The well-anticipated and long awaited blog of Plastic Free New Jersey is finally here! Well maybe only anticipated by myself and awaited by a few close followers on my Instagram account, (@plasticfreenewjersey), but regardless, the blog has arrived. What began this journey? I'd say we would have to begin with my childhood. I have been environmentally conscious and environmentally aware, since a very young age. Even more, I have been involved with social justice issues, community activism and engagement since my early teenage years; organizing meetings with fellow kids from the block with the town mayor, later earning a BS in Biological Sciences then a Masters degree in Public Policy, joining AmeriCorps at a local area soup kitchen, and most recently, serving as the Assistant Director for the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) in Princeton, NJ.
At CFPA I left a behind legacy that began a journey. I was the co-founder and leader of the No Wars, No Warming campaign that linked anthropogenic climate change to conflict, social injustice, and war, (more on that in another post). Fast forward to the picture below which I first saw about a year ago in a National Geographic post on Instagram. This was one of the saddest pictures in nature and of nature, I think I had ever seen. No human or animal was injured, no. There wasn't a massive blight or extinction to a species. It wasn't an image of elephants and rhinos being hunted for sport, or a grizzly bear family being trophy hunted while hibernating. I have seen some gruesome and awful photos in my life, but this one was different. This image evoked melancholic feelings only. I felt nothing but sadness while looking closely at it for a long time. Sad, because I knew the seahorse had not brought that item onto this earth. Sad, because I knew the seahorse had no idea what the item was it was holding on to. Sad, because there is only one species on earth that leaves things behind on this planet that were not there before. Sad, because the seahorse clung to that q-tip as though it was the last piece of coral reef in the ocean. And sad, because I knew there was something that could have been done to prevent this photo from ever happening. Pictures are really worth a thousand words. Then, of course, we all have seen the video of the turtle with a straw stuck inside it's nostril. That was the last STRAW for me. I knew something needed to be done.
I had already been eliminating waste from my life by not buying paper towels and replacing them with this amazing reusable wash cloth that I bought from a local NJ small business, (more on that later). I was never a Starbucks customer for several environmental and social justice related reasons. I always paid attention to all my recycling habits. I have always bought second-hand and re-purposed clothing, household items, gifts, etc.. I refuse to buy anything new unless it is a necessity. I do not drive, but rather chose to walk, take public transportation, carpool, or use a car-service like uber. I bring bottled water with me everywhere. I had divested long ago from big banks and corporations that were connected to the destruction of our planet through the use of fossil fuels. But I had not yet ditched the plastic use all together, until the last few months. I am still not completely 100% plastic-free, for it takes time to divest and transfer over all old single-use items and replace them with sustainable options, (we are pretty much down to old house cleaning bottles that need to be used, and food spices that are in plastic containers).
Now on to the blog and Plastic Free New Jersey. As our mission states, the purpose of this space is to inspire and educate New Jersey and beyond on how to maintain a plastic-free lifestyle while maintaining a social and environmental justice worldview, and why it is important to do so. Why our lives, the life of the planet and all it's inhabitants, depend on it. Humans have become very isolated in their thinking. New Jersey is the, or one of the most densely populated states in the US. Humans consume so much, produce so much waste, yet do very little to clean up the mess, or prevent it from happening in the first place. Let us begin with rewiring how we think. How we live. How we interact with the environment that sustains us. That is why I have created this community space. I aim to fill it with tips, resources, educational materials, anecdotes, and solutions on how to rid your space, and the planet, of all the harmful plastic and single-use products you encounter day to day. And to do so with a purpose. It will not be easy, but remember, you are not alone! I will be right there with you on this journey, learning and becoming 100% plastic-free, and posting about it every step of the way. 🌎🌊✌
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| Picture courtesy of http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/planet-or-plastic/ |
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