When I was in India recently, I used so many straws to drink coconut w to the world’s plastic garbage problem in my face. It also reminded me of a short article I wrote recently for one of our GreenFriends Newsletters. I am going to reprint that article here both to give you information and to remind myself of the importance of changing my behavior. Continue reading “Protecting Mother Nature From Straws”
Tag: plastic
Recycling: A Model for the World
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There have been recycling efforts of one kind or another at Amma’s Amritapuri ashram since 1999. Over the years, the program has enlarged and become more refined. The Recycling Center moved to its current location in 2012 and is a model for all of India and the world. Continue reading “Recycling: A Model for the World”
Protecting Mother Nature- Plastic
I once read that every piece of plastic ever created still exists. For example, it is estimated that it will take 450 -1000 years for a plastic liter bottle to decompose. Even biodegradable trash doesn’t disintegrate in a landfill because of the lack of oxygen. Continue reading “Protecting Mother Nature- Plastic”
Of Health Food and Butterfly Wings (Illustration)
Our Bastet’s Pixelventures Sunday Challenge for this week is to illustrate Jen Rosenberry’s delightful and thought provoking story and haiku mix, “Of Health Food and Butterfly Wings.”
I am really enjoying this new form of challenge! (The butterfly picture and the red part of the NO symbols I used are courtesy of Wikimedia.)
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Of Health Food and Butterfly Wings
by Jen Rosenberry from Blog it or Lose it!
Who doesn’t want to provide their five-year-old with healthy snacks? Not this parent! When my child took an interest in the pre-packaged apple slices I saw a quick and easy way to get my kiddo out of the cracker aisle. How healthy! How fast! How neat! I grabbed those apple slices and “got out of Dodge” – fast!
When we got home, I opened a bag of those luscious-looking apple slices for my son. He grabbed them eagerly. He took a few bites – then made a mad dash for the kitchen and gagged into the sink.
“They’re awful, Mom!”
the best-laid plans /
o’ moms and five-year-olds – /
should have bought crackers //
The child has a hair-trigger gag reflex. I knew better than to try again. If he wouldn’t eat them then I’d have to do it. They weren’t awful – but they were sour. I wasn’t pleased, but I was resigned that the apples would not go to waste.
expecting sweetness /
finding lemon instead – /
face in a pucker //
The apples were more than bitter, though. Had I managed to stuff a piece of the plastic packaging in my mouth along with an apple slice? There was something non-apple on my tongue.
As they say in Star Wars, “I [had] a bad feeling about this.” Like my son, I walked to the sink. I grabbed a paper towel – and spit.
one naked wing /
from a luckless butterfly – /
stunned speechless //
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Living, Learning and Letting Go 