u/Pure_Temporary_6349

Hope everyone had a good day and made some progress against plastic. I am woefully late in understanding how pervasive it has become but am trying to catch up.

I am lucky to have a great farmer's market where I live, on Saturdays, but I don't go as much as I should because it's hard to get everything done and work full time. I decided to try harder to make it a habit.

I went today and got lettuce, some great garlic scapes, fennel, strawberries, and a couple pounds of dried beans in paper bags. The microgreens were in some kind of biodegradable bags that looked plastic-- the guy said not, but I got him to empty the greens into one of my cotton mesh bags and he can re-use his bag, lol.

I met a coffee roaster at the market who said if I stop by his shop he can sell me some unroasted coffee beans in a paper bag. I buy from Bodhi leaf usually but those ship in plastic bags. I like to roast my own coffee in my carport. So when I run out, now I have a source.

Then I went to a co op I have been meaning to check out and paid the fee. I got two lemons, cream in a returnable glass jar, one container of tuna in a glass jar, rye berries from the bin in a paper bag, and some garbanzos from the bin to make hummus. I eat hummus and raw veggies for breakfast, and usually I get the plastic tub but not today! Got a hair pomade, Badger, in a metal tin. I brought my own cloth bags. I noticed they had milk in returnable glass, so next time I will get that and try making cottage cheese instead of buying a plastic tub. So that's my week of groceries and zero plastic!! Woohoo!!

I'm still surrounded by it, but it was nice to make some progress.

Anybody have some wins today?

I have been wearing Mandala scrubs every day at work for a couple of years until I started reading about the toxins in stain resistant fabric. So when I go to their website, they say they are using "Equa Tek" but won't say what it is, not even the general category of chemical. I know they are trying to protect their patent, but that's overly vague if that's the only reason. It's likely bc they think people won't trust it if we knew the truth.

What really gets my attention is here https://mandalascrubs.com/pages/sciencewhere they say the scrubs test negative for PFOS and PFOA. They very carefully _don't_ say the more comprehensive term PFAS. Makes me suspicious there are other PFAS in there.

So I am not wearing scrubs for now. I am a pediatrician and hold newborns when I take them to the exam table. I don't want some mystery thing to be touching them.

Fortunately not required to wear scrubs, was just convenient once covid started. And I am busy, like a sort of uniform I don't have to think about much. I found some pants and tops on Industry of All Nations to use instead.

Anybody else concerned about the stain resistant scrubs? I found two organic cotton alternatives but both are dyed and not with nontoxic plant dyes.

Yeah I know, they're never gonna change. I stay with the flow of traffic, stay on the right, etc. A couple of weeks ago, I got pulled over and a verbal warning for going 55 in a 50 mph zone. Cop said "you didn't meet my threshold for a ticket but you did for a stop and talk."

It's a small town and he's going to remember me for a while... idk how long lol. But I figure for at least a couple of months I have to be perfect. Cruise control right on 50.

But now people are effing tailgating me, in the right lane. I don't want to be rear-ended but I don't want a ticket either.

I am so tired of the following closely thing in general. I always leave enough room in case someone else needs to change lanes in front of me. I never crowd anyone out. Why can't people just be considerate?