Buying Less - No to Silly Bandz

Like most moms, right up there on my priority list in life is my kids and their future.  Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about what kind of world they will be left with.  Did you see the pictures of the birds after they've eaten all the little plastic garbage that's part of our everyday life in America?  Or see the work being done by groups like 5 Gyres?  It made me stop and think.  

And now our kids are obsessed with the latest craze:  Silly Bandz.  (I know these have been around for a while now...we are a little behind here in NJ!)  Not to single out one company when they are just a drop in the corporate bucket, but my kids came home asking for these, too.  So I wrote to the company asking what they were made of, was any of it recycled and could the used bandz be recycled.  The only response I got back was this:  "Sillybandz are made from 100% medical grade silicone."  A typical response, I suppose.  That's what worries me.  Most companies aren't thinking about these issues.  It's for somebody else to worry about.  

And who is that somebody else?  I think it needs to be us moms.  We are our children's protectors. We worry if they scrape a knee.  We want the best for them.  Is a world full of dead sea life, polluted waters and closed beaches what is best?  I don't think so.  

So I'm saying 'No' to Silly Bandz.  It's a first step....I will say 'No' to many others like them.  No....Not until you think about the product you are putting out into this world that belongs to all of us and our children.  No....Not until you take responsibility for becoming part of the solution instead of contributing to an ever-growing problem.  

To many, this seems like an extreme position.  Many will argue that these are harmless fun and kids need to follow the trends and have fun with their friends.  I just believe there are other (better) ways to do this.  Silicone doesn't biodegrade.  Do silicone bands really need to be packaged in even more plastic packaging?  Watching sea life and birds feed discarded Silly Bandz (shaped in their images, nonetheless) to their babies isn't silly...it's just sad.

What items have you said 'No' to because you were passionate about a cause?  Share your ideas here!