Leanne Shawler, Artist

I want to begin by saying: there will be no pictures in this blog post. Lent was basically over before I could get to try another way to keep plastic out of our landfills: period panties. Yup. For your menstrual cycle. A while back I tried going to cloth pads but even though they "snapped" into place, by the time I'd walked somewhere, the pad was upside down. (Everybody say "ew!") Maybe they would have worked for me if my thighs didn't rub together, but they were not for me. But once you've opened your menstrual pad and disposed of the plastic packaging, the plastic tape cover, and then you eventually reach the foam and plastic thing that is a pad. Oh and the adhesive is plastic too. And do that at least twice a day... ladies, that is a LOT of landfill. In fact, they're 90% plastic (which makes me wonder what the other 10% is). As it happened, one of my coworkers talked about getting period panties. I wanted to know more. Like, yesterday. ...

I can sadly report that there were only TWO days I went completely single-use plastic-free during Lent. Even with all the changes I made. Also, I stopped keeping track as of Palm Sunday, so you miss another round of "menstrual necessities", although they were off-set by reusable period panties this time. More on that in a much later post, as I need to go through another cycle with 'em. Wednesday, March 6: cling wrap that was already wrapped around a cut cucumber (but I rewrapped it, so that -- nah, it still counts -- however I used it before Lent started, so yeah, it doesn't count [see Bargaining ]) emptied a Lay's chips bag (jalapeno flavored in case you're wondering) bought last weekend. Plastic. had hot chocolate this afternoon at work -- and as I threw the packet into the trash I realized that it was plastic-lined. OMG. I have a feeling I'll be making turmeric lattes or decaf tea for that afternoon warm drink for the next 40 days....

Here’s what I have learned about myself: I can’t completely do without single-use plastic.  Working full time I don’t have time to roast a chicken, keeping aside some meat to use later and then make my own chicken broth (which is still going into plastic, but reusable, containers because I broke a glass mason jar in the freezer). I mean, I can do this sometimes but it’s a level of meal planning and prep that I don’t have time for on a regular basis.  And that’s why plastic works: it makes it convenient to prepare meals or to eat quickly (if not always healthily). Also, it is impossible to buy meat or cheese that isn’t encased in plastic for health and safety code reasons (and given a recent Twitter thread about (spoiler alert) finding human body lice in salmon, I am feeling pretty grateful about that). Plus, I am not nearly ready to go vegan, which is the only way, currently, to reduce that plastic load. What I can do — is make chicken broth sometimes. What I ca...

Whales with guts full of plastic. Recycling piling up in warehouses or being burned because nobody overseas wants to buy it our rubbish. And plastic is everywhere. ( Teen Vogue does a great article on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's not what you think. ) In the whole of Lent thus far, I have had two days only of not using some kind of single-use plastic. Time and time again, I find myself using something with plastic in it. From cans to dental floss to menstrual products to the inside of a cap on a glass bottle. It’s freaking everywhere. 9% of recyclable plastic ends up in recycling bins and of that 9% less and less is being actively recycled. It’s being burned, or stored in a warehouse or buried in landfill or dumped in oceans and this stuff lasts for over 500 years, breaking down into micro plastic that ends up in the food we eat. The problem seems insurmountable and that no matter what I do, there will always be plastic.  And I’m talk...

“Dan can take out the trash and then I don’t have to worry about that single-use plastic.”  “Hey, want a ginger snap? Oh wait, it’s in single use plastic.” “So long as I don’t take the last one!” Which makes me wonder how long that cucumber is going to stay in the produce drawer wrapped in cling wrap... Here's another way I've been denying my Lenten discipline: I stopped logging the repeat offenders. The Bundaberg ginger beer, the plastic sleeves of Thin Mints... I told myself I would stop or reduce my use of them, but I haven’t. You know what else is single-use plastic? Double-sided tape dispensers, acrylic paint, for starters. I haven’t even dared to look at my art practices when it comes to single use plastic. Lent stops at my art room door. There’s a mighty long river in Egypt and in keeping a Lenten practice and they're both called denial. What to make of this? I wrote in my journal at the start of March that my intention is to be a better stew...

I got so angry at myself. I had been faithfully recording all my plastic use in the first few days and all that time I’d been using tiny single-use plastic creamer cartons for milk in my hot beverages and not even noticing.  Not. Even. Noticing. Argh! I exclaimed on Facebook. GodDAMN! I wrote in my plastic log. I said far worse to myself. Success, winning, perfection are not what this, or any, Lenten discipline is about. Beating myself up is destructive, and God is a creative force, not destructive. I can hear my husband saying “Remember this!” as I can be harder on myself than anyone else. Doing that won’t help me succeed in my Lenten discipline, especially as it was one I had chosen knowing it wasn’t going to be something I could “win” at.  So instead I need to be creative and constructive and allow my anger to be the drive that "gets it done", such as being a voice for change. As Will Chase says in the new series “Whiskey Cavalier”, “I have my feelings. My...

Just like the five stages of grief, I rather suspect there are five stages of keeping a Lenten discipline. Bargaining, denial, anger, depression and acceptance. Giving up single-use plastic is proving to be quite the trial. On Day 2, I had already started bargaining with God. Is it single-use plastic if I recycle it?  Is the city actually recycling the stuff we put in our blue bins? (Apparently, yes, currently.) What if it’s made of 100% recycled plastic? Is that a second use and therefore not a single use? I fell asleep pondering this and without getting into a whole lot of detail, God sent a message in a dream: “Stop bargaining. Just do what you can.” And that is really the thing. This Lenten discipline has opened my eyes to the ubiquitousness of plastic. I use it without even thinking.  Stasher bags are reusable silicone bags that are replacing plastic bags It took me a while to remember to bring my own coffee cup, my own reusable silicon...

I haven't posted here since finishing the 52 Portraits in 52 Weeks challenge. I don't know what this space is going to be but here it is, Lent, and I wanted to post about what I am giving up this Lent. Single-use plastic. It's amazing how much plastic we use. I am starting with cutting out single-use plastic because I am not quite ready to give up reusable plastic just yet. Metro.co.uk even has an article about giving up plastic for Lent. I started a while ago with refusing straws or bringing my own reusable straws (which is made of silicone, which, yes, is plastic but it is reusable). But Lent is as good a time as any to dive in deep. I've bought stasher bags -- also made of silicone but they have a recycling program for those bags that have reached end of life. I've also bought beeswax wraps to replace cling wrap but a set of three may not be quite enough. Considering buying another set as back up! What I think this exercise will do is show how m...