An Effort in Green

• 1 peanut butter jar (PETE 1)
• 1 Tim Horton's lid (PS 6)
• 1 orange juice carton
• 1 tub from candy necklaces (PETE 1)
• 1 dip container from mozza sticks at bowling alley (not pictured)

• 1 taco shell bag
• 1 bread bag
• 1 fudge bar wrapper
• 1 plastic fork -- I need to start carrying cutlery.
• 1 package from combo lock -- I needed another one for use at the pool/gym at school
• 1 toothpaste tube
• 3 mini Laffy Taffy wrappers
• 1 bag from mini Laffy Taffys -- They were delicious but I'm glad they're done messing up my plastic count!
• 1 of those plastic things that holds can drinks together -- We got 2 cans of pop with a pizza deal and they came with this. I ripped it up so birds don't get their heads stuck in it.
• 1 orange juice seal
• 1 microwave popcorn wrapper
• 1 floss container

• 1 veggie sticks bag

One of the big things I've learned on this journey is that the majority of people don't care, and don't even realise they should. It makes me sad. But all the more reason to carry on, and hope to change some people's minds!


A recent incident that really demonstrated this point to me:

A few days ago I went to Costco with my mom. They give out free samples there, in little paper cups. A woman was giving out little cookies, and she offered me one. Since she had the box of cookies right beside her, I asked her if I could have a cookie just placed in my hand instead of put in a paper cup and then put in my hand. She didn't seem to understand. I rephrased. She still didn't get it. She took a cookie out of a paper cup, handed it to me, and then crumpled up the paper cup, saying "I still have to throw it away. I can't use it again." I sighed. The last thing she said to me was the part that caused me the most surprise and dismay. She said "it's OK, these get thrown away by the thousands all the time." As we walked away, I said to my mom, "oh, well that makes me feel better then."


This just goes to show that there are still a lot of people who don't seem to even realise what's going on. And then there are also people who think they do, who recycle at home, and turn off the lights when they aren't needed, but who don't blink an eye at the thousands of paper cups being thrown in the trash every day, or who throw recyclable bottles, etc., in the garbage when they're out because there isn't a recycling bin around. We've got a long, long way to go.

• 1 salad tub top (PETE 1)
• 1 margarine tub (PP 5)
• 1 orange juice carton
• 1 2L ginger ale bottle

• 1 gingerbread man wrapper -- my last of the season
• 1 toilet paper wrapper
• 1 Booster Juice straw -- this one kills me because I just got my Glass Dharma straw, and then I forgot to take it when I went to Booster Juice. :(
• 4 Laffy Taffy wrappers
• 1 bag from triangle buns
• 1 cracker package
• 1 dried mangoes bag with top
• 1 mint wrapper
  
• 1 veggie chicken wrapper
• 1 frozen vegetables bag

• 2 granola bar wrappers
• 1 chip bag

• 1 orange juice carton with plastic spout and lid
• 1 package from watermelon -- pre-chopped watermelon is definitely not something I would ever buy myself*
• 1 honey tub (PP 5)*
• 1 package from combination lock (cardboard and plastic)
• 1 popcorn jug (PETE 1) -- a huge jug that lasts many months

• 1 wrap from rutabaga
• 1 top of dried mangoes bag -- the bag itself will show up later
• 2 wraps from boxes of tea bags
• 1 packet from shredded cheese*
• 1 7-11 candy bag
• 1 cough medicine bottle -- amazingly not recyclable*
• 1 Riesens bag*
• 2 toothpicks with colourful plastic wrap on the ends -- I've been trying to get into the habit of asking them not to give me these (they're from my favourite café) but I forgot this time.
• 1 wrap from toilet paper
• 1 bread bag
• 8 mini Laffy Taffy wrappers
• 1 microwave popcorn wrapper
• 1 Styrofoam plate
• 1 piece of Scotch tape from my prescription -- I asked them not to give me the unnecessary paper bag with staple, and they were nice about it, but then they taped the boxes together instead, haha.
• 1 plastic seal from concentrate juice

• 1 face mask bottle (LDPE 4) and lid (PP 5) -- I don't use it much so this is like a once or twice a year thing
• 2 envelopes with windows from my Visa bill -- 1 recycled, the blank one set aside to be reused
• 1 2L pop bottle -- I had some pop from a bottle at my boyfriend Jonny's New Year's party. -- re-purposed as dog toy (Indy doesn't eat it so it's ok, she just likes to attack it), then recycled
• 1 raspberries container (PETE 1)

• 1 bundle of scotch tape
• 2 video game wrappers -- Christmas presents
• 3 popcorn wrappers
• 2 burrito wrappers -- I was at work and didn't have a lunch. There were individually wrapped burritos in the freezer...
• 1 pen -- also a rare garbage item
• 2 plastic forks -- one from a holiday party and one from cake at work
• 1 Styrofoam plate -- from holiday party
• 1 package whose origin I don't recall...
• 1 caramel apple pop wrapper
• 1 dried mangoes bag
• 1 package from lasagne box -- why are so many boxes wrapped in plastic?
• 1 apple bag
• 1 Riesens bag -- Christmas candy
• 1 bread bag -- not pictured as my mom threw it out
• 1 Pot of Gold wrapper
• 4 mini Laffy Taffy wrappers
• 1 plastic twist tie -- will be reused
• 1 package from rechargeable battery pack
• 1 pill package
• 1 Mini Eggs bag -- Christmas candy
• 1 icing container from cinnamon buns
• 1 veggie chicken wrapper

I tried my new glass straw for the first time today! I had a Booster Juice, which is the reason I bought the straw in the first place. As it turns out, it's a little narrow, so drinking a smoothie through it requires way more effort than it normally would. That's my own fault, though, as I didn't get the smoothie size. I got the size smaller, because the smoothie size is too wide for the lid of a Booster Juice cup. Anyway, it still worked, and it's great for all thinner liquids!

So, if you're planning to drink smoothies, milkshakes, etc. with your Glass Dharma straw, I would definitely recommend the smoothie size.

• 1 orange juice carton with plastic spout and lid
• 1 So Nice Noel Nog carton (HDPE 2)
• 1 package from tape measure -- Secret Santa gift
• 1 soy milk carton with plastic spout and lid
• 1 advent calendar -- cardboard and plastic stuck together, so I put the whole thing in the recycling. Hopefully it actually gets recycled.
• 1 package from Wii classic controller -- I hate that everything to do with my beloved video games comes wrapped in its weight in plastic

• 2 popcorn packages
• 2 Booster Juice straws
• 2 packages from dog treats -- Christmas presents for my boyfriend's dog
• 1 Mini Eggs bag -- from my Christmas candy stash... this stuff is going to be hurting my tally for a while I'm afraid
• 1 bag from licorice laces -- Christmas candy
• 1 cheesecake wrapper -- dessert at Christmas dinner
• 2 packages that I put in my pile and forgot what they were from before I got around to writing them down
• 1 top of salad bag -- bag itself will show up later
• 1 seal from soy milk carton -- at least I don't think that's recyclable...
• 4 mini Laffy Taffy wrappers -- Christmas candy
• 1 bag from frozen veggies
• 1 bag and Styrofoam packaging from fountain I got for Christmas
• 1 package from Wii Balance Board protector
• 3 plastic envelopes -- I ordered 3 things from the same site, and they were shipping separately, each in its own pile of plastic, yet arrived together, wrapped in an elastic. Honestly.
• 2 Styrofoam package protectors -- from above online order
• 1 hook from clothing -- those things they hang stuff on in stores..
• 1 size sticker from t-shirt
• 2 pieces of scotch tape
• 2 price tag attachers

I'm already on week 5 of the Show Us Your Plastic Challenge, but I want to have all my progress recorded here, so I will now begin back-posting my plastic collections. I should be caught up pretty soon. So here's week 1!

• 1 raspberries container (PETE 1)
• 2 milk jugs with lids (HDPE 2)
• 1 milk jug security seal
• 1 lid from Bulk Barn container
• 2 fountain drink lids (PS 6)

• 1 McCain hashbrowns bag*
• 1 wrapper from microwave popcorn
• 1 gingerbread man wrapper
• 1 organic bananas bag*
• 1 toothpaste tube
• 1 dried mangoes bag
• 2 bags from Kraft shredded cheese
• 1 grocery bag from Cookies by George (will be reused but eventually will end up as a garbage bag)*
• 1 wrapper from caramel apple pop
• 1 bubble wrap envelope, with more bubble wrap inside, and a plastic package
• 4 flimsy plastic bags from Bulk Barn*
• 2 Booster Juice straws
• 1 apple turnover filling packet
• 1 icing packet
• 1 bread bag
• 1 caramel apple bag
• 1 plastic fork
• 2 fountain drink straws
• 1 veggie ground round package
• 1 plastic wrap from brownies
• 1 plastic bag from 7-11 candies
• 1 price tag attacher
• 1 wrapper from Pot of Gold

I probably should have started with an introduction. Instead, I started with a post about my new straw, because I was excited about it, and now I feel like it came out like an advertisement. So forgive me if it did, because that is definitely not the purpose of this blog.

So, an introduction. My name is Lianne Lavoie. I'm a computer science student at the University of Manitoba. I play the piano, dance, and collect books. I discover new interests too quickly to ever get far in any of them, so I'd say I know a little bit about a lot of things. And, perhaps most importantly from your point of view, I'm worried about the planet and the creatures on it, and try to do what I can to help the situation.

Some of my efforts thus far: I'm a vegetarian. I ride my bike when I can, and ride the bus when I can't (and by can't, I mean it's cold out and I don't do cold well). I'm always trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle more. Well, recycling is easy. It's mostly the reducing I'm working on.

On that note, I'm currently doing the Show Us Your (Plastic) Trash Challenge on Fake Plastic Fish. (By the way, that site is pretty cool and you should check it out.) For the challenge, each week I keep all the plastic I would otherwise have thrown away or recycled, and at the end of the week I take a picture of it all, count it, and analyse it in terms of what plastic I could stop using or use less of. I'll start posting those analyses here soon as well.

So that's about all I've got to say about me for the moment. More to come soon, as my effort in green continues!

I figured I'd start this blog off with an accomplishment of sorts. When I got home from work today, there was a package waiting for me, and it contained my Glass Dharma straw!

Glass Dharma makes glass straws. And they're guaranteed for life against breakage. So now I can go to Booster Juice (as well as my rare meal in a food court) without using a piece of plastic that will be used once and thrown away. So yay! I also got a bamboo case for my straw, so I can just throw it in my backpack when I'm going to school or work and always have it handy.

I got the extra long straw, because Booster Juice cups are pretty big, but there are quite a few to choose from, like the decorative dots straws in the picture.

Alternatively, you could just not use straws. I've always thought they were kind of a waste. I love Booster Juice, though, and that would be hard to drink without a straw.

Next step: Remember to tell people in restaurants not to give you a straw with your water or other beverage. This could be tough since they're brought right away in some places. If it's wrapped, though, surely they could just take it back and give it to someone else, right?