Addiction

When we moved to a small town in the midwest, we had no clue, not one, that our trash pick up was not included in our taxes. 

Yeah, that was a shock. 

I remember taking the trash out and watching the trash pick up go right by us. 

Oh. Okay. 

We had to find it and pay for it ourselves. 

Welp (welp is a Michigan thang) we did. And we discovered just how much it was. 

And my husband decided that we would burn as much as we could for now as we were struggling a bit. But we sorted out the plastics and tin as much as we could with a goal to unload it otherwise. 

I had a fucking mountain of plastic tumbling over me. And not over the span of months. It took days. 

Count it up. 

Look in your fridge. 
Look in your pantry. 
Look in your bathroom. 

Some of it is recycled (if it ever makes it that far). 

But a vast majority of it, is not. 

The hidden plastics and not so hidden plastics: 

Take out containers, cup and lid.

          Your soy sauce, duck sauce packs.               Your razor blade.           Your sponges.                                                    Your wash squishee things, you know what I'm talking about.                                            Your ketchup bottle. Mayo.          Mustard.          Vinegar.             Ranch.          

               The container that held your cute baby greens and cukes.                                                         The plastic from your summer sausage for the cute charcuterie board that came wrapped in plastic.             The lid to the coffee cup that got moldy and you threw away.                       The straw.                       The big gulp cup.                 The plastic your chicken was wrapped in.

   The weird plastic crayons that you bought for your squishy two year old when they're splashing in the tub.  

               The plastic seed starter pack that cracked.                     The plastic bucket that broke. 

              The plastic bag you used to throw away your cat shit and dog shit and guinea pig shit.                                                            The little plastic bit that kept your fancy pens on the cardboard.  

                   The massive mountain of plastic bubble crap that Amazon used to send you your                                                          "mindfulness journal".                                                    

               The broken claw for your balyage hair that was used with the hair dye in the plastic bottle.    The gimmicky slap toy you bought to annoy your husband.                 The plastic wrapping that wrapped your 2000 rolls of toilet paper during the pandemic. The little tubes of plastic lip plumper (Looking at you Kylie).                                                                                        The plastic bin lid because you took them apart and didn't store them right 

                                                 and welp, just toss it. 

The bottle of bleach you used to clean the bathroom. 

                    The chicken feed for your cute urban chickens.   

Empty bottle of toxic floor cleaner.

             The kitchen scrubby.

                   The kitchen long stick scrubber thing. I get mine at Ikea. 

The broken Christmas ornaments. 

The cheap bottle of vodka that you cleared out on NYE.

         The mostly empty bottles of bbq sauce.         

             The package that your so cute korean face mask was wrapped in. 

The ramen wrappers.

The 5000 pairs of gloves you used during the pandemic (and touched everything around you at the store and then your face...we won't touch that). 

The bag your Warheads came in. 

         The plastic coated popcorn bags.    

  The reusable shopping bags that you did not indeed resuse but rather threw away after they ripped because you overpacked them (that might be just me?)

 The diapers. 

The diaper packaging. 

The cute trinket from the "dime store" you bought for your friend's birthday that you doctored up with a latex balloon and a plastic coated string. 

The tube of dried out mascara. 

        The little plastic tags for your bread. 

                 The produce bags for your cucmbers. 

                          The reusable produce bags you forgot about and pitched when you moved. 

The water bottle you bought January 2nd. 

The Halloween decorations that blew away October 29th. 

The jewelry that you bought at the craft show cuz you wanted to support them.

         The empty tampon ...thing. 

                 The maxi pad. 

   The spice bottles in your cupboard.

 The "vegan leather" shoes. 

   The paint bottles from crafting. 

         The 25 dolls you bought for your kid. 

               The caps to your soda/pop/cola. 

                      The chrismas lights that quit working after one year. 

                     The fake tree that you can't get the cat piss smell out of because you stored it wrong in your garage.

 The empty bag of fertilizer and top soil (of which the earth is becoming depleted of). 

For your garden created by the shit you bought from Home Depot and threw away the packaging.

It doesn't matter how many times you saw the cute internet meme for social media telling you there is no away. It never mattered. It never will. 

We are addicts of consumption. We don't know how to stop. 

If we stopped, our government would collapse. Because it is the very act of buying shit we need and shit we don't need that inflates this bubble.  

"BUT STOP CRUSHING MY VIBE BICH." 

I'm not. 

I'm telling you a truth that the sooner you come to deal with the sooner you can start learning to deal with it. This is not a fairy tale. You are not a Disney fucking princess. You are not going to save the world by recycling your laundry bottle and empty gallon of milk. I mean, okay. Do it. 

But the future is here. 
And she's shattering records. 
And she's slapping us all upside the head. 
And she will win. 
And she will whisper across the galaxies 
To not follow in the footsteps of humankind. 

She will shake an angry fist at the cosmic plastic dust 
And scream into the void. 
We will be a monument of what not to do

For galaxies who 
Come round to visit. 

)o(