The experience had a huge impact on me, bigger than I can properly articulate at this point. But for right now, here are my photos and a few thoughts, in chronological order, beginning with Thursday night.
1) It doesn't really matter if I order my martini with "no plastic spear" for the olives...
if I drink so much that I end up sick and needing a plastic bottle of this...
2) When we ask for "greener" sponsors, "organic" is not enough.
How organic is a product that is more plastic than food? And that is promoted with a ton of paper waste?
3) Green moms party by hanging out at cocktail parties testing their purses for lead. Thankfully, Jennifer's XRF Analyzer did not find any lead in my organic hemp purse. Did we really expect it to?
Photo by Lisa Nelson-Woods
4) Is a zero waste lunch (durable plates, napkins, utensils, glasses, etc.) negated by the processed Ragu food on the plate?
Photo by not_losing_yet on Flickr
Not when shared with good friends! (Pictured: Lynn from Organicmania.)
5) Singing can pretty much make up for any perceived injustice.
Even if I am not the singer I hope to be some day. :-) (Watch this video at your own risk.)
6) And perhaps convincing Pepsi not to bring Aquafina bottled water to the event was not the coup we thought it was, since plastic cups were provided for flavored Sobe water instead.
I ended up with one plastic cup for my tally, having not thought to bring my travel mug to a cocktail party and being reluctant to run up and get it for fear of missing my turn to sing. :-)
Beth Terry is writes about finding alternatives to plastic and tracks her own plastic consumption and plastic waste at www.FakePlasticFish.com. Why Fake Plastic Fish? "Because if we don't solve our plastic problem, they could be the only kind of fish we have left." Please stop by and leave a comment!
