Thursday, October 16, 2014

Say no to plastic


Welcome back to term 4.  You are on the home straight now - keep up the great work.  We hope these weekly blogs have provide a welcome distraction from the study grind and given you some good food for thought.  Remember, above all "do good".

Do you ever think about plastic and waste plastic and its impact on the environment?   Here is a recent  journal article that highlights the effects of waste plastic on bird life in the Otago region.

These effects are not isolated to birds.  Waste plastic is also found in the sea, rivers and also in our native bush, not to mention the paddocks that grow our farm animals and produce our milk.  Plastic debris kills animals by strangulation or acting as a tourniquet on the outside and on the inside causing gut blockages.  There is also the problem associated with ingestion of the toxic components and the risks affecting us as they enter the food chain, when we eat the animal that has ingested plastic debris.
Image source - Just one of the many images available if you Google plastic strangling animals.  The images are horrendous.  

So what actions can you take:


  1. Pick up any plastic you find in the environment - even if you didn't drop it and dispose of it correctly
  2. Make conscious choices about what you purchase.  

Here are some easy changes that you can make

  • Stop buying glad wrap - fullstop.  You can use plates to cover plates or use long lasting reusable containers with lids.
  • Stop buying bottled water - in NZ there is never a reason to do this. 
  • Bake your own bread - you know what’s in it then and no plastic bags; purchase from a bakery that uses paper.  Dispose of the paper bags in the recycling or compost.  
  • Buy as many products in compostable packaging as possible.  If an alternative is not available - ask yourself, do I need this product? and if the answer is no, don't buy it.  If the answer is yes, challenge the company to produce better packaging. 
  • Take reusable containers to the butcher and reusable cotton bags to the supermarket and fruit and vegetable shop to put your purchases in.  
  • Tell people what you are doing and challenge them to follow the trend for "doing good". 

Challenge: 

Look in your rubbish bin (both recycling and general waste and make a list of all the plastic products in there).  Identify which ones you can stop buying then and there, which ones you can purchase an alternative for and which ones need you to challenge the company/ies to do better.  For the latter category, when contact them regarding this - tell your friends on Facebook or other social media sites and ask them to send a similar message.  

Together little by little we can make a big difference! 

Have a great week







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