My grandma’s bathroom was like a fairy land. Well, a fairy land for kids like us who loved all the shee-shee stuff in there… sweet smelling soaps wrapped in delicate printed papers, expensive perfumes in fancy atomizer bottles, jars of colorful bath beads, delicate bone china soap dishes and even glass bowls filled with pastel colored cotton balls. My sister and I would spend hours in there sampling all the novelties only a grandma would have and when we emerged, we smelled like, well… a grandma.

When I look around my own bathroom, I see very few products in glass. Unlike grandma’s, all my beauty products are encased in plastic and most of them are almost empty. Usually I’d have back-up sitting at the ready by now, but I’ve made a commitment to stop buying products in plastic, so my cabinets are emptying and my recycle bin is too.

Dumping my old beauty routine feels like a small sacrifice after reading the U.N. report about one million species facing extinction if we don’t clean up our act. “Nature’s current rate of decline is unparalleled and the accelerating rate of extinctions ‘means grave impacts on people around the world are likely.'” So yeah, giving up that blue bottle of face wash doesn’t feel like quite that big a deal.

The thing is, I don’t feel as if I’m having a big enough impact. I mean, who cares if I don’t buy something? Are the big companies manufacturing this stuff feeling the loss in sales and even if sales drop, do they know why? I’ve decided to make sure these companies hear me, so in my typical Hit Them Over-the-Head-With-It way, I’ve decided to write each company a letter.

I mentioned my plan to my neighbor and she loved it, but she ‘fessed up that she just didn’t have the time to write a letter.

I get it, we’re all busy and seeing I enjoy complaining, I offered to write a form letter for her. In doing this, I realized there’s probably a lot more of you too busy to draft a… ahem… powerful ditty, sooo…

I’ve decided to write a “form” letter everyone can use. Simply copy, paste, and customize by filling in the blanks. Most importantly, send as many as you can to the companies disappointing you with their packaging, products and even their methods of doing business. Use my words, use your words, use anything you want from it, but PLEASE send it!

Let’s turn this planet around and go back to a time before plastic ruled and trash covered everything. Holding companies and politicians accountable is the only way to change where we’re headed.

I have more form letters in the works, but for now use the one below and instead of freaking out and saying how worried you are, take immediate action.

As Grandma would say when pulling us out of her fancy bathroom, “Time’s a tickin’!”

FOR PRODUCTS IN PLASTIC PACKAGING

Date ____________

Dear _______________________ ,

Your __________________ has been a part of my shopping list for years, but with the news from the U.N. outlining the terrifying fact that over one million species will be extinct within the next few decades, I am no longer able to buy it.

Risking life on this world as we know it so you can save money on cheap plastic packaging just isn’t worth it.

Sure, I’m aware that some of your containers are recyclable, but that industry is overwhelmed and much of your containers end up in landfills and our oceans. Plastic is not a healthy choice for our planet and until you switch to using truly recyclable and sustainable cardboard, glass or metal packaging, you no longer have my business.

I may be just one customer but there’s many, many more of us committed to solving this issue. I hope you’ll join us and become a leader in your industry and change your packaging now. Time is running out.

Please contact me as soon as your packaging is made from sustainable materials. Thank you in advance for doing the right thing,

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Email

 

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What companies will you write to?

Please share your own thoughts with ME – let’s get a conversation started in the comments below! Your comment may even win you a free MAJAMAS® EARTH garment this week!