After some excellent "deep snorkels" with eco-diver Dave in Manley Cove and Cabbage-Tree Bay my sustainability pledge evolved a bit...
Amidst the sea horses, octopi, cuttlefish, in your face blue groupers, wobbegongs (sharks!), sponges, corals, and other spectacular sea critters we saw under the sea, there was an unfortunate amount of rubbish. I had my collection bag filled almost as soon as we started collecting. We targeted high risk items such as fishing gear (line, lures, rope, etc), plastic bags (can be seen as a jelly and will be eaten by an unsuspecting animal, possibly chocking it-sea turtles especially), and slushy lids (Because these lids are clear, an animal can unknowingly swim through it but have it get stuck on an animal's neck-like a cone you would put on your pet to keep it from licking itself only this will not help the creature heal, it will kill it). But, we also picked up shoes, hats, sunglasses, coffee lids, plastic bottles, glass bottles, candy wrappers, cans, ziplocks, and the list goes on. It was a pretty powerful experience especially when Dave assigned the challenge of seeing how many straws we could pick up. Since our bags were full, all we could use was our hands. I easily ran out of hand-space before I ran out of straws to pick up. In a collective 15 minutes, Dave and I picked up 384 straws from a relatively small area. It was insane and inspired a new goal- Never use a plastic straw again!
This however has been much more difficult than my previous goal of reducing my shower time (Thanks Manly Environmental Center for my handy dandy little 3-4 min sand timer).
I ordered a frappuccino at Starbucks not really thinking about the lid or straw. When my order was called, the straw and lid were already in place. This is when I first realized that you have to be very intentional about requesting no straw, and I have added a no lid as well. (We did pocket knife the lids in half so if they did end up in the sea, they would be less dangerous).
My next concern was for smoothies. I feel like I have been fairly socialized to think that a straw is necessary for the consumption of such potentially messy things but I figured I would give it a try at the Sydney Airport the morning of our departure. "One strawberry, banana smoothie, no straw, no lid please." And that is exactly what I got. Done, easy as that... well almost.
My next no straw, no lid, attempt was at a Wendy's drive through for a frosty en route to enjoy on of these sunny February days Washington has been having. No lid, no straw, and no spoon ended up being a confusing (probably unheard of) request to communicate over the intercom but the waitress finally realized what we wanted. Up at the window however, habit took over and she snapped a lid on before handing over the first frosty. We were able to remind her before she handed us any straws and before the second lid went on. She apologized saying she forgot which I think supports just how accustomed we are to not only providing, but also utilizing these unnecessary plastic items. But wait! Drinking a smoothie or milkshake without a straw must be soooooo messy right? Not necessarily. A subtle shake of the cup can position the delectable slush just so, in order that one may enjoy these frozen treats with dainty elegance in the absence of a straw. On the other hand, without a straw and lid you can really get your nose in there and delight in a beverage mustache. I forgot how fun this could be, maybe you have too?
Finally there is restaurants. Being back has called for the gathering of friends around food to catch up and oh the straws. I guess it depends on the place, or maybe now I am just so much more conscious of my straw consumption, but I didn't think that a straw would come with a simple glass of water. Back to intentional ordering. One night having returned to the same pizza place with a new set of faces, I was sure to ask for no straws with the waters. This went well with the waters but didn't hold true for the rest of our drinks. Everything else got strawed. Turns out it's a lot of work to be straw free. My newest approach has been to suggest straws upon request only on provided comment cards. We'll see what comes of that.
Until then, maybe those of you who read this post will question the necessity of your next straw, lid, or any bit of unnecessary plastic that comes your way (plastic bags perhaps?).
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