No need for preaching, the need to eliminate plastics from our lives is at our doorstep. Our oceans are choking from floating plastic waste islands, sometimes the size of Texas, and our land is being poisoned from filling it with waste that is built to never break down. The point is, this stuff we produce to make life faster and easier is poisoning us in turn. (Sorry, I had to preach a little to give you some context).
In Japanese aesthetics, decay, rust, patina, and cutting are all values that perhaps many other cultures have not traditionally been ways of grace. But there is something to be learned from their incredible recycling habits that have been embraced across the board, old to young. It comes from a pride in nature, an understanding of the ripple effect that our choices and actions cause, and it comes from a wonderful early learning system that elevates life skills over academia.
This brings me to the ‘Go Strawless’ campaign here at Ponytail Journal. Close up, we’re trying to spread a mindfulness about day to day consumption – had you ever realized how many straws we take without any extra thought? These are the tiny little take-always that amass over time, or even just over the space of a day. It’s an exercise in consciousness but more importantly its a practice in safeguarding our future.
To kick off, we are starting in one of the world’s top five producers and consumers of plastic – Thailand. Ironically, bioplastic and compostable packaging sold in the west is produced here but there is absolutely no evidence of this locally. Wouldn’t it be great if we could spark a trend to change supply and demand in Bangkok? We’ve reached out to major malls, magazines, and community spaces to help transition the big guys to not only reduce their plastic usage but to also set the standard for others to follow. Instead of making people feel guilty about using plastic, I’ve found that a much more impactful approach is to spark the bio packaging trend – if I can’t stop people using straws or plastic bags, why not at least swap these items to biodegradable ones. Better yet, why not change trends. In our eyes, coolness is being conscious, aware, and thoughtful. In this game, every small step is a win but in reality we all need to be eliminating unnecessary, throw-away bits and bobs like the straw (in Southeast Asia however, an education about the issue is what really needs to take place).
If you would like to volunteer your brain juice and a bit of time for the cause, reach out at ponytailjournal@gmail.com or through the PTJ social channels (@ponytailjournal) to see how you can be involved. Why not start the trend in your area? Or spread the message on social media? Why not snap a #gostrawless selfie to spread a message of mindfulness to your pals.
