feeling a bit lost

one of my most favourite illustrators kozyndan recently created a beautiful panorama. they write that this article about plastic was a starting point for the trash monsters that they've drawn in their illustration.

i consider myself pretty eco-conscious and i try my best to reduce, reuse and recycle, but the plastic ocean article that inspired kozyndan's panorama really shocked me.

the article talks about how plastics are making their way into our food chain. among more conventional info about plastics affecting wild life, it also says that:

that is so scary. what scared me even more is that i'm surrounded by plastic! just quickly scanning everything i own, my cellphone, tv, computer, pen, chair, desk lamp... not only is everything in my house plastic, all my food comes wrapped in plastic, my skin care and hair care products - plastic, junkmail - wrapped in plastic, ...i even own nylon clothing!

sadly, most of this plastic can't be recycled because there are no facilities to do this in ontario (and probably north america). and even if it is recycled, according to this article, virgin plastic needs to be added to the recycled plastic for it to be reusable.

the article made me want to stop all my consumption of plastic, but it's everywhere. i can reduce my intake of plastic things, but it seems like i'll never be able to cut out all plastic from my life.

and that is why i'm feeling a bit lost and sad right now. i'm living in and leaving a world that is filled with plastic that will never go away.