“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.” --Sylvia Plath

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Remembering that we're not totally helpless....

"And the world's got me dizzy again....you'd think after twenty-two years I'd be used to the spin...."

These are lyrics from the song "Landlocked Blues" by Bright Eyes (PLAY), and it's how I feel right now. With everything going on in our own country and in the world, it can be so easy to feel helpless, so I have to remind myself that although there is nothing immediate I can do to stop the nuclear pollution in Japan or the conflict in Libya or the fighting within our own Congress, there are good things I can do for the world in my own everyday life.

For example, yesterday Evelyn and I went grocery shopping, and we brought our own reusable bags, looked for items with either recyclable packaging or less packaging all together, and did our best to buy things (that we could afford) that our conscious of the environment and our own health.

AND, for just $1.69, we bought Seventh Generation brand tissues, a box of 100 tissues made from 100% recycled paper and whitened without chlorine or bleach, and the box (also made from 100% recycled paper) comes with these facts:

If every household in the U.S. replaced just one box of 100 sheet virgin fiber facial tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save:
  • 332,00 trees
  • 859,00 cubic feet landfill space, equal to 1,200 full garbage trucks
  • 120 million gallons of water, a year's supply for 900 families of four
  • and avoid 20,000 pounds of chlorinated pollution
And all for $1.69 (really, less than that, because you're replacing the other tissues). Plus, Seventh Generation is based in Vermont, which is a pretty bad-ass state.

P.S. What's the weather like by you? It's windy and freezing rain here, i.e. NASTY.

2 comments:

  1. I always by 7th Generation toilet paper. It's almost the same price as the others, and 100% recycled. As Far as I am concerned, it's just as good as any other brand.

    If they can make a profit, why can't other companies? Is it really all that hard to give a shit?

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  2. I wonder the same thing - if they can do it, why can't others, too? I haven't seen 7th Generation toilet paper around here (probably costs more to ship?) but I'll keep a better eye out for it.

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