Kermit was spot on. It isn’t easy being green.

I’m really not as green as I should be.

I take about 8 minute showers. I own lots and lots of nailpolish. I buy food in packets instead of taking Tupperware to the healthfood store that sells in bulk.

I buy bleached toilet paper. My clothes are all made in China. I drive a lot.

You wouldn’t catch me dead in Birkenstocks or hemp cheesecloth.

And yet I grapple with my principles every day.

***

I try to do the right thing in other ways. Always carry reusable shopping bags. Buy biodegradable bin liners. Only use eco cleaning products. Never buy bottled water.

But the amount of plastic that makes its way into my life is simply depressing. And that’s just the plastic.

Every now and then, though, I’ll be using something – like my toothbrush – and think “There’s got to be a better alternative”.

Cotton buds, for example.

Do you remember when the stems of all cotton buds were made out of cardboard?

If you try looking for them now, they’re nowhere to be found. They’re all plastic.

I use one a day because I am a total princess who needs completely dry ears after a shower.

Yes, really.

And I could no longer live with the guilt of adding my own little mound of plastic to the food chain.

So I tracked down these in a healthfood store.

I’m not going to deny that handing over $6 for 200 buds when I could go to Priceline and get 500 for $2 didn’t give me reason to pause.

I’ve been conditioned to value a ‘bargain’ above all else as much as anyone. But I can no longer calculate the cost only in dollars.

If it takes me 2/3rds of a year to use 200 buds, I really can’t whinge about it costing less than two coffees.

***

In the scheme of things, what’s a cotton bud? For me, it’s just changing one little thing at a time by asking myself “What’s the alternative?” And seeing if there is one.

xx Kiki

You may also like: