Have you ever got onto one of those searching panics where you are looking for something so stupid, for so long, that when you pop out of it, you are embarrassed about how much time you've spent on something so trivial? I think that times like this when we have a lot of negative outside stimuli, it's even easier to think and act irrationally. I caught myself the other day looking for an envelope for close to 30 minutes. I did another one yesterday, but things one came with a positive outcome. Hold that thought.

I have not always been a responsible earthling when it comes to plastics. More and more now, I reflect on my impact on the planet. It’s hard to not be a hypocrite as we all do things that 100% have a significant impact. I'm no greenie, but I do what I can. if there are simple things that I can do to reduce plastics and repurpose things I get a great sense of satisfaction.

Some examples for reference are: I use my used tortilla Ziplocs over again to store lunches or other food items at a minimum one more time. By using it one more time, I've doubled its intended use, which I feel like it has cut my damage down by 50%. Call me crazy, but that's how it's translating. I guess I feel like by me repurposing a plastic bag or other plastic items, it keeps me from reaching for a new one to use for the same thing.

I use the mesh bags that the onions, oranges, and avocados come in for crab bait portions. These are great because you don't just have a big frozen chunk of crap, you can use less scrap and achieve the same result, the scent will still permeate and crabs can get at the bait. It also gives a nice freezer size portion that you can grab and go.

My feather forge fly boxes that you may or may not possess. (I will often give them out with larger orders of flies. hint hint) come in little plastic bags to keep the boxes from rubbing together and scratching during shipping and storage. I've repurposed these bags and now use them for freezing my pizza dough balls and toppings.

I received a package from a company awhile back. The package was in a repurposed box and it had a sticker attached that said something to the effect of "ugly box !!! forgive us, but we try to repurpose boxes in our warehouse instead of sending them out for recycling and using a new box". BRILLIANT. . . . . . I've been beating up on myself a little about sending out ragged looking packages to my customers like Labatt Blue 24's, Buble lime boxes, a heating pad box or an old amazon box. I thought I was appearing unprofessional, but it turns out I was acting environmentally responsible. I will be using some purchased boxes soon, as I don't feel the need to up my Labatt Blue intake in the name of shipping. Please don't judge if you ever receive a spanky "Feather Forge Fly Co." box with your order, I do what I can.

Anyways, remember I was talking about rooting around for things for too long., I’ll get back to my point. I searched and searched for the small bags that I use to package up dozen bags of leeches. I found my big bag of collected fly tying material bags and decided that these would be getting used first before I send out new bags. They will look something like this. every little bit helps. I'm not unprofessional, I am environmentally responsible?.

I'm not unprofessional. . . . . .I'm environmentally responsible.