Monday, April 06, 2009

Laundry Day!

Well, I washed all my plastic bags. How is this a vegan post, you might ask?

I suppose it's more of a vegan lifestyle post... but these are the same bags I use to bring home all my delicious produce from the farmers market. They get dirty or mucky and so I collect them all... and from time to time I wash 'em out and hang 'em out to dry.

When I went to India the first time, I saw plastic bags everywhere. The fields, the train tracks, the gutters, the trees, everywhere you looked there were plastic bags. It was especially sad to see the street cows eating plastic bags that still smelled like food. Apparently the cows eat these bags until their stomachs are full of plastic, at which point they cease to feel hungry, and starve to death. Sad! So, at first, unfortunately, I passed some judgment on the Indian system. But then I realized, our system isn't really any different, it's just that I don't have to look at it. Whether my plastic bags end up out at sea or in the landfill, they're still not going anywhere. Plastic is SO hard to avoid... but I do my small part by milking all the life I can out of these bags... and recycling them when they've met their end. My conscience is that little bit lighter. And to me, it's all part of veganism: living with increased awareness of how our actions affect other beings.

ps. isn't Snoopy cute?

7 comments:

  1. I think that's a great idea, actually! And Snoopy IS adorable. :)

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  2. YAY!! I thought I was the only one!? Do you do produce bags too? I have switched over to mostly reusable canvas for holding groceries, but can't find a great solution for the produce bags, so I just use them until they become unusable. I think I may have some that are nearly a year old! And Snoopy IS adorable! (I've already mentioned that before;))

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  3. That's such a cool picture! Like that idea...

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  4. Anonymous8:58 AM

    Ha, I saw the photo and thought you had switched from painting to installation art :-)

    Seriously, though, this is a great idea. I have one of those wooden stick things in the kitchen, but it only holds 3-4 bags. This is much better.

    Eventually I want to make a bunch of product bags out of tulle fabric (which would also make them usable for bulk bin items), but I haven't gotten around to that yet...

    Oh yes, and Snoopy is very cute!!

    jen e.

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  5. Your house is adorable and kudos to you for reusing!

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  6. that is such a great idea!! really!! fantastic! i will adopt that idea for sure!

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  7. totally awesome that you reuse your plastic bags. i saw somewhere on the web a site that teaches you how to make hooked rugs with old plastic bags too. lots of neat ways to reuse them until the very end.

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