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In addition, our inner-city ministry, Grace and Main, put together a party in a park in a neglected corner of the downtown/Main Street area and we had about 300 people attend. The entire event was great, but one thing I'm especially proud of is that we made it a green event. Although it wasn't important to the attendees or for the event itself, it was important to a number of us organizers. So we purchased compostable forks, knives, spoons, plates, and trash bags. And we set up separate trash receptacles for 1) compost; 2) recyclables (drink cans and bottles); and trash. Although most people didn't notice the signs and just put their discards in the closest can, I tried to monitor everything and ended up sorting through some of the bags. In the end, we only had three medium-sized trash bags going to landfill - and if we had been brave and obsessive, we could have sorted through that and it probably would have only been one bag. Not bad for a party for 300! The recyclables went to the city recycling bins and the compost went...well...to our compost pile where it will have to bake for at least a year. And then we'll have lovely new compost to add to our gardens.
I continue to focus on a more vegan lifestyle. I've stopped buying cheese and dairy for myself and can say I don't really miss it anymore. I do indulge when I go out to restaurants but that is fairly rare.
My quest to eliminate plastic has hit a wall. I cannot see how I can reduce any more. Our trash now consists mainly of plastic bags from various food products that I purchase. As we don't have a store with bulk bins nearby, I sometimes have to buy items in plastic. After I finish school, I'll rethink some of the items I purchase in plastic bags and see if I can eliminate them by 1) making some of the items myself from scratch or 2) excluding those items from our diets altogether. It's all a journey.
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Well... I gave in and have bought a 2nd clock of cheese from Trader Joe's and have been eatung a slice with lunch almost every day. What it came down to is that I have restricted (or eliminated) SO many things that I've been letting up on a few things here and there and taking the "in moderation" approach. I've been buying yummy (fair trade) dark chocolate and eating more than my usual one square a day (gasp!). Doing good with my quest to buy things in glass and even with bulk available to me, I still have plastic bags. Honestly, some things are just considerable more in bulk, and some are not, so I base my purchases on this factor. Phew! this should have been an e-mail
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