Products Made from Fossil Fuels
Jun. 28th, 2010 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithBP is involved with a lot more than just gasoline. Here is a list of products made from petroleum.
What can you do about this? Choose to buy products NOT made from petroleum. Look at that list again and then consider which items have competing versions made from something else. For example ...
Ink > soy-based ink
Sweaters (and other clothes) > natural fibers such as cotton, linen, hemp, wool, etc.
Tool racks > wood or metal shelves, clips, baskets, etc.
Guitar strings > metal or gut
Food preservatives > salt, canning, drying, freezing, or that wacky old idea of eating fresh foods
Candles > beeswax, bayberry
Pillows > natural cloth and stuffing such as feathers, cotton, etc.
Purses > leather, natural fiber cloth, or at least recycled plastic from grocery bags
Dishes > ceramic, glass, metal, etc.
Perfume > essential oil, herb water
Paint > egg tempera, milk paint, chalk, natural dyes
Some stuff, such as insecticides and food preservatives, is tempting but not actually good for us. We can use alternatives, but it would be better if we just quit with those.
Then there are a few things for which plastic or other synthetics are the best material we have, maybe the best we'll ever have -- and some of those are really important. Like heart valves. I would prefer to stop wasting our finite supply of petroleum on trivial uses so it can be saved for the truly crucial ones; we'd need a lot less for those, and it could be obtained more safely.
Here are some sources for Earth-friendly products:
Ecos
Ecomall
Earth Friendly Goods
Ecowise
Green Living
Green Home
Earth-Friendly Food Chain
Local Harvest
Co-op Directory
If you don't like the way a company is behaving, kick them where it will hurt: in the wallet. Buy products that are made from Earth-friendly materials, and preferably from a source where workers are treated fairly. Do you own a business or buy supplies for one? You got stompin' boots! Buy in bulk from green companies, and tell the predatory ones that you won't shop with them until they clean up their act.
The oppressor's first lie is always that you are helpless. You are not. It's difficult or impossible to change everything in your life to be Earth-friendly because our society is not designed that way. But if you just replace one item per shopping trip, that will help! You don't have to sit helplessly and watch other people wreck the planet. You can do things. One snowflake may not weigh much ... but when they work together, the avalanche can rip the side off a mountain.
What can you do about this? Choose to buy products NOT made from petroleum. Look at that list again and then consider which items have competing versions made from something else. For example ...
Ink > soy-based ink
Sweaters (and other clothes) > natural fibers such as cotton, linen, hemp, wool, etc.
Tool racks > wood or metal shelves, clips, baskets, etc.
Guitar strings > metal or gut
Food preservatives > salt, canning, drying, freezing, or that wacky old idea of eating fresh foods
Candles > beeswax, bayberry
Pillows > natural cloth and stuffing such as feathers, cotton, etc.
Purses > leather, natural fiber cloth, or at least recycled plastic from grocery bags
Dishes > ceramic, glass, metal, etc.
Perfume > essential oil, herb water
Paint > egg tempera, milk paint, chalk, natural dyes
Some stuff, such as insecticides and food preservatives, is tempting but not actually good for us. We can use alternatives, but it would be better if we just quit with those.
Then there are a few things for which plastic or other synthetics are the best material we have, maybe the best we'll ever have -- and some of those are really important. Like heart valves. I would prefer to stop wasting our finite supply of petroleum on trivial uses so it can be saved for the truly crucial ones; we'd need a lot less for those, and it could be obtained more safely.
Here are some sources for Earth-friendly products:
Ecos
Ecomall
Earth Friendly Goods
Ecowise
Green Living
Green Home
Earth-Friendly Food Chain
Local Harvest
Co-op Directory
If you don't like the way a company is behaving, kick them where it will hurt: in the wallet. Buy products that are made from Earth-friendly materials, and preferably from a source where workers are treated fairly. Do you own a business or buy supplies for one? You got stompin' boots! Buy in bulk from green companies, and tell the predatory ones that you won't shop with them until they clean up their act.
The oppressor's first lie is always that you are helpless. You are not. It's difficult or impossible to change everything in your life to be Earth-friendly because our society is not designed that way. But if you just replace one item per shopping trip, that will help! You don't have to sit helplessly and watch other people wreck the planet. You can do things. One snowflake may not weigh much ... but when they work together, the avalanche can rip the side off a mountain.
