I-said-a-hip-hop-a-hippie

Something happened when I became a mother that I never expected to occur, not only did I begin the journey into parenthood but I also slowly morphed into a dirty hippie! Something strange happened almost as if when I gave birth somebody threw the switch that allowed me to see the planet with and all the beauty and ickiness combined. I got really frustrated with all the corporations, chemicals, injustices, and the worship of waste. I was so frustrated because I just felt "this isn't right, and I want a better earth for my son, and all the other kids out there" but what could I do? I'm just one person, a speck of dust in this universe, nothing that I do alone can make a difference, but I slowly started making changes that I felt were right for me and my little guy. The biggest change probably happened after my older sister watched a documentary about this island of birds that had zero contact with humans and yet they were finding pieces of plastic and feeding it to their babies. The babies died with bellies full of plastic, it was heartbreaking, and caused her to make a pretty drastic change. She decided that she was going to live a zero waste lifestyle and say no to plastic at all cost! I will admit at first I though she was being a little bit of a weirdo, but then I went and spent a week with her, she wasn't preachy, she was genuine, she was still the same sister....minus plastic. While we were at her house we would go for daily walks on the beach and she would pick up any bits of garbage that people had left behind, after one walk we had collected a huge bags worth of intentionally left behind garbage and it made me angry! I realized though that even though it was just a small patch of beach, by her collecting it and properly disposing of it she actually was making a huge difference. I made a conscience decision then to really be thoughtful about what I am purchasing and not unnecessarily buy plastic items, (not saying I am living a zero waste lifestyle but I have become more aware) also if I am on a walk and see litter I pick it up.

This is a bag of garbage from the park I go walking in all the time, the litter situation is out of control but if I continue to do this everyday that I go then I'm going to have some very happy turtles and geese that won't have to worry about feeding their babies dangerous plastics by accident.