Of course, I would sign up to eschew single-use plastics! Who wouldn’t? Seems such a simple step to cut one’s carbon footprint (plastics being made from fossil fuels).
Except it wasn’t. Didn’t my favorite Eastern European Deli in Minneapolis formerly pull their sausages from piles under the counter, then wrap them in butcher paper? The heavy white paper could hardly contain the aroma of garlic and spices in Ukrainian and Polish sausages on the way home: Preview of deliciousness!
On Saturday morning, the Ukrainian sausage I bought looked luscious but was wrapped in plastic. Very hygienic, perhaps, but not nearly so delightful, without the scents of lunch to come and contributing to my nearly complete fail at going plastic-free.
Over and over, at the deli, the grocery, the Chinese take-out joint, I failed. The good part? My awareness of all this plastic was heightened to an alarming degree. Salad in a plastic box (reusable for harvesting in the Giving Garden, at least); guacamole, very organic and natural, in a plastic round (maybe reuseable but don’t put it in the dishwasher or your round will end up in a twist); and the plastic bag that the electronics store placed my new keyboard in. Anyone could tell I wasn’t shoplifting, but did I need that bag??
At least I’ve broken the flimsy plastic water bottle habit and now use a metal one for bicycle rides and other sipping situations. Not as conscientious as the generation now becoming adults, who carry water bottles that would carry them through the overheated Southwestern desert for a day!
And why not prepare for that, as we experience the warmest days on record, on Earth?
Tomorrow, I’ll start my plastic-free again! And keep my ratty yoga pad until it falls apart. Can you fashion one from cotton, you think?
Allison Campbell Jensen 
Hi Allison, Thanks for sharing this with me. I do try to avoid plastics but this (miracle in my view) material is just everywhere! I worked in the dairy industry for 18 years and, boy howdy, the ever-present milk carton changed over the years from a simple 3-layer (PE/board/PE) to a better 7-layer (PE/aluminum foil/PE/Mylar/PE/board/PE) container, extending product life from around a week to months! The environmental price paid by adding plastics saved us on the refrigeration and shelf life side of the coin. So sometimes not simple… Plastic is truly everywhere and hard to avoid. I think we need more government action/industry action to develop the recycling side, or to continue to develop new non-oil materials that degrade, but it comes so slowly. We do our best in the meantime… Warm wishes, Steve