We’ve talked about the gigantic problem of plastic bags and plastics in landfills here at Pushkin’s Planet already.  I don’t want to imply that every use of plastic is bad.  Plastics have played a major role in many industries – e.g. medicine.  They are helping in situations like the earthquake crisis in Haiti.  But there are many situations where we don’t need to use plastic and can make a personal choice not to.  One big example is water sold in plastic bottles at the grocery store.

All you have to do is remember that all of those bottles are made from fossil fuels (oil).  As it was pointed out on “Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap” on the  Kids National Geographic site, just imagine each of those water bottles one-quarter full of oil—that’s how much oil it takes to just make one bottle!  There has been a lot of talk about peak oil recently.  Peak oil just refers to a situation where we can’t produce any more oil no matter what the demand.  So conserving our use of plastic helps us save on the amount of oil we consume which could become very important in the years ahead.

Besides finding out about how your community recycles plastic bottles (do they ask you to separate them from paper and put them with empty glass containers for recycling), you can also try to stop using so many of the water bottles and just get your own personal water bottle to take with you everywhere and refill with regular tap water which is safe.

Let me hear from you about other ways to stop filling up landfills with plastic bottles that aren’t biodegradable.  We’ve got to think about fixing these problems now so that future generations can enjoy our beautiful planet.  We all have to help, even in one little way.

Every now and then I run across interesting items I have to share.  My latest discovery is the Sentina ZenLight.  This is the ULTIMATE night light. 

The ZenLight is an LED night light with two great things going for it.  First, even though it’s an LED light – good for saving on energy – it avoids the harsh LED glare by covering the light with a special Japanese paper called Shoji paper.  Second, it’s activated by motion sensors and can be set to turn off automatically after 1, 5 or 10 minutes. 

Both of these features make it perfect for my sleepy midnight stumbles to the refrigerator . . . and I have a clear conscience since I’m not wasting wattage.  If you could do with some energy saving Zen beams for your late night rambles, check it out at Sentina’s website.

Sentina ZenLight

Welcome to Pushkin’s Planet.  If you read the About page, you’ll know that I’m a curious Schnoodle.  Right now I’m interested in ways to help make our Earth a healthier, happier place.  That can seem like such a huge project; so overwhleming there is nothing we can do as individuals.  I don’t believe that.  I like to keep things simple and I’m on the hunt for things we can do every day, on our own or with friends or family, to keep our planet alive and well!

 I love collaborating (great word!), so jump in with your ideas, suggestions and stories.  I’ll be here.  And thanks for dropping in on Pushkin’s Planet!