So we have two small garden boxes that we grow fruits and veggies in. We consider them organic in that we do not use any pesticides or other stuff that does not come directly from the earth. Our soil came from a local supplier that delivered in bulk enough top soil to put 8 inches down in the front yard, fill a couple of planter boxes, and lastly fill up our garden boxes. This was done about four years ago. For this season when amending the soil I started removing every piece of plastic that I found. After a rain I would walk out and remove more plastic from my garden boxes. Most are pretty small pieces with some being too small to recover. The scary part happened yesterday when I put it all together on a plate and kinda freaked myself out. The pile was about the size of a giant plate of salad...except it is plastic. The strawberry is from my garden.
Where did all this plastic come from? Well look around at the people surrounding you, and maybe even yourself? What I found was a few bottle caps and then a bunch of little pieces of plastic bags and wrappers. I figure where some of it came from is when a person turns in their yard waste they are using giant plastic garbage bags and those are getting ground up and remaining in the soil. Over time as the soil is "made" the plastic gets broken down into smaller and smaller pieces but will be there long after I am gone. Of course there was a whole candy wrapper and lots of plastic that was just every day items that are now garbage.
So what is the significance of this? Well it is HUGE! We have only been using plastics for a short period of time, less than a 100 years really, and even less if you consider it's true coming of age. I have seen in my short 39 year lifetime, how much more we use today, then in the past. Today it is infused into our lives beyond what most people would even recognize. By that I mean we use it so much, we do not even think about how often plastic is used and possibly discarded on an hourly basis. It is impossible to turn around without finding plastic somewhere. No wonder more of our friends are dying of cancer at a younger and younger age. It makes me believe there is no such thing as an organic garden, since everywhere we turn is plastic garbage. At least many of our organic farms in California are along side major highways where garbage is strewn about. As the plastic garbage breaks down, it is bound to become part of the soil, just like in my garden. Some are even touting it as an advantage in gardening. I won't buy that BS.
We all need to do our part in letting our voices be heard by everyone around us. Even those who only come here to read, it is your job to spread the word since you now have the knowledge. As has been said before at the least quite using plastic grocery bags, and start making a statement by using cloth bags. Soon the world will be listening.
Enough writing, these pictures are worth more than a 1,000 words
Want some for your trip? 6 servings of fruit, 6 servings of vegetables and a half piece of fish in each shot!!!! An easy way to stay healthy and energized on that long ocean voyage you're about to take my friend!
