Care Packages and Packaging

3.8.12

I’ll be honest since, why not? And state that shopping truly is difficult for me in the States. Everything is coming from all over the world, the ingredients are rarely completely comprehensible or 100% natural, and the packaging is typically excessive and is often not recyclable. Even when I can purchase items pristinely wrapped in plastic, glass, or cardboard, it’s still energy intensive to down cycle, meaning the amount of energy used to break down the substance for the new function it will serve, doesn’t completely or necessarily pay off for all the costs, time, and energy involved (i.e., virtually all of our plastic recyclables being shipped to China or South East Asia where materials can be melted down in a toxic and polluting fashion to give us a tiny portioned amount to go towards some post-consumer whatchyamagigy). As big of a fan as I am about recycling and reducing landfill waste- it’s still a temporary thing to do for now and is not a viable nor sustainable solution for the long term. That being said, I’m not suggesting anybody give up on it altogether, however I do encourage you to investigate how your city or town recycles and whether or not it’s in-house (Bernie is trying to maintain all recycling in-house for Fairbanks, AK).

Right, so all that info spins ‘round my mind whenever I’m faced with a purchasing choice. The system is clearly not perfect but it is where we are for now. And it’s one that I like to look at as if it’s a democracy shaped by voting (potentially a dangerous perspective but I’ll leave it as it is..). The things that are being produced are done so because there is a “need” or demand for those items. So as a buyer, or voter, I like to demand only those things that have the least amount of tread on the environment, where sometimes I slip up and vote for the wrong candidate (again I encourage you to research your faves, some of them might surprise you with the ‘good’ they’re doing or the not-so-good stuff they’re doing but either way, remember their doing it because you ask them to, every time you buy).

So for this trip I tried to get items that came in packaging that I could re-use as Pringle tins, loose leaf tea tins, a veggie bouillon glass jar, and so on and so forth. I got the loose leaf tea because it produces essentially no waste as I can compost the used tea leaves and re-use the tin. The same goes for the other items. I knew that waste management would be a huge issue here in Senegal (or The Senegal as we are commonly referring to it) and The Gambia and so I wanted to contribute to that as minimally as possible. For items that cannot be composted or recycled (such sectors seem to kind of exist at least in Senegal) I brought sponge brushes and glue and have the very high hopes of creating colorful collages out of power bar wrappers and the like (by creating a solution of glue and water to create a clear glaze to brush over the materials onto a hard surface).

So, I just kindly ask that if you send me things, to please keep our wonderfully life giving planet Earth in mind. I really am not in huge need of anything at the moment but do appreciate your kind thoughts, support, and encouragement. And if you’d like really send stuff, I’ll list a couple of my faves below.

Thanks again!

-dried edamame

-dried soy nuts

-any other trail mix like stuff that promotes stable blood sugar (protein)

-something like lemon heads if there’s a brand that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup (all natural)

-loose leaf English breakfast tea

-nut thin crackers (cheese)

-natural dried fruit candies or fruit leathers

-lemon grass oil (I’ve heard that this is a natural mosquito repellent but have not verified)

-if you want to send items in Tupperware’s, I could use some of those!

-Organic or natural pancake mix with natural syrup or agave nectar

-quinoa (dried grain)

-dried fruit (to put in oatmeal and to snack)

-sesame sticks (nosh)

-CR2016 batteries (for watch)

-Any copies of used Life, Scientific American, Natl. Geographic, Time, etc. (used can be found at Value Village for like thirty cents.

-Any used copies of articles concerning important or interesting news that I’m missing or that I might enjoy

-Any used novels that you think I’d like for reading as: the BFG and/or Umbrella Man by Roald Dhal, Anything by Niel Giamond (especially comic books like The Books of Magic or Sandman), and any classic as Grapes of Wrath, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Huck Fin, the new Mark Twain autobiography that recently came out, etc. Somehow I missed all these classics growing up!

-And if you find any used or cheap Columbia or similar light long sleeve shirts with mosquito repellent in them or even without, just nice safari like long sleeved shirts, send em and I’ll pay you back cuz those would be boss!

Cheers cheers cheers cheers cheers!

And I’ll add to the list if I think of more stuff but please don’t worry about sending much! And please know that beyond my environmental ideals, I’ll appreciate anything sent no matter what.

Much love from The Senegal!