Be the Change…

You know the rest of this one…  “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  ~ Gandhi

And there’s always…  “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” ~ Albert Einstein

Here my new favourite…  “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” ~ Barack Obama

So now my confession…and after all my writing about plastic and everything…I haven’t exactly “been the change”….

I was on a walking tour yesterday of green London. We stopped by this fantastic shop offering yummy-looking, convenient raw-food meals and snacks.

I picked up a freshly-made carrot and apple juice to take along. After having taken a couple of tasty sips, a participant on the tour commented on all the plastic and paper cups being used, but that there seems to be no place in London to recycle anything (so true!). Furthermore, in her country, Slovenia, you would rarely see anyone walking along with a drink. Rather, you sit and have your drink in a proper cup (although that’s changing, she said). Contrast that with the States, where it’s hard to find anyone not walking along with a drink!

So here I was, an American in London, walking along – on an eco tour even – with my juice in a plastic cup, thinking “now what am I going to do with this darn thing?”

I thought for quite a while about finding a place to wash it out, then bringing it home and recycling it.  However, as a no. 7 plastic, I didn’t have much faith that it would actually get recycled in the end. So I’m ashamed to say it went into a bin.

But it got me thinking…what were the alternatives?

• Not purchase the drink in the first place. Did I really need it? It was good, and my first thought (after thinking I wanted to drink it) was that I was supporting a great store concept with eco credentials. I also did want to get some calories in me for the walk. But no, I didn’t really need that drink in that plastic cup.
• Bring my own glass – this seems like a bit of a pain, and actually, I was already lugging around a metal water bottle to avoid buying a plastic water bottle.
• Petition London to put in more bins for recycling. Hmmm…there’s an idea…maybe while they’re at it, they could put in more waste bins too, to decrease all the litter…
• Purchase the drink in a proper cup or mug and sit down and drink it. While not exactly feasible on a tour, this is a commitment I would like to make – not only for the environment but also as a lifestyle choice – slow down, enjoy the drink.  Now to find the coffee shops that still serve in real mugs…

Photo by Cheryl Kempton.