Soon after we moved to Brooklyn, Ali suggested that we start buying glass bottles of milk from Ronnybrook Farms at the local farmers market. I was resistant to the idea to say the least. The fact that we would be paying more- it's nearly the same price for a quart of Ronnybrook milk (which is not organic, but much fresher) as we would for a half gallon of organic milk from the coop. Not to mention the inconvenience of having to get to the farmer's market every saturday morning (rain, hail, sleet or snow) before noon. But Ali was persistent, telling me she would make the weekly trips to the farmers market, claiming that the cost difference was marginal.
Here we are, nearly two years later, and we've gone through more than 120 quarts of milk (along with a few heavy creams and half & halves). As far as the small inconvenience of walking or biking the mile to Prospect Park to pick up our weekly supply, I gradually embraced it as part of our Saturday routine and became rather fond of it. I enjoyed seeing the same people every week who sell the milk, plus I would often grab a pastry and sit in the park reading for a bit. While I'm sure we paid a fair amount more for Ronny's milk, the satisfaction of knowing that we didn't have to waste a milk carton every week is more than worth it. Now we have a collection of bottle caps, which I had envisioned using to create a piece of art from. I even imagined, well actually fantasized would be a more accurate word, that it might line the walls of the Whitney Museum on a sustainability exhibit.
I believe the single greatest factor that inhibits individuals from making more sustainable lifestyle choices is a feeling of helplessness. What's the point of bringing cloth bags to
the grocery store if all of the other 50 customers are choosing paper or plastic? It is daunting even to attempt ecological choices in a very unsustainable culture. I learned on NPR that the amount of plastic produced in America every year is nearly equal to the combined mass of every man, woman and child in the country. Not only that, but nearly 30% of that plastic is intended to end up in the garbage (such as packaging plastics). These figures are scary, but tangible change can be made with minimal inconvenience. If it were up to me we would have thrown away more than 60 milk cartons, but luckily I've been blessed with a partner who's a bit more thoughtful...
