GIVE UP PLASTIC FOR LENT.

April Fool's Day comes early in New Orleans.

Mardi Gras and Carnival celebrations are coming to an end, and communities are moving towards a time of reflection with the observance of Lent. These communities, and people of any faith looking to make practical changes to protect our planet, should consider embracing “Plastic-Free Fridays” during this time. This simple weekly commitment is a powerful way to make planet-friendly choices that also nurture your well-being. It’s a small step that can lead to a significant change in how we consume products, giving us hope for a more sustainable future.

Go thou therefore into the world, and avoideth plastics once a week.  This do in the sure and certain hope of the life of the world to come.  (Wouldn't environmentalist preachments sound better in the language of the King James Bible?)  For the Wages of Plastic are Ill Health.  Deliver us from evil.

Plastic production and consumption play a significant role in our present environmental crisis. Production relies heavily on fossil fuels, contributing substantially to greenhouse gas emissions and harming local ecosystems and frontline communities through resource extraction. On the consumption side, single use of plastics generates excessive waste that clogs landfills, litters natural habitats, threatens wildlife, and raises potential health concerns due to chemical leaching and microplastic contamination.

And yet, might plastics and disposable packaging not have some redeeming features?

With a reuse and refill system, we could eliminate over a third of the existing plastic production. It’s imperative that, on an individual and community level, we’re taking steps to reduce the consumption of materials that are so harmful, wasteful, and damaging to our environment.

I'm old enough to remember deposit-and-return, with eight-packs of twelve ounce bottles of pop at the grocer, and daily milk deliveries in glass bottles.  Bottling companies, dairies, brewers, and grocers could offer those services today, couldn't they?  Truly, truly, I say unto you, reduce, reuse, recycle.

With simple, practical steps, you can participate in this movement and reduce single-use waste by using reusable bags, containers, water bottles, coffee cups, and utensils. You can further minimize our plastic impact by buying bulk whenever possible and following local recycling rules. Together, we can protect our planet and ensure healthier communities.

Didn't those reusable bags and coffee cups run afoul of the corona tyranny?  It's only recently that Starbucks restored their dime discount for bringing in your own cup, which might have been one of the special red cups they continued to sell during the Faucist regime.  And water bottles?  It's a sermon for another day about how stopping at the corner bubbler for a drink gave way to that bottled water.

But in New Orleans, at least one party collective, or "krewe," was issuing glass beads to toss in exchange for whatever is on offer during the Mardi Gras parades.  Doesn't glass break?