Today the Earth Day Network takes on a formidable foe - plastic. This year's campaign is to end plastic pollution, a tall order considering plastic has invaded the entire planet.
Plastic is found in bottled water. It is in our food, meaning it is also in each of us. The effects are unknown, but they are unlikely to be good. I can envision the plastic-industrial complex inventing fake news to convince us that "ingesting plastic is good for you!". Watch for that as awareness of plastic pollution builds.
"A 2017 study... concluded that of the 9.1 billion tons of plastic produced since 1950, close to 7 billion tons are no longer in use.
The authors estimate that only 9 percent got recycled over the years, while another 12 percent was incinerated, leaving 5.5 billion tons of plastic waste littering the oceans and land." - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
If you are concerned about plastic patches floating in the oceans, many the size of small continents, or about plastic bag trees, or plastic in food, then there are things that can be done.
The plastic backlash is finally happening, with Taiwan, Scotland and Britain (along with cities in other parts of the world) getting things going by banning single use plastic straws. But you can't ban all plastic. Or can you?
Each of us can choose to ban plastic in our own lives, although it is a challenge to avoid completely when it is so prevalent in our everyday lives.
The most effective "R" to be used here is Refuse. The biggest change I have seen in the produce section of food stores is the amount of plastic packaging. There are many things that I will not buy because they are packaged unnecessarily in plastic containers.
I don't use single use plastic bags, and bring my own mesh bags when I go food shopping to put fruit and veggies in for the trip home.
We can also let businesses know that we prefer not to buy products that come in excessive plastic, or are made from plastic when less harmful alternatives are available. We have switched to glass containers for food storage, and when we make things like yogurt, we eliminated the need for a plastic container.
When plastic does make its way into our homes, we can make sure that it is refilled, reused, repurposed, or recycled responsibly. Ending plastic pollution will be a challenge, but each of us can do our part and make a difference.
I hope this happens before we become Planet Plastic, inhabited by plastic people that live a short time, then don't biodegrade for hundreds of years after death.
How do you ban plastic from your home?
Happy Earth Day.
It is still a great little planet, and one worth saving, from plastic and other harms.
We refuse as much as possible, if we have to have plastic then it has to be recyclable and our long term plan is to utilise plastic from ourselves and others to create new things. I don't know if you have seen the youtube videos we've talked about on our blog, in the post, http://frannyanddanny.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/plastic-rubbish-or-resource.html
ReplyDeleteI hope that's ok to put a link in the comments Gregg, if you wish to delete it that's fine :)
I think it would be useful for your audience to see the youtube video as it is really eye opening.
Franny.
Franny,
DeleteIf you know how to put a link in a Blogger comment, power to you. Excellent. We always appreciate the sharing resources with us and our readers.
Thank you.
REFUSE is the optimum word here. I refuse as much plastic as possible. One of my more serious pet peeves is how so much produce is packaged in plastic. I refuse to buy it too most of the time. I speak about that often to store staff and in general conversation. Somehow people think plastic is fine because it's recyclable which is debatable as everyone following this blog likely knows. Plastic is not near as recyclable as people would like to think. Propaganda is rampant in modern society. But some of us "get it" and do our part to educate others by how we live our lives.
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