to plastic straws.  

We need to eliminate items such as this from our environment.

Now, why can't we do that with plastic bags and cups as well as polystyrene foam containers?  Le Piment did tell us they would give us a plastic straw if necessary, but they are hoping most customers will not request one.  But, for some people, they cannot not do with a plastic straw.  Certain diseases make it almost impossible to drink from a glass or bottle without the use of a straw.  Perhaps someone could invent a suitable alternative to help make a plastic-free environment for all of us.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Paper Or Plastic" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Cleaning the kitty litter in my basement.  We have two quickly growing kittens and find it necessary to have two litter pans for them.  I clean them ever evening and at times Snickerdoodle, the male member of our family, will accompany me to the basement and lend a hand in the cleanup.   As I am working on one of the pans he will sit next to it watching and then reach over the side with his paw as if to tell me he wants to help.  I naturally have to compliment him on the job he is doing.  He tilts his head and gives me an approving look.  Does he really know what he is doing?  As I clean the litter I usually use a paper grocery bag to place the cat elimination (that's what Google calls cat pee and poop) into so I don't add another plastic bag to the local landfill.  The paper bag will eventually deteriorate while the plastic bag will not.  Now, when I finish reading the newspaper, I take it to the garage where I place the weeks papers into a plastic bag.  

I place my newspapers in a plastic bag.

The plastic bag filled with newspapers will eventually be recycled and perhaps the plastic will be used once again in another product.  How do you use plastic and paper bags?  Are you environmentally friendly or doesn't it matter to you that you may be destroying the earth we live on by not recycling properly?   A few days ago I read a story about the use of plastic straws.  Seems we Americans use about 500 million plastic straws a day!  Wow!!  That number is based on research conducted by an enterprising 9-year-old Vermont boy.  That's billions and billions of straws a year.  And where are they going?   My wife Carol and I have been traveling to the  Caribbean island of St. Martin/Sint Maarten for almost 20 years now and in the past 5 or so years have had to take our own disposable bags with us to the grocery store when we shop.  For islands such as this one, the use of plastic bags, bottles, straws, etc. was killing fish and other water creatures at an estimated 100,000 marine animals a year.  Reducing the use of disposable plastic is an important topic of discussion for many countries throughout the world.  What can be done.  Many Caribbean islands are requiring the use of reusable canvas shopping bags.  At least they are trying their best to solve the problem that is affecting their islands.  In China a ban reduced plastic bag use by two-thirds during the first year while Ireland added a fee for plastic bags which reduced their use by 94%.  

Is this you on your way home from the grocery store?

In my home state of Pennsyl- vania, a state Senate bill is sitting on Gov. Tom Wolf's desk that would forbid cities and munici- palities from banning or taxing plastic bags.  Democratic Governor Wolf said he plans to veto it.  Cities such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Erie and even Lancaster's western neighboring city of York have spoken out about the bill.  One House Representative said a ban on plastic bags would cost hundreds of jobs in Centre County, the location of a large plastic bag producer.  There are 14 such facilities in the state employing 1,500 people.  In Lancaster there are large quantities of plastic products that find their way into the sewer system.  When Carol and I go to the grocery store I ask for paper bags to pack the groceries.  

Does your street look like this on trash day?

I know I should be using reusable canvas bags, but what would I do to clean up the cat litter?  Before long they will probably be making reusable cat litter bags!  There is another drive on in central Pennsylvania to ban plastic bags altogether.  Lancaster city will soon vote to promote and utilize reusable bags for just about everything.  Boy, I can see quite a few new canvas bag businesses popping up in Lancaster.  My favorite candy store, Miesse Chocolate, has eliminated plastic completely when it found a type of recyclable bag that suits its needs.  Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year.  Each of those bags takes hundreds of years to decompose.  And, you use it for how long...maybe an hour or so.  What a waste of landfill space.  I am as guilty as anyone for my use of plastic, but I am now trying to do my part to eliminate the use of plastic products.  I'm sure I will not live long enough to see the total banning of plastic, but as long as we do our best, I will die happy.  And, I will be buried in a disposable paper box and not in a plastic casket.  How about you?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.