Back after a break for a couple of weeks and this week the topic that has popped into my head is one I've perhaps done before but from a different angle.
There are a variety of reasons why I decided on this topic this week but the primary reason would be the effect
this link had on me. I have seen links like this before. There are plenty on the internet and they are not so nice, so be warned if you decide to open it. I decided that the reality is you need to know how bad the plastic problem is and how essential it is that each and every one of us make changes to our relationship with plastic.
Remember as consumers if we don't purchase it, there is no economic reason to use it as a packaging product.
If you do read the link posted above, use it as a springboard to make changes - if you make a change and convince 10 friends to do the same and they tell 10 friends each, you can see very quickly that there is a momentum of change.
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| Plastic
Bales - recycled plastic baled up and ready for transport to places
like China for down-cycling into a lower grade plastic product (that may
or may not be recyclable at the end of its life) |
The CHALLENGE I issue to you:
As it is nigh on impossible to remove plastic completely from your lives when you look around, the challenge is to REDUCE the amount of plastic you purchase and use. Where there is no other option, make sure that what plastic you do use has a REUSABLE function and can be RECYCLED at the end of its life. At the end of its life make sure you DO in fact RECYCLE it.
(Remember recycling on its own is not the answer because plastics degrade over time and the products that plastics are recycled into a generally lower grade plastics and eventually the plastic will end up in landfill, that is why we need to reduce our reliance on it first. The ideal product is completely cyclic)
Here are some ideas to get you started. Please add more ideas to the comments on the blog
- Stop accepting plastic bags at retail outlets - take your own reusable bags.
- Even when you purchase fruit and veges - put these in a reusable bag not the plastic bags supplied on reels. Have a look at www.rethinknz.com for a great alternative.
- There is now a brand of unbleached toilet paper which is packaged in paper - yes is produced and packaged in Aussie, but if we all change to it, pretty soon the New Zealand companies will do the same then we can change to locally produced too
- For your pets, if you feed them a wet component to their diet, don't purchase "Singles" for wet food. Purchase the wet food in cans, because tin cans are easily recyclable
- Purchase non-plastic food bowls for your pets and toys that are fully biodegradable or at least fully recyclable.
- Decide to stop using gladwrap (or other brands of clingfilm). You can purchase high quality plastic containers that have a reuse life of many many years to store left overs in or for transporting lunches. Look after these containers well and they will serve you for many years, then recycle them. Alternatively look for containers made from glass or stainless that really will last a lifetime.
- Don't buy bottled water. In New Zealand there is no need. Refill your reusable drink bottle from a tap. If its chlorinated and you don't like the taste, leave it in the fridge with the lid off for a few hours and the chlorine will go.
- Make sure all your discarded electronic equipment which is full of plastic as well as all sorts of precious metals is taken to the correct place for full recycling.
- Look for product alternatives that use less packaging and little or no plastic.
- Purchase your meat from a butcher and have it wrapped in butchers paper - ask them to forgo the plastic bag (this avoids not only the plastic wrap but the polystyrene too).
- Ban lunch inorganic lunch waste from being disposed of at work. This means people either need to take their waste home or they are encouraged to make a change. Provide a bokashi bucket for the organic waste.
I am quite sure you all have heaps more ideas - add them to the comments at the bottom of the blog.
There are so many little change you can make that together make a big difference. Remember to share your changes and why you are making them with friends - use the power of social media to share the ideas or even this blog.
People know they need to do something so if we give specific ideas of what these are, people will do it.
Have a great plastic reduced weekend!
Kind Regards
Francesca
