There Is A Bigger Picture

There is a bigger picture and I don’t even know half of it. I’m looking at Instagram posts and X posts that are very inspiring and encouraging and things I never knew about so today I feel very small and insignicant. At the same time I am older and learned some things along the way and I remember my years in art and fashion college and there are just things that I finally understand now even though I was absorbing a lot of information during that time. There are just things you are going to learn over the years and through trial and error. And we all are so different in the way we exist, learn things, understand things, interpret things. It’s all wonderous how our mind, individual creativity and life experience brings us to this very point in time.

That said, I have come to realize that the old fashioned traditional ways of doing some things are actually better for your health and the enviroment. I’ve been on a an anti-plastic kick for the past year and I think it’s more important than ever. I don’t feel guilty about throwing plastic and synthetics away. I need it out of my life. It’s bad for my health, my children’s health and the future health of my grandchildren. It’s bad for the enviroment. We don’t need it and there are plenty of alternatives. They were already in use before we started manufacturing it. Most of all these alternatives are also in use and available right now. You can buy yarn, fabric and thread without plastic. You can buy tools without plastic. You just have to have the will and the determination not to use plastic and stop thinking you are regressing and going backward. We are full of ingenuity. We can make things without plastic.

We have to think more local and stop treating people like slaves and useless eaters. You are buying cheap yarn from factories where people are being exposed to toxic chemicals. People are being replaced by machines, robots and AI. This is not what a happy and healthy life looks like. This is not good for our neighbors and family or all of humanity. We can’t go on this trajectory thinking we are going to be happier because of cheap convience of toxic clothing, food, water and even air. It’s ridiculous to say, at least we’ll have less people, we won’t have to work, we won’t have to cook, we won’t have to excercise, we won’t have to have children, we won’t have to leave our town, we won’t have to vote, we won’t have to worry about getting a cold or the flu, etc. Look at the destructive things we have accepted as good and convient. It’s all toxic and unhealthy no matter how advertisements and politicians package it.

Please go back to our time-tested traditions and old ways. There are better lessons for us. There is more life and health and happiness in life without the plastic and robots. Anything made in a factory in mass quanities is toxic and killing people and the environment with cancer-causing chemicals. It’s being pushed on us for profits and power. For some it is a dangerous survival path. It’s even part of slavery and addiction.

So what can we do. We can do our part by saying no to plastic and going on a parrallel journey without it so that we are making a new life path for oursleves and children. We have new business opportunities. We’re not the first ones or the only ones either. But we are the little influencers that normalize a healthier way to live and thrive. Be this little influence for good in a big, corrupt world.

As far as yarn and thread crafts go, you know what to do if you have read any of my previous posts. Don’t buy plastic anything. Don’t buy plastic yarn or recycled plastic yarn (namely, acrylic, polyester and nylon). The blends of any plastic fake fiber percentage needs to end. Even 1% of synthetic fiber is too much.Don’t buy plastic tools or accessories. Try to buy locally and handmade. It costs more and you will automatically buy less so that there is far less of over-consumption going on. If you can stick it in the ground and it completely breaks down in a year or two then that’s the type of fiber you are looking for. Think anout the dye and processing, too. Viscose and Rayon are from natural sources but the way it is processed makes it a total waste of time and effort to think it is eco-friendly but it’s not. If you can bury it and can say it is a good place for growing organic produce, then you are on the right track.

In my unpopular opinion, it’s OK to start throwing away acrylic yarn, blankets and clothing as you make an effort to start replacing them. Out with 5 polyester tops to replaced by 1-2 natural fiber tops. It is better to go in a landfill instead of making someone else’s life unhealthy in giving it away to charity shops or selling them. Look for charities that accept natural fibers if you like charity knitting, crochet or sewing. If you can’t, consider it as opportunity to give it away locally to people in your community, town or village or start your own charity. Never expect big numbers of people like you in a parallel economy either. You were once like them in a big line with others being influenced by mainstream propaganda. You were once drowning in all the chemicals of widely available products, clothing and food. We’re in the minority. We are on a less-traveled dirt footpath but it’s better for us here and we are happier and healthier, too.

Also, I want to encourage you if you think you are alone because you’re not and we do need more human contact and community. Do most things analog-style. Read Paper books, put your hands in soil, cook things from scratch, make things with your hands and sell things at a market. Touch and see things that are real. Start taking walks instead of walking on a treadmill. Cleaning the house and washing the dog and washing clothes by hand, building things, weeding the garden, moving furniture around can be a work out. I have to take some of this advice because I am afraid of taking a walk out in public. What will people I know, say and think? Will they think I am unsuccessful not being in an electric acar and going to a gym with headphones and wearing polyester and Lycra? I am in California, after all! Part of me still has that shallow mentality.

I’ll do everything else though.

In conclusion, don’t buy anything plastic and live in the analog world where it is healthier for you and your family. We are going to be the new influencers of this new no plastic era and of going back to our traditions and doing things in a more productive and meaningful way that will benefit the future and our children and the environment.

A reminder that I am posting free knit patterns daily on “X” @ecojoyknits. Come and visit, like and subscribe as well as follow this blog to get notified of new blog posts.