Chelsea Kaplan’s Musings About Life... After Birth

If you’re looking for a cool/freaky/important read, check out Alan Weisman’s “The World Without Us”. In it, Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity’s impact on the planet:  he examines what Earth would be like without us. I’m not some hard-core environmentalist (yes, I drive an SUV and use disposable diapers), but I am interested in the topic - enough to want to do what I can, no matter how small, to reduce my own waste and impress Leonardo DiCaprio.

In the book, Weisman’s research (which draws on the expertise of all sorts of legit folks like engineers, atmospheric scientists, zoologists,marine biologists, astrophysicists, paleontologists, etc.) reveals how, just days after humans disappear, floods in New York’s subways would start eroding the city’s foundations, and how, as the world’s cities crumble, asphalt jungles would give way to real ones. It describes the distinct ways that organic and chemically treated farms would revert to wild, how billions more birds would flourish, and how, surprisingly, cockroaches in unheated cities would perish without us (Who knew? I thought they were indestructible…). The one fact that really stood out to me: all of our discared plastic baggies will still remain thousands of years after we’ve gone, creating one heck of a toxic mess. Ewwwww.

Don’t get me wrong - the thought of giving up plastic baggies altogether is a little disconcerting, but I now see a need to to at least attempt to reduce my dependency on them. I’ve been re-using the plastic containers I get from Whole Foods, and wrapping food I want to save for later re-heating in aluminum foil, which is recyclable. My favorite baggie replacement, however, is Munchkin’s Snack Dispenser ($3.38, babycenter.com).
Instead of packing a snack-sized amount of cheerios and raisins in plastic baggies and tossing them in my purse or diaper bag, I now use the refillable Snack Dispenser, which includes four compartments to hold different snacks, and features a flip-top lid that lets you dole them out at will. When Junior depletes your Goldfish supply, just fill it back up again - no need to use baggie after baggie. Brilliant - and Green (or orange, blue, purple, etc. - the Snack Dispenser comes in all sorts of cool colors).

Aren’t you proud, Leo?