Plastic Use and Product Packaging

My wife Sheila is always concerned about the planet and what we two can personally do to make our tiny part of the planet better. So she recently contacted Greenpeace Canada, and today she got this in her inbox. If you agree that WE as a whole, can do something to make stores and companies, and everyone else realize how product packaging is way overboard with plastic. WE as consumers can voice our opinions by how we shop, how we select the things we need to buy, and how those products we buy should not be packaged in plastic. We should vocalize to stores and companies that plastic should be used less, and either allow us to bring our own reusable containers from home to use while shopping, or for stores and companies to stop plastic packaging for their products!

Stateside, Sheila and I try to buy our eggs in paper cartons, and recycle everything when possible, even reusing our milk containers several times before it's tossed in the recycle bin. 

In Spain, we separate our organic and trash, and those are disposed via street containers the town has put up for recycling all organic, metal, glass and papers. 

The Spanish town we live in has eliminated trash in general from trash removal some years ago. I hand-carried paper egg cartons from San Francisco about a decade ago, taking it to my residence in Spain, where I use it when buying eggs. The plastic bags given at the stores when shopping I get here and in Spain, are used at home for trash, a habit I picked up when I was in Spain back in the late 70s with the military. 

Sheila and I have been active in this cause for years. We hope to decrease our use of plastics, and continue general trash recycling in the coming weeks, months and years. WE are in this for the rest of our lives; what about you? Will you join or just sit by the side, watching the Planet get more polluted, more trashed, and uglier. Each voice counts in this war for the Planet! Do this for a week, then continue for months and years to come, and hopefully, your/our kids will see a cleaner World as plastic use disappears in their lifetime.
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This is the email from Greenpeace....

Hi Sheila, 

“Recyclable plastic”, “compostable plastic”, paper packaging… these throwaway “solutions” that companies are proposing are taking us down the wrong path. 

And meanwhile, as customers, the amount of pointless waste in our shopping carts and homes isn’t decreasing at all. It’s time that big brands and supermarkets tackle this plastic crisis for real by joining the #ReuseRevolution.

Starting today until November 13, participate in Greenpeace’s Global Refill Week to promote reuse and refill solutions!

For the next 7 days, every time you go to your supermarket, local restaurant or coffee shop, bring your reusable containers, ask for them to be refilled and share your experience on social media. Thank the stores that helped you reduce plastic waste and shame those who didn’t! 

Retailers can play a huge role by investing in reuse and refill systems that will drastically reduce our collective plastic footprint. Let’s show them that we are ready for change. 
Click here to get all the details about how to participate in the Global Refill Week. 

Thank you for everything you do,

Sarah, 
Head of Oceans & Plastic Campaign, Greenpeace Canada

We don't accept any money from companies or governments so we can be independent and challenge anyone who threatens the planet or peace. To help us keep fighting climate change, defending our oceans and protecting ancient forests, please make a regular donation. Thank you!

You can grow the movement for a green and peaceful future. Forward this email and share the signup link for our regular email updates and ways to take action.

New York State Autumn Colors

We just returned from yet another trip in our eternal search for Autumn colors. Luckily, we can happily report we not only found those colors but had a heck of a good time photographing those colors, although someone was soon complaining that hiking while carrying a heavy tripod and cameras, was getting to be hard work! 

But seriously, I would like to know whoever said photography was easy?

Watkins Glen State Park is located almost two hours away from us, but is a nice drive. Ninety percent of the images displayed here are snapped with my little dysfunctional samsung dumbphone. As you can imagine with my recent complaints, I was not at all relieved of the many problems associated with using my phone to snap some pixs while in the Watkins Glen gorge, which is an area that is constantly moist if not outright damp, and with little bright sunlight, even during the summer! Nevertheless, I did use my dumbphone during the visit and surprisingly it did quite well, though I had to restart it almost every time it came out of my pocket as usual, since otherwise so many error messages pop up, making my using it a miserable experience. I cannot wait till I get a new phone, and it will not be a samsung!  

All images that below not displaying my copyright on the image directly, was snapped with my samsung dumbphone.