t the end of the day, this is what Baum is inching these women toward: to stand in their Armenian-ness, to look at their neighbor as a safe person, and to recognize that in this practice — as a fellow artisan in this community — they can ask one another for help and feel part of something together.
Alternative packaging, such as those made from bagasse and bioplastics, is being researched and manufactured, but not at a rate that will impact change any time soon. Perhaps the best way to proceed is at a community level.
In her letter to the editor, Sharon Coleman writes: “China will no longer take our recycled materials. All of a sudden material collected on the street may not have a place to go.”
In her letter to the editor, Marj Wexler writes: "We urgently need consumer pressure on bottling companies to challenge the unsustainable practice of producing new plastic bottles."
Almost everyone I know already brings a reusable water bottle to school (many in bright colors or covered in fun stickers), and I don’t foresee the ban changing our day-to-day life in any way. In fact, I don’t see this being a major detriment in any way to most citizens of Great Barrington.