Earth Day 2018: End Plastic Pollution

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.

An Upcycled Bag Made Of Bags

My upcycled murse made of woven plastic shopping bags.

Today's post is about my fabulous bag. I would not normally be talking about my bag except that the cashiers at the local grocery store keep on telling me how much they love it.

Far from being an expensive men's designer bag (Man Purse, or Murse for short), mine is a lovingly hand-made model woven from plastic shopping bags.

For 23 years this flexible, sturdy bag has carried bulging loads of library books, vegetable harvests, groceries, and picnics. In all that time it does not appear to have sustained any wear and tear. It looks as good as the day it was gifted to us by a creative eco-conscious friend.

Thus the compliments from the cashiers that see me regularly at the till, stuffing amazing amounts of food into my murse-like reusable shopping bag made of shopping bags.

In an wonderful example of early upcycling, ubiquitous plastic shopping bags were woven with hemp twine, and nylon webbing handles were added. The result is a high quality, functional bag made with a waste material that can be found in abundance in most trees (and everywhere else).

Woven plastic shopping bags continue to be a popular upcycling material for crafting bags, rugs, hats, wallets, purses, murses and a variety of other items.

In Cambodia a company makes upcycling the centre of its business model. It makes items made from cleaned woven plastic bags procured in areas without garbage collection.

Their efforts clean the streets of the bags that "are everywhere: clogging drains, choking animals, and blighting already difficult lives."

There are many online sites offering woven plastic bag DIY projects, so you too can create value from waste, and create something that you can enjoy for years, possibly decades.

I don't know if real men carry murses, but real men definitely care about the environment, so guys, you can't really go wrong here. And if your bag turns heads in the shops, that is your opportunity to share your commitment to a cleaner environment, and a world where plastic bags don't grow on trees.

Beautiful patterns can be made with different
coloured plastic bags.

Punt The Plastic

“What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It's that simple."

    - Marcus Eriksen, Algalita Marine Research Foundation

The Plastic Age heralded a new era of consumerism and convenience. But it came with a huge price tag in unintended consequences. In the end we may decide that plastic has done more harm than good, and many are calling for a major rethinking of the Plastic Age in an era of a growing global health crisis.

One of the unintended consequences of plastics has to do with our oceans and the things that depend on them. Albatross nesting 2 thousand miles from the nearest continent feed their chicks bits of plastic debris found floating on the ocean. Tens of thousands of chicks a year die of the resulting starving, choking, and toxicity.

Plastic persists in the environment for hundreds of years or longer. Samples of plastic found in the ocean patches contain primarily:

• low-density polyethylene - #4 plastic (used mostly for plastic bags, plastic wraps, and six pack rings)
• polystyrene - #6 plastic (used for disposable cutlery, CD cases, packing materials, closed cell foam insulation, and disposable foam drinking cups)
• polypropylene - #5 plastic (used in textiles like fabric and carpet, ropes, diapers, and food containers)
• polyethylene terephthalate, or PET - #1 plastic (used in beverage and food containers, packaging trays, carpets, and plastic bottles)  

Much of this material is not recycled or properly disposed of, and a lot of it ends up in waterways, and eventually the ocean.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for example, is an immense area of mostly plastic garbage that has accumulated in the North Pacific Ocean. It is only one of several similar garbage patches in the world's waters. They contain up to 90% plastic.

The Garbage Patches are not solid islands, but have been described as a kind of "plastic soup" with bits of various sizes held in the column of water below the surface. The debris has also been identified as plastic "confetti".

Eventually the plastic waste enters the food chain and works its way up and back onto our disposable plastic plates in our food. It may be that it is impossible to retrieve the plastic and other garbage from the water it is suspended in.

Algalita, a marine research institute, recommends instead that we work at reducing our plastic use, and preventing plastic from entering our waterways in the first place.

On their website they stress the importance of finding ways to alleviate the problem of plastic accumulation in the world's oceans. Algalita says, "We need to DO NO MORE HARM, and stop the flow of waste into our marine environment.

They suggest some ways to help:

• Reconsider the use of plastic products, and the way you do things. Can an alternate material, such as paper, glass or aluminum serve the same purpose? (When I make yogurt at home I skip the plastic container that the store bought stuff comes in, and put mine in a reused glass container.)

• Try not to use single use/disposable products made of plastic, such as cutlery, water bottles and plastic bags. Stainless steel water bottles are a reusable alternative. Carry cutlery from home with you.

• Reduce the use of plastic, and reuse materials wherever possible. Consuming less will decrease the waste of unnecessary plastics. Become a responsible consumer.

• Encourage more investigation and research into alternate materials, such as compostable, or biodegradable plastics.  

• Support closed-loop manufacturing processes that capture waste, and reuse it as a raw material.  

• Recycle all materials properly. Turn waste into a resource. Some creative products are now being made from recycled plastics. 

"No one solution is the answer, and there are many more ideas yet to come that will generate a whole new set of solutions. We believe human creativity, changes in habits, and technological developments will eventually result in our oceans being clean again."

Plastic has been found in almost 300 different species tested around the world, such as birds, turtles, fish, and whales, including orcas. Nearly 100% of the albatross tested contained plastic bits mistaken for food.

Help the albatross, other marine animals, and your own health, and work toward punting the plastic in your life. Plastic used for short-lived or superficial applications is the easiest to eliminate, and is a good place to start.

Plastic Bags, Sea Turtles, and Going Zero Waste

It's hard to believe that prior to the 1980s there were no plastic bags hanging from tree limbs or blowing artfully in gentle breezes. A scant 3 decades later and the planet is smothering under a tidal wave of the shopper's best friend - filmy, sturdy, and convenient plastic bags.

Between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. It seems like 50% of this problem plastic ends up flapping in trees. Another 48% probably ends up in the plastic slick in the middle of the North Pacific.

When these bags are eaten by sea turtles who mistake them for jelly fish, it endangers their lives. Most bags break down into tiny, toxic specks that eventually make it into the food chain. Hey, aren't we at the top of the food chain?

I figure that about 1% of plastic bags are reused and landfilled, and 1% are recycled (it costs more to recycle plastic bags than make new ones). Many grocery stores, though, have quit offering plastic bags altogether in a move in the right direction. It isn't a question of "paper or plastic" any more, because both are unnecessary. Using reusable bags is the way to go.

But in true human fashion, my most pressing conundrum is not dying sea turtles or plastic merchants propagating oil wars. I have been successful in getting off plastic bags. So staunch has been my refusal of the silky sacks that my giant bag of bags has dwindled to nothing.

And there is the conundrum. What will I use to take the trash out? I think the plastic in the food chain is affecting my thinking already because I can't remember how we did things in the Pre-plastic Era.

Using newspaper to create a liner for the garbage can is one way I thought I might replace plastic. The newspaper would be more biodegradable and keep the can clean. But what I decided would be best is to go zero waste. Recycle everything I can and collect food waste for composting.

I am changing my plastic habits and reducing the amount of waste I produce. Very little is coming into my home so it shouldn't be that hard to make sure nothing leaves it destined for the landfill. That should keep the sea turtles happy, and ultimately, what makes sea turtles happy will make us happy.