It is a story of triumphs and trials, of challenges and victories.
On my flight from Tampa to D.C., I pulled out my red mug and tea and asked the attendant for hot water, offering forward the mug. She turned to the cart and poured a Styrofoam cup full of hot water, even though I was saying- wait, no, please use this mug. She handed it to me and I just sat their, sadly not knowing what to do. I poured the water into my own mug. Then she asked if I wanted another cup with more water! It was a very sad moment. I kept the cup. (See photo).The rest of the weekend went fairly well. At the Citizens Trade Campaign Fly-in, where I got to connect with fair trade coalition staff from around the country, we luckily had delicious meals served on paper. I had to avoid the plastic wrapped food available, but ended up snacking on fruit instead, which is way healthier. This plastic free thing helps me avoid munching on processed and generally unhealthy food and opt for whole foods like fruits and veggies. That's a plus.
Being a social bunch, we spent our evenings and nights out on the town in D.C. I have to talk about straws. When I order water or a drink, I always get straws! It's a bummer. I feel that sucking my beverages through thin plastic for no good reason is fairly silly. However, making a special request of a bartender to omit a straw at a loud, busy bar felt obnoxious, so I ended up with several throughout the course of the weekend.
A funny moment came when I was in Union Station and had a couple hours to kill before making my way to the airport to go home. I had just spent a lovely hour at the U.S. Botanical Garden on the National Mall- I recommend it if you are at the Capitol.
Anyway, I had been eying a particular sandwich at some cafe in Union Station all weekend- it was red pepper, avocado, etc on poblano cheese bread or something delicious like that. I ordered one and then realized that if I didn't act fast I would get it on a plastic plate. No real dishware here. I dug through my bag quickly and pulled out a paper plate I had packed, and asked the worker if he could use that instead.
He gave me the most confused look ever. I felt like a total weirdo. Thank goodness there was no line of people behind me or I probably would have chickened out and taken the plastic plate. In lieu of chips I could get an apple with my meal, and it was a darn good sandwich as I thought it would be.
Moral of the story for today: Between the airplane attendant, the bartender, and the sandwich man- I realized that I don't want to be a pain in the butt for these folks who are working hard, probably under paid, and have to put up with annoying customers all day. If we could pressure stores and cafes and everyone to use paper instead of plastic, and then have a compost bin to put them in, that might work. I certainly don't want to make anyone's job harder.
But easy on the straws already.
Unpacking, I realized that my nametag from the UCC conference was plastic too. I'll be keeping all of the plastic things I incur by accident these weeks for a summary at the end of Lent.
PS Mad thanks go out to the wonderful James and his DC housemates for the place to stay this weekend, and a shout out to all the rock star fair trade organizers for a good time, old friends and new. Wicked glad to be working together with you folks!
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