...more like Do-Don'ts.
Ahhh, June is upon us.
SO many graduations, adorable "stepping-up" ceremonies, and last day of school parties for kids from Kindergarten through High School.
Events are in the air!
And in just a matter of days, the by-products (or "buy-products") of these celebrations will head to landfills, gutters, and oceans to join the rest of the inconceivable millions of tons of it already piling up there.
Picked up off the ground/gutters of Fairfax 5/28/2015 (the party sign is 100% plastic)
Can I propose a quick time-out?
A little "pause-a-moment"?
Here's a sampling of plastic I collected from our local streets and gutters one year ago...
Balloons, Curly Ribbon, Plastic Confetti (shaped like graduation caps and diplomas!), Bubble Wands, Puffy Stickers, Party Favors, Elaborate Plastic Candy Containers (a motorized spinning lollipop holder)...
You know the deal - just picture the aisles upon aisles of brightly colored plastic in any drug store or Target like retailer... and then imagine all of that stuff laying on the ground, all used up (for a whopping few hours), once shiny and exciting, now dirty and forlorn.
Worth it?
And who's it really for anyway?
Seriously.
My theory is that we say it's for our kids, but really WE'RE the ones getting suckered in by the colors and the packaging. We're addicted to seeing our kids get excited (if only for a fleeting time) by this tacky, forever-lasting junk.
It's pre-garbage by design.
They don't need it. And if we were teaching them the truth about the way it's building up around the world and in the seas, they could be weaned off of thinking they ever wanted any of it to begin with.
Was surprised when I went to pick up what I thought was another piece of plastic...
