When I was a kid, everything came in a glass container, taking in glass pop bottles for a 2 cent deposit return and buying candy. (yes, I'm old). Anyway, plastic has become my enemy, since it does nothing good for people or the environment. Since I'm retired and have the time, as a caring consumer I will be e- mailing companies telling them of the dangers of plastic. I take my own bags everywhere and told my supermarket of the dangers of plastic. The manager agreed with me and is now offering cloth bags. The consumer has a lot of power, companies need us to prosper. If everyone would protest the use of plastic, I think we could make changes, to better our health and environment. There's power in numbers. What really bothers me is that why are things allowed to get out of control before something is done about it. I thought we pay people to forsee the consequences of introducing new products to the public. As usual, it's all about greed.

We live and work on our farm in the heat so finding an alternative to plastic water bottles was a necessity. We're fortunate to get milk from a Mennonite dairy in VA which comes in glass milk bottles, 1/2 gallon & quarts. We just re-use these for our water bottles, keep them in a canvas bag under a tree for cool water or stick them in the creek for very cold water (natural refrigeration). The glass bottles are thick and made for tough handling. I also find these in antique stores for a few dollars each, although they don't have the snap on lids that ours come with.

We are also adjusting to life without a microwave, since ordering the Aroma oven from Dr. Mercola. This was a bigger change than getting along without plastic doo-dads in our kitchen. We purchased glass containers to put leftovers in and can now just set them into the oven for re-heating. It takes longer than a microwave but we'd rather take longer heating our food than shortening our live and ending up with 3 eyeballs from the microwave!

Real change will be realized when the majority accept responsiblity for being good stewards. Here are a  couple of slogans I hope will assist with this effort.

Use it up.

Wear it out.

Make it do.

Do without.

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle (in that order)

That is all. Carry on.

When are we going to learn?

Go right back to basics people.

Sure glass is good, but if you go further back in human history you find ceramics and wood were used for food storage and transport.

Ceramics can be made stronger than glass, ( tougher i.e. more elastic, and greater shock resistance ) while waxed hardwood wins hands down for strength and durability. Woven bags sealed with bees wax, animal fat or clay were used, and also gourds.

Anyone with a savvy business mind could make with these type of containers and a lot of money while providing a service to all humanity.

Food can be packaged in edible containers, and animal skins are the best clothing and water storage containers there are. I realize animal rights groups would disapprove, but we are poisoning every creature on this planet with plastic, so surely it makes sense to at least use the so called waste product from our excessive meat consumption. Cows, crocodiles, sheep, possums etc are all examples of animals that can be farmed to produce skins and food, and bone is also a great alternative to hard plastic.

We need to design products around the material, not produce materials to produce a product.

A simple brick water storage unit, and a gravity feed ceramic filter can provide drinking water from the roof of your home, and solar power is becoming a real alternative.

New Zealand ( my home ) is looking at tidal driven turbines to create power in Cook Straight, which is the channel that divides the two largest Islands.

Nauru had a tidal power station back in the early 80's which was very successful as I remember.

Profit can be made from sustainable resource, but we need to get rid of our "live in the present" mindset.

 Being in a hurry is the single most damaging thing we can do when it comes to our environment.

Don't forget, the Earth is ready for a hard reset, and when it does all of our buried waste will be thrown in our faces. Literally! We are long overdue for some serious earthquakes etc.

Shower curtains are made of PVC - When I open the package, the noxious odor is so intense it gives me a headache! That's why I hang them out in the back yard for 24 hours before installing them.

(L)SD - Dallas