A Plastic World

Something has been weighing heavy on my mind. I’ve always been concerned about the state of the environment but since babies I’ve been doubly concerned. And, unfortunately, I’m seeing first hand how easy it is to make the wrong choices and how much my family is impacting things negatively.

I saw a post on Facebook by one of our fellow black belts regarding plastic kids toys. It mentioned that every plastic toy ever made ever is currently sitting in a landfill. That’s insane. Then I look at our living room and realize exactly how much plastic has accumulated in the form of toys. And that all of that will be in a landfill.

When shopping for your kids or someone else’s birthday I never considered things from this point of view, just whether they will enjoy or learn from what I give them. I’ve recently bought these cute cupcakes for Sydney where the tops come off, each a different colour and each fitting together differently. She loves this type of thing and I thought she’d enjoy it while learning about shapes. But, its plastic. It will eventually find its way to a landfill.

So, I want to change this. What is done is done, I won’t waste this toy now. And I will do my best to pass it on. But from now on I want to only purchase toys and things that are from renewable resources; wood, cloth, etc. I will not refuse used plastic toys as it is better to reuse existing things. But, with Christmas around the corner, I will be asking friends and family to avoid plastic things if they want to give something to my babies. Then I can help reduce our impact and, hopefully, make others think.