April 17, 2009
Be Aware of your Trash
One of the things that I loved about my career as a Flight Attendant was the wonderful variety of women that I had the privilege to meet and work with on a daily basis. Without even knowing it, they taught me much and expanded my horizons in ways I could not have imagined.
Every time, and I do mean every single time, I remove the plastic holder from a six pack of soda, I am reminded of one of these remarkable women. What?!! How could one of these plastic holders remind me of someone else. I’ll explain.
Plastic Soda Holder by PDXFirefly
It was many years ago (close to 20) when there were pictures of baby seals, and otters with plastic around their necks, strangling them as they grew into adulthood. What happened was that the baby sea animal would swim into one of these plastic soda pop holders and it would get stuck around their neck. As they grew, the plastic would only stretch so far and eventually the animal would suffocate or starve to death. Many animals were recovered, but too late to save them.
And so, one day on my flight, my fellow Flight Attendant was busy in the back galley cutting up all of these plastic holders. When I asked why she doing such a thing, she happily explained the reason to me. My reply was something along the lines of ” I don’t throw my trash in the ocean.” To which she calmly stated that she “didn’t know where her trash ended up and therefore was doing her part.” Her calm answer made me think…”Do I really know where my trash ends up?” The honest answer was “No.”
I became an instant convert and have cut up my plastic soda pop holders ever since. Will you join us? It only takes a few seconds and think of how your actions will contribute to a safe life for those wonderful water creatures we love to see.
Cut-up Plastic by PDXFirefly
