2019 Life Logs, Day 25: The Three R’s Reimagined
Date: Friday, January 25, 2019
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day; High 40, Low 22 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was a beautiful, sunny day. I went to the gym to put in my time on the recumbent bike to keep my bad knee in motion, came home and worked at getting caught up on mail, both snail mail and email correspondence, picked Jonah and Ollie up after school and spent a couple of hours with them, and then tonight went to a Falmouth Forum, a Marine Biological Lab (MBL) presentation. These presentations happen about once a month from September to May and are always interesting, but tonight’s topic impacts all of us and really hit home. The presenter, Dr. Kara Lavender Law, is a research professor at the Sea Education Association (SEA). The topic was “Ocean Plastics Pollution: From Sources to Solutions.” The production of plastics has skyrocketed since 1950 and the impact on marine organisms and habitats, as well as the impact on humans, has skyrocketed as well. Dr. Law did a fantastic job of leading the audience to the bottom line solution which is that each of us needs to do our part to curb our dependence on plastics, for our own health and for the health of every living organism. I have been trying to do this for a few years now and it really is not easy. Plastics are so pervasive in our lives that it seems almost impossible. But if you go back to the Three R’s, not Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic’, but Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, you can make inroads. Reimagine these Three R’s in as many ways as you can. My recommendation for starting this process is to avoid buying foods in plastic containers. Start with simple things like buying nut butters in glass jars, olive oil in glass containers. It is a tiny start, but every plastic container not purchased makes a statement to those who package our food, and that is so important. I have one really bad habit that I will work on next. When I am traveling, I love to stop at Dunkin’ Donuts and buy a decaf coffee. I no longer drink coffee at home, but when I’m driving, it is an old habit. Dunkin’ hot coffee comes in Styrofoam (worse than plastic?) and the cold coffee comes in huge single-use plastic containers with a plastic straw. After tonight’s presentation, I decided to halt that habit. One of my foodie gurus says to carry four stainless steel travel mugs in your car. That way when you get the urge for that drink, have them put it in one of your mugs. The reason for four is that you will surely forget to take the mug in the house to be washed, so the next time you get the urge for a coffee, you’ll have another clean mug. And then another and another. By the time you have used all four, surely you’ll remember to take them in the house, wash them, and restock!
Heather and Jed got a late start this afternoon on their weekend away in Provincetown. Just as Heather got her program for next week ‘in the can’, President Trump decided that he was going to reopen the government. A good thing in every way, except for Heather. Part of her program was about the government shutdown, so she had to go back and make significant changes. That took almost two hours and delayed their take-off, but I think they got out of town in time to get to Provincetown, check-in, change clothes, and make it for their 6:30 pm dinner reservation. After such a rushed beginning, I sure hope the rest of their weekend is relaxing and wonderful. Jonah, Ollie, and I delivered Sam’s huge camping backpack to him at a friend’s home and then the friend’s parents were to take Sam and friend Nolan to meet up with the Scout troop. After the drop-off of the backpack, I took Jonah and Ollie back home and sent them next door where they are spending the night. I’ll head over there mid-morning and will then have Ollie and Jonah until Sunday evening. I’m looking forward to a fun weekend with the boys.
