Thailand!

Well Thailand. How does it stack up on the plastic free scale you ask? Not too badly...The hocker (sp?) stalls were a bit more hit and miss here. The ones that I ate at, were ones where you could sit down and have a meal (they were also mostly Malaysian stalls) But I saw a few that were only offering food in plastic and Styrofoam. There were a few that looked like they would have been nice to try but I didn’t. I may have been able to negotiate with my personal container, but I couldn’t really be bothered. Also, any of the sauce that came with the food came in a plastic bag as well. I am not sure I could have avoided that.

There was one sit down restaurant that only had throw away chopsticks in plastic wrap. I ate everything with a spoon, which wasn’t as satisfying but bearable.

As far as gift giving goes, it is the same as Malaysia and Indonesia. Lots of things come wrapped in plastic but there are wrapper free options as well.

Straws...those blasted straws! I mostly convinced people not to give me a straw, with some heavy pantomiming going on.  It is a lot easier when you have a local to translate for you (Thanks SK!). So once again, I stuck mostly to hot drinks. Sometimes I just really wanted a coconut though. I got some really funny looks when I quite adamantly refused a straw and said I would have mine with a spoon. Hahahaha.

My birthday. Two things happened for my birthday. First off, I couldn’t have any cake because they all came wrapped in plastic. Even the individual pieces at the bakery. So I had a brownie, which was yummy, but not really birthday-y. The second was I found out that a bottle of wine and a two-six of tequila was the same price.... Ummm what? It was a very odd realization, especially coming from Australia. Not really anything to do with plastic, but worth sharing. I also took a picture that would be lovely to show, if the internet would load things. I have no idea how people can upload photos on to facebook when they travel. It must take them all day.

One sad occurrence happened in the cooking class I took with Katie. I was very excited to take the class and thought for sure there wouldn’t be any issues with plastic. What I did not realize was that almost all the food prep was done for us, including the meat, which came wrapped in cling wrap. There was nothing I could do about it. It didn’t even occur to me to check. Nor could I have change anything. So I just accepted it, and was sad. But the class was quite fun and the food was really good. I have the cook book as well so hopefully I can recreate it.

It was just a short trip to Thailand and I was only in the south. I think it would be worth checking out more of the country before really giving an opinion about the ease of being plastic-free. There wasn’t really any awareness that I saw about the issue. However, there was plenty of evidence in the street that it is an issue. It is definitely time to start a massive clean-up.  

Malaysia

Greetings from Malaysia! I am not really sure about all these people that kept (and keep) telling me that being plastic waste free in Asia is impossible. In some ways it is easier to be plastic free here than in Australia. For example, there are a lot of places that sell pop in glass bottles here. That isn't an option in Canada or Australia. Course, it used to be, and I haven't really checked the expiry dates on anything....but does pop really expire? :P. I have been mostly avoiding pop though. I am doing pretty well with my water bottle.

Another thing that is waaaay easier here is eating in a food court. I can't think of a single mall food court in Canada or Australia where the food is given to you in every day dishes. Everything in Canada comes in plastic or Styrofoam. Here, I would have to specifically seek it out. The default is to present the food "for here" style. I think that is fantastic!

The street food here is the same style as Indonesia, and is given to me in containers that are then reused by the stall. Once again, the biggest thing seems to be the straws. I am a bit over having the same hot drink (milk tea) and have ventured in to the world of cold drinks. My pantomiming no straw is still a bit of an issue. It seems to be working though, especially after same manic gestures and screaming when they go to put the straw in anyway. I always get the same, confused / bemused smile as well. I think my actions here will have no affect on the plastic use but will definitely affect how Asians view Canadians. If they didn't think we were weird already, sorry, they do now :P.

There was this really sad moment when I found a cool gift and had the person make it for me. Then I got distracted by the rest of the stall and before I knew what was happening I was handed my gift nicely wrapped in a plastic bag and stapled so it looked like it was from a store. I asked the girl if I gave the plastic back to her if she could use it for someone else, and she said no. I left and made it to the next store before I felt so awful about the whole thing that I took the staple out carefully and pulled it all apart. I went back and handed her the different pieces and said "please try and use this for the next person." I kind of tried to explain what my reasoning was but it didn't seem to get through. I did see her stack the bag and the cardboard with the "new" ones though so hopefully it will go to someone else.

I am having a bit of an affect on some of the people I am hanging out with though. Mostly things like rethinking plastic bag use, looking for ash trays instead of throwing cigarettes on the ground, reusing containers... It is probably my direct presence that is causing these changes but who knows, maybe when I am gone they will think of me when going back to old habits.

My daily life hasn't really seemed to change too much. I don't eat as many candies and chips, but I can still buy chocolate :P. One thing that is a bit sad is that I can't experience some of the local candies. I have yet to see any that are not pre-wrapped. So I might be missing out on the culture a little bit. I will have to come back. Similarly with some of the juices and drinks. Haha good thing I don't like bubble tea, because that would be a difficult one to get.

I have one more week or so here and then it will be off to a new country!

Indonesia

Well I have spent the last 10 days in Indonesia. It has been a mighty effort to maintain my plastic free goal. I have had....some success. 

Water: Hurrh, water was not an issue!! I was actually able to find filtered water to fill up my water bottle in the mornings so there was no need to buy any water. I also have set up my Lifesaver bottle and can have water any time. Awhhhhh yah.

Alone time: When I have been responsible for my own meals I have managed to keep plastic free!

Conference time: This was a big fail. I had no control over the food or the ability to source out any other options. Not only did the food come delivered in Styrofoam containers but each individual item was in its own plastic bag. I felt very sad at meal times. The water was also served in a plastic disposable cup and thick cling wrap lid. I was able to avoid this by using my water bottle. I also did not purchase any snacks. These two things were in my control. So my impact was less than everyone else’s at the conference but by no means was it sustainable. 

Cutlery: Most places I have been to have served food on reusable plates with metal cutlery (yay) however, sometimes the cutlery comes wrapped in plastic :S. I use my own camping cutlery when that happens, however I was informed yesterday that the restaurant will still open the plastic, wash the cutlery and rewrap it. What a complete waste of their time and my efforts and the plastic. Boo.

Trains: I was not able to eat anything on the trains as they came wrapped in cling wrap. Luckily I planned ahead and had my lunches packed in my camping container. Win!

Street Food: The street food places that I went to encouraged you to sit down and had reusable everything. I was pretty impressed with that. Course, if you were worried about food safe stuff rather than plastic you might had had a different opinion :P I haven’t had any problems though.

Straws: Gah, straws. The Bain of my plastic free existence in Indonesia. No matter how many times I say no straw (in English, in Indonesian, and with my Indonesian friends repeating it for me) they still manage to give me a straw L. One time I saw the waiter put the straw in, then remember I specifically asked for no straw and take it out to put in the garbage L. Not to mention the incredulous looks I receive when I say (and pantomime) “no straw.” So, I decided to change my approach and only have hot drinks :P. The only thing to be careful there is to make sure coffee and tea come “for here.”

Gifts: Buying any type of merchandise without plastic packaging is very very difficult here. I was really excited when I bought my scarf, because the price tag was attached with the security device. Or so I thought... As soon as the removed the tag I saw that it was also attached with a plastic tag L. Too late.

So, I’d say I have had some successes, some complete failures that I couldn’t seem to change, and had to sacrifice some desires because of no alternative. All in all I am pretty happy with my experience. My eyes have certainly been opened to how pervasive plastic is though. I thought it was everywhere in Canada / Australia. HAH! No. Not even close. I wonder what kind of.....something....it will take for a change in consumer behaviour here in Asia. Well, Indonesia anyway. Let’s see what happens in Malaysia!!

Follow up to WOW!

Well I didn't actually go out and look for more research but another article caught my intention. It is a follow up to the giant plastic clean-up array. It turns out, that's just a pipe dream....

http://inhabitat.com/the-fallacy-of-cleaning-the-gyres-of-plastic-with-a-floating-ocean-cleanup-array/

Here is an article in response to the idea.

Video fail :(

Well I got some really exciting mail (!!) and took a video showing it, but once again I have been foiled by internet quality.

Well good news, just in time, I received my Lifesaver Bottle. AND I opened up the package and there was no plastic wrapping! Hurrah :). Huge win. However, there were also no instructions so I have yet to set the thing up. Hahaha. I think it should be very straightforward, I just have to prime the filter. Once it is up and going I will be able to take water from any source and be able to drink it! No one plastic bottles for me. 

Just in time to because I arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia last night. There is purchased bottled drinking water in my hostel (Six Degrees) which is very nice but (from today) it looks like purchasing water is the only way to go. Good thing I can thwart that. 

I have eaten street food once, and it was a sit down place with reusable plastic dishes. The other place I have seen used card stalk paper to serve their dish. I have yet to try bringing my own take away container but I think that will be doable. The only foreseeable issue is the language barrier as food safe is of a different standard than I was taught :P. I am not too worried.

Well I will set up my bottle tomorrow and try it out, then give another update!

Shampoo review

Well I have used the shampoo and conditioner from Lush twice now. Before I used it the first time it occurred to me that I might need a more sophisticated way of carrying it than loose. After all, I would have to get it wet...then what? Well I tried just shaving a small amount off first to use. That worked okay... but didn't really lather and I ended up using quite a bit. So, it would keep it dry but I think I would run out fairly fast.

So then the next time I tried using it more like a bar of soap. That worked a lot better, it lathered and seemed to work well. The past couple of times my hair has seemed to get greasy a bit earlier. I will have to monitor that a bit. But then I have this issue of letting it dry or packing it wet...? No good.

So the new plan is to make to carrying cases (which will drain :) ) out of pop cans! Haha cool! We got the idea after watching some youtube videos on how to make a backpacking stove. How hard could it be? 

So that is tomorrows project, to construct this container. Only one more week of this super lame internet. Hopefully the next country will allow me to upload pictures. It is Indonesia, so we will see.

I have something really exciting in the mail. I am reeeeeally hoping it will arrive tomorrow. Oh man! I will keep you posted.

New Product!!

Well the time has come... new deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, all with no plastic packaging! Hurrah. Thanks Lush. Of course, who knows if I will like them all.


I have a picture but as usual I cannot upload it. Gah this internet is terrible :(. 

I have been using the deodorant for about a week now (it is a solid white, smells weird :P) and I gotta say, I am reeeeally happy with it. Actually, it is the best I have ever tried (including the clinical strength stuff). It has minimal ingredients but it blocks all smell and keeps my shirts really nice. I am really hoping that I am as happy with the shampoo as I am with the deodorant. 

Of course, they are quite expensive. ($11, $15, and $10 / kg respectively). I have pretty high expectations that it will last a long time though. At least until I am back in Canada would be nice :).

The next adventure will be to figure out a carrying case...