Plastic-Free Sangha: a practice period initiative

In the short time that plastic has become a ubiquitous part of human culture the volume of plastic discarded has increased to stunning proportions, endangering the health of our oceans and their inhabitants, as well as the health of human and other beings. North Americans have been relying on countries like China and the Philippines to process and recycle our garbage using underpaid, under-protected and often underage labour, but now those countries are beginning to refuse. Let’s take responsibility! We can make personal decisions to reduce/reuse/recycle, but they remain drops in the proverbial bucket unless we also insist that businesses and policy-makers take responsibility.

Mountain Rain’s newly formed Engaged Buddhist Practice Group invites you to make a pledge for the 2019 fall practice period to refuse/reduce/reuse/recycle plastic and bring mindful awareness to your choices, the challenges in changing our consumption habits, and speaking up to merchants, corporations and politicians about their policies and decisions. Please sign-up on the pledge form below, and we’ll give you support and resources along the way—and connection to others doing their best, sharing their successes and frustrations.

This initiative is not prescriptive. You will not be judged or shamed for not doing “enough”. None of us can ever do enough, but whatever each of does matters. Please make your pledge meaningful to you and appropriate to your circumstances.

A resources section can be found below the form.

Plastic-Free Sangha Resources—contributed by members of the Engaged Practice Group

Green Sangha Rethinking Plastics page

Dharma Sangha Approaching a Zero-Waste Lifestyle

Plastic Pollution Coalition Information, actions

Plastic Oceans Information, actions, excellent films

Albatross a powerful film by Chris Jordan on the effects of plastic pollution on albatross chicks.

Plasticnic video poem by local poet Fiona Tinwei Lam

Greenpeace Links to petitions to the Federal government and to certain multinationals about change in use of plastics.

Plastic Zero PDF of report: In 1991, Germany was the first country to introduce a comprehensive system where manufacturers and distributors were made financially responsible for the packaging they created.

Globe and Mail Article: “Reduce, reuse, recycle, rejected: Why Canada’s recycling industry is in crisis mode”