An Open Letter to Plastic
Dear Plastic,
Listen, I don’t know how else to say this without being totally brutal but here’s the truth – I am just not that into you anymore.
Sure, you’re strong and flexible. You’re also very handy and a great travel buddy. And then there’s that awesome unbreakable and invincible quality of yours. But let’s face it – you’re everywhere!
You’re in my water and even my water is in you! You’ve managed to tightly wrap yourself around my groceries like a python wraps itself around its victim cutting off all air supply. You’re double wrapped around my electronics and stuffed in all sorts of places in the form of little thermocol balls. You’re on the streets, flying around with the wind, getting into people’s feet. You’re even in women’s breasts and behinds for God’s sake!
No matter how hard I try to reduce your presence in my life, there you are just multiplying like cockroaches and taking over my home. In fact, there are more of YOU in my house than there are books in my bookcase (and I should know, I have a LOT of books!)
I think this is some evil plan of yours to eradicate life off of this world, one disposable cup and bag at a time. You’ve killed off thousands of poor animals who have inadvertently eaten you because you’ve taken over their grassland too and converted them into wastelands. You’re even mixed into our food and water, slowly seeping into our pores and cells, causing cancer and tumors. Don’t think we aren’t on to you! Your plan to intoxicate everyone through your poisonous composition is crystal clear to us.
Now the question is, how do we stop you? And the answer is, I don’t know for sure but I am trying to cut you off in ways that are possible for me. I try to carry a reusable bag or just one of you around in my purse so that when the cashier at the supermarket starts to bag up my groceries (which by the way are choking to death in several of you!), I can tell him, “No thanks, I’ve got a bag.” I can probably save 365 bags a year if I tried but you’re way too smart for that. You still manage to sneak in through different places – through shampoo bottles, toothpaste tubes, food packaging and Lord knows what else. I try to carry a refillable water bottle around with me all the time but even then, sometimes there’s no escaping you.
So, dear plastic, why don’t you just go and die? Oh wait a minute, I forgot, you’re practically immortal due to your non-biodegradable properties. In fact, even if the whole world stopped using you right now as of this very moment, it would take you another million of years to disintegrate. And by then, you would have killed off the entire species anyway.
However, nothing is impossible. I know there are many of us out there who have resisted themselves successfully from you. You know who I am talking about. Beth Terry of My Plastic Free Life has made it her personal mission to lead a life without you and succeeded! And how! Your devilish charms are losing their touch, I see.
So my dear little slow poison, till the time I am on this earth, I shall keep up with my endeavour to stay away from you in any way that is possible for me. We’ve even started a little global experiment called Save 5000 to stop using as many plastic bags as we can this October. I am sure there are people out there who will join me in this mission to be mindful as well. It’s mighty difficult considering how persistent and omnipresent you are, but at least we will be able to say, we tried.
Consider this my official break up letter.
Sincerely,
Me
You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com
You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’
Great write up! Bringing awareness to the ways we treat our planet and the power of one. and might also motivate me on my plastic free journey :’)
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Thank you so much! I’ve wanted to write this open letter for soooo long but didn’t know how to fit it in with the main content of my blog. Today was the perfect opportunity through Writing 101 ! I’m glad you are also thinking of joining in for a plastic-free journey. I don’t know to what extent it is possible to completely remove it from our lives but it can definitely be reduced! 🙂
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I love the direction you took. I need to let go of plastic!
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Thank you so much, I’m so happy you liked it ! 🙂 Yes please, I would love it if we all joined in together to reduce it from our lives, it’s taken up too much space already!
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Great post! “You’re in my water and my water is in you.” Clever line! 🙂
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Thank you so much Annie! I’m glad you liked it! 🙂
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Fantastic!!! This has to be my favourite post for a while. I love it. Combining the format of breaking up with a completely different subject matter has worked wonderfully!
Best wishes, kathie
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Thank you so much Kathie ! That’s very kind of you! I’m glad you enjoyed reading it! P.S. How are the horses doing ? 🙂
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Hi, you are welcome. The horses are good. Today they are watching new fencing being put up, so they can move to their winder paddock – I expect they will be very happy when they get in there!
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Oh that’s great! Hope they’re enjoying their new paddock! 🙂
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OK I’m guilty of using plastic now, very good post
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Thank you so much. I’m super guilty too. After writing this post, I went to two different home celebrations where the guests were being served dinner off of disposable plates, cups and bowls. It seemed weirdly ironical and almost mocking. It’s definitely a huge challenge to reduce it from our daily lives.
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Very true, it’s everywhere. At least you hv awareness and start from reducing the use. My plan;)
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Good luck to both of us! 🙂
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Great piece of writing that is skillfully being used to bring awareness!
I am guilty of using plastic bags, something I always wanted to switch but havent got around to doing.
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Thank you so much for such a kind comment! I am guilty too, it’s difficult also because the U.A.E is a place where everything is available in plenty of abundance (one might even say in excess!) and plastic bags are such a huge part of lifestyle here. Paper bags are only used in certain bakeries and plastic packaging is aplenty. It’s difficult to reduce usage even if we try as hard as we can.
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This letter to Plastic is interesting! And you have covered everything that you could possibly say to it 🙂 you say you have lots of books! Isn’t that wonderful!
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Thank you so much! I do have a lot of books that my sister and I have collected over many many years. Most of them are really old books though (they should be in museums, they’re that old!) But we still adore them and try to reread them although the pages are crumbling to dust. 🙂
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I know!! I love those crumbling-to-the-touch, yellowed-pages, much-thumbed and much-read books. I wouldn’t be able to part with them myself. On occasions, I have bought two copies of the same book 🙂
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One can never have too many books! My dream is to have a home library/study with ceiling to floor bookshelves – a space where one only retires to read/work. 🙂
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Ah, I would loooove to be in your library 🙂
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Great post — entertaining, engaging, yet thoughtful.
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Thank you so much for the kind words, Cheri! I’m so glad you liked it. 🙂
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Love this, T! Made me smile to see that the challenge was a letter 🙂 Not handwritten, but I think you can be forgiven for that (especially, since i’ve still to write one). And I kept on smiling – a thoroughly enjoyable letter on an important issue but in such a non-dogmatic way. Great way to get a message across. I haven’t quite plucked up courage to do this, given my hair is down to my waist, but I’ve been recommended to wash it in bicarbonate of soda and rinse it in cider vinegar. One way to get rid of the shampoo bottles if it works! Thought I’d share the tip in case you’d not come across it.
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Thank you so much Safar ! I’m so glad you liked it ! I’d actually been meaning to write this very letter since a very long time but didn’t know how to fit it in my blog content and when this assignment came up, I jumped at the chance! I didn’t know what direction the letter was going to take honestly (I usually just let words pour out of me when I’m typing), I just kept writing what I felt. I’m relieved it’s not too bad.
Oh wow, you have such long hair! I haven’t tried this method but it seems so doable and pretty awesome. I’ll look it up online and try it soon, my hair is a little more than shoulder length so it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll let you know if it works and how clean and soft my hair feels. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
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I’ve had trouble when I’ve wanted to write something not in keeping with the blog. The 101/2 challenges didn’t always fit with the aims, or at least, I didn’t have the imagination to make them fit!
Now I’ve given the tip, I feel obliged to try it too! I’ll try put aside some time next week and see how it goes. Will have to do a before and after pic!!
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Yes, let’s both give it a shot and see what happens. 🙂
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You have turned an ecological issue so interestingly into a friendly chit chatter that I feel it’s the most creative take on the assignment I have come across so far. Your writing is easy to follow and yet amusing enough to never bore. I feel you have wonderful skills.
I wish you very best in blogging and life.
Love and light ❤
Anand 🙂
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Thank you so much Anand! You have made my day with your lovely and kind comment! God Bless. 😀 😀
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Glad you liked it my friend. You have indeed done a great job. I have also nominated you for a Liebster award so take a look when you are free 🙂
Anand 🙂
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Oh, thank you so much Anand! I’ll have a look at it very soon! Thanks again. 🙂
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Welcome my friend!
Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!
Love and light ❤
Anand 🙂
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Very intelligent and interesting perspective. The picture is priceless too 🙂
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Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed reading it! 🙂
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You are most welcome 🙂
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For the recent Teacher’s Day, we bought some recycle bags for some teachers to test water, to see if they would really use it. Yesterday, my little girl told me that her teacher used the recycled bag that she had bought for her! We were so happy! I believe if we all work together, we can reduce our carbon footprint greatly. 😀
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Oh that’s amazing! That’s a great initiative you organized! Definitely, the combined efforts of many will bring great results. Once people start saying NO! and begin to adopt alternatives, only then change will come.
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Totally agree! ✋(Hi-5) 😀
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✋ Hi-5 right back at ya! 😀
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Great post. I enjoyed reading it and at the same time learnt the intended lesson as well!
Glad to be following you 🙂
Have a great day!
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Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for the follow! I’m glad you liked my post. You too have a lovely day! 🙂
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