Day 12 of 20: Inspiration is personal

Today, I'd planned to share what I learned after having done three hours of research about another facet of plastic consumption in my household. After settling in at an outdoor table at my favorite coffee house though, I noticed four different people within twenty minutes letting their cars idle while they went in, only to return with plastic carry-out. In the next breath, a friend posted a picture on Facebook of an airport snack vendor's "packaged food to go" in a montage about being glad to be home. In yet another photo, my cousin's daughter beamed while eating ice cream for breakfast, which made me smile except for the disposable spoon in hand.     

I felt suddenly overwhelmed, discouraged and frustrated, and simply sat for a while. 

Before this challenge, I often got coffee in a disposable cup even if I was hanging out at the coffee house, just in case I'd want to leave and take the coffee with me.  Then I saw the one-hour documentary that Angela Sun took eight years to make, during which time I easily threw thousands of disposable cups, lids and cardboard wraps away.  The night I saw the movie, I went to bed, only to get up again -- so disturbed that I could no longer not do anything about it.  

My experience tells me that waste production is about being unconscious, not deliberate. Most of us don't comprehend the impact of our disposable waste because we typically don't get billed for the specific amount of garbage that we produce (more in post #6), nor do we generally see where our garbage goes. My friends and acquaintances (the owner of this coffee house included) who have been to a city dump have never forgotten it. For the rest of us: out of sight, out of mind. 

Inspiration is a personal thing. 

I once read that people don't stop engaging in bad habits; they simply start doing other things that they want to do more.

I'd bet that most people - when they truly understand what our disposables are doing to the planet and to human and wildlife health - will want to be part of the solution more than they want their beverage in a to-go cup. 

And if I'm wrong? Then we'll need to rely on a smaller group of people committed to cleaning up an ever-growing mess.


My friend, Bridget, emailed this video this morning about an innovator in Japan who created a machine to convert ordinary plastic waste (including the non-recyclable kind) back into oil. I wasn't going to post it because (1) these machines aren't readily available on the market so it's a 'someday' solution', (2) they require fossil fuel energy to convert plastic back into oil, (3) they don't foster any sense of responsibility for reducing waste in the first place, and (4) they reaffirm a belief in a ubiquitous 'they' who will swoop in from somewhere, someday to fix the world's problems.

Now I'm rethinking that. 

Maybe we need every kind of solution...

...because some of you will watch this simple two minute trailer and decide to reduce your consumption and others won't have access to the film, or won't be inspired by it. 

It took a documentary to inspire me to take a thorough look at my disposable waste habits and to initiate a 20-day challenge. What has inspired you?