Category: reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse

Elephants, poop paper and procrastination

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In 2023 I saw this lovely box of note papers in a fair-trade shop in Boulder, CO. It caught my eye as I was looking for a gift for a friend and we share an affinity for hummingbirds.     

    

Then I discovered the product was made using the dung of elephants in Sri Lanka! What a cool concept!

I adore elephants almost as much as hummingbirds (but not as much as I love Red Pandas, neither of which I can have in my backyard). Also, I happen to love Sri Lanka, as I was lucky enough to visit the island in December of 2018. So of course I bought the note paper for my friend, and one for myself.

While in Sri Lanka we experienced two very different elephant encounters.

The first was going to an elephant ‘rescue’ and we were very excited we would get to ride elephants.  It was not quite the experience I had anticipated. It WAS awe inspiring and humbling to be able to get so close to, touch and even ride these beautiful, amazing creatures. Yet, it was also a bit sad because it didn’t seem like the elephants were very happy or treated well. They didn’t seem treated poorly, I didn’t get a sense of abuse or neglect, just a lack of reverence or kindness. Also, riding elephants is a little scary, and not super comfortable to be honest, so lacking any sense the animal enjoyed the interaction it was rather disheartening overall. We agreed we had no interest in doing that ever again.

A few days later we had a jeep ride through an elephant sanctuary. It was a large area of land allowing lots of space for many free elephants to roam and exist in a more natural way, other than jeeps driving through all the time carrying tourists. What a difference! Of course we couldn’t get close to them, our drivers always maintaining a certain distance, but this felt like a much deeper connection of engaging with the gentle giants. It is truly one of my favorite life experiences to date. My awe, joy and respect for elephants can barely be overstated. Seeing them in the environment where they belong, in the social groups they form, going about their own business was seriously breathtaking. One of our guides aptly reminded us that we humans were the visitors in the elephant’s home. 6 years later, I still get goose bumps thinking about their beauty and strength.

Today, while browsing the internet (and probably should have been doing something more productive) I happened across this story from Business Insider about paper being made from elephant poop in Thailand. Provided with the back story I just gave you, I am sure you know it was a must for me to watch! What a fascinating process, and delightful people making this awesome product! 

Well, I it sure took me down a rabbit hole of memories. But it inspired me to write this post and share with you 2 of these companies making elephant poop paper, supporting sustainable practices, employing local workers and making elephants potentially valued in a whole new way! And a lovely fair trade company with loads of great products! I hope there are more out there to be discovered! So, I guess I will consider this a productive procrastination for today.  

Tell me about any fascinating products like this you may know about!

Is Silicone the new plastic?

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Over the past several years there we have seen a lot of positive movement away from single use plastics, as well as the use of alternate materials instead of plastic.

For example, those disposable plastic zipper bags that are so prevalent in our kitchens. We now have zipper baggies made from silicone we can use to stash our sandwiches and snacks, and these can be washed and use over and over again. Great! Right?

Well, of course it is great they are reusable rather than being added to our landfill after a few hours of containing something. Obviously, any time an item has a longer life span instead of being used once and tossed is a step in the right direction. Seeing silicone so often replacing plastic products I began to wonder how positive is this switch, really? Are we embracing silicone so quickly that it’s eventually going to become the new plastic in terms of waste and disposal issues? This is a subject I want to dig into deeper, and plan to write about this often.

I am passionate about learning more and sharing recycling myths, tips, do’s and don’ts and innovations. We have been given the ‘Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle’ mantra for a long time, and we seem to be in a growth phase of understanding better the reality of what each of those words can mean in our lives.

Back to silicone vs plastic: Here is the admittedly VERY oversimplified break down of what I have learned in quick search.

  • Silicone is durable and often used to make alternatives to single use plastic products.
  • While it is technically a recyclable material, it degrades when processed so it is actually considered down cycling.
  • There are very few facilities reprocess silicone at this time.
  • Silicone’s ability to withstand high heat makes it a great material to use in lots of products, yet not so easy to recycle.
  • Silicone in landfills doesn’t seem to be as toxic as plastic, but it actually takes even longer to break down than plastic does.

I am curious to learn more about this and will share my education with you as I go. For me, I plan to keep thinking about the items I use and what the full life span of the materials are. The process from the raw materials to the end of life, as well as how many lives that material can realistically have, are important to me to consider.

What are your thoughts on silicone and how prevalent it is becoming? I would love to hear from you.

America Recycles Day November 15

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Since 1997, November 15 has been recognized as America Recycles Day, which is the only nationally recognized day to celebrate recycling and buying recycled content products and packaging.

THE NATIONAL RECYCLING RATE HAS INCREASED OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS.

BUT THE CURRENT RECYCLING RATE IS ONLY 34%.

WE CAN DO BETTER!

Here are a few resources to look into. As we enter the holiday season try to support recycling by purchasing products made from recycled materials. It makes a big impact. And remember that donating used goods that can still be used by others (clothing, household items, furniture, etc.) is a form of recycling that also directly helps people in need, so you kind of get double karma points on that!

Reduce your use of things that need to be recycled, especially items with excellent alternatives such as plastics like water bottles, plastic cups and other ‘take out’ related items. Carry your own water bottle. Decline plastic forks if getting take out to bring home, or bring your own cutlery.

https://www.epa.gov/recyclingstrategy/america-recycles-day

Yep, you can recycle corks!

America Recycles Day

Let me know what sort of efforts you make already to recycle?

I pledge to make better use of local refill stores and reduce my plastics consumption on shampoo, conditioner and cleaning supplies. I will also make sure I go out of my way to purchase recycled products whenever possible. Will you pick something to commit to improving over the next year? Let me know what it is and inspire others!

Is it all too much?

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Becoming plastic free or zero waste sounds like a great goal, but is it realistic?

I’m not discouraging the idea, but want to propose we are careful about how we think about it. Setting such a lofty goal can back fire when it becomes overwhelming.

Goals need to be kept attainable or we falter in continuing to pursue them. It’s human nature. No one wakes up one day and decides they are climbing Mt. Everest the next day, they know if that is the goal it will take time and increased incremental effort to get there.

We have a Mt. Everest of bad habits to overcome about how we treat this wonderful planet of ours. And while it is quite urgent that we do so, it is also extremely overwhelming to consider dealing with. Try not to let the urgency derail your efforts by making you feel you are not doing enough.

Some is better than none, and it is a good place to start. We didn’t get here in a blink of an eye and we won’t get out of it in a blink either.

Start with the easier things and keep building on it. Consistency and increased effort are going to be the key because we need to change our whole mind set. Don’t feel discouraged and think that your small efforts are not making a difference, because enough of us doing even the tiny things can help. And we keep it up, go from tiny things to small things, keep working on it.

You also have to do things that work for your life and income to find where and how you make the most impact.

A stay at home parent with several kids might struggle giving up certain convenient single use products which really make their hectic life easier and fit into the household budget. So, their changes might show up stronger elsewhere like packaging reduction on often used items such as laundry and cleaning products, less brand-new clothing since kids grow so fast anyway and toys made from non-plastic sources.

A business executive who travels a lot might not be able to reduce air travel in their life without risking how they make a living, but can put more effort into decreasing their impact in other ways, such as not using plastic when traveling. Bring your own cutlery, straws and refillable bottles, decline refreshments on the plane that use plastic. This person could drive a hybrid or electric car to reduce their carbon footprint when at home and purchase more eco friendly products. 

A construction worker can’t drive an electric compact car, or take public transportation because they need to take tools and materials to jobsites. So that person may put extra effort into buying produce at the local farmers market and bring their cotton bags, carry lunch in reusable containers instead of grabbing take out as much as possible and other efforts in their home whenever possible.

When you feel like your one small effort is NOT enough, consider this:

Maybe the person in line behind you noticed your refusal of a plastic grocery bag because you brought your own and saw how simple that was. Maybe that person decides the 3 things they are purchasing can be carried out without a bag and they remember to bring a bag the next time. Maybe the next time you pull out your reusable straw or bring your own cutlery instead of using plastic you inspire someone else to make that change. Or you tell someone who never heard of it that there are such things as toothbrushes made from bamboo and dental floss that comes in non-plastic refillable containers.

And while we are making changes ourselves, we need to keep putting pressure on companies and people in power to make BIG changes happen.  That is where the real results will come from, but all of our small efforts matter too. Keep it up, no matter what.