Plastic, How I Do Love Thee

I have a confession to make. I love plastic.

Sheet protectors. Ziploc bags. Bubble wrap. Plastic, how I do love thee!

For this ‘Skinny Pig’, when plastic is in my hand I’m reminded of how it is the simple things in life that bring contentment, sense of a job well done, and something important preserved or safely packed.

The week prior to Thanksgiving I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to continue a project gone dormant for months on end. With my laptop, printer, folding table set up in my office and a Costco-sized box of heavy duty sheet protectors, I was in business.

I proceeded to print off all the coaching posts I’ve written since the inception of my coaching website in Spring 2014. Just in case my computer crashes, I lose my thumb drive, or someone makes off with our external hard drive, I have proof that I have not been sitting in my office filing my nails! Sheet protectors of plastic, how I do love thee.

During Thanksgiving, I gushed to my husband all over again about the virtues of plastic Ziploc bags. Their usefulness in storing leftovers knows no bounds. Ziploc baggies of plastic, how I do love thee.

Let me count the ways: snack size, sandwich size, quart storage, quart freezer, gallon storage, gallon freezer, TWO gallon hefty size! Some with zippy little press locks, some with those nifty little gripper slides…oh, the possibilities are endless! I’m like a kid in a candy store when surveying the Ziploc aisle. Guess what? Now the holiday ones are out!

Well, all was well. Until I ran out of my snack size supply. How can you function without snack size plastic?? It’s just not right. However, I know a snack size box fits in a Christmas stocking… Just sayin’.

Post-Thanksgiving every year, I’ve barely wakened from my Tryptophan-induced turkey hangover and it’s get out the bubble wrap time! With family ‘across the pond’, the other side of the state and the U.S., Christmas prep comes early. Which means so does my enjoyment of bubble wrap and scotch tape. More plastic! How I do love thee. (Note to self: buy some tape).

Who knew plastic could be so heartwarming?

• Sheet protectors to safeguard the gift of writing.
• Ziploc bags of all sizes to safeguard – until the next fridge raid – Thanksgiving dinner leftovers.
• Bubble wrap to safeguard gifts sent with love and wrapped around the ‘hearts of us’ we tucked in too. (Not to mention the holiday stress-relieving music of the Bubble Wrap Pops. How many of us can’t play a piano but can sure play a mean bubble wrap?!)

Then Mom pops up. Remember how she used to say ‘It’s all fun and games till someone gets hurt!”?

Oh, the easy swipe of that cute little plastic card otherwise known as ‘debt’. Ouch. Mom was right.

In the spirit of Skinny Pig thinking, my credit card use is worthy of airline miles piled up to visit our kids. However, I love my credit cards even more when the money is there to pay it off when the bill arrives. It’s how my husband and I have rolled since we got married. No doubt it’s saved us a lot of headaches.

What if there’s already debt on the credit card? Don’t get mad, get Glad. Glad Wrap! Bake something and cover it with plastic wrap and a big bow.

I don’t know about you but every Christmas season I recalculate how I’m going to approach gift-giving. This season is no different and I’ve bounced a few creative ideas off my spouse. You don’t need to be stuck in a rut. Especially if you have more time than money or more money than time. Or you’re broke.

There is always a way to give.

Maybe this year doesn’t involve plastic credit cards but plastic of another kind. Look around. We live in a world surrounded by plastic. There’s an idea in there somewhere.

Given with a genuine heart, plastic may not be so artificial after all. There’s a gift in that ♥

Protectors and bubbles and Ziplocs, oh my! Plastic, how I do love thee.

How do you love plastic? Or approach gift-giving? Or get creative with either time or money? We could all use some new Christmas ideas. Would love to hear yours in the Share Your Thoughts section below!

~ Nancy

Photo Credit: Bubble Wrap: stevendepolo Bubble Wrap Macro November 28, 201010 via photopin (license)