The War on Plastic

Over the last few years there has been increasing talk in the media about plastic and I am very pleased to see it. A couple of years ago there was mounting pressure on the supermarkets to get rid of single use plastic bags - something that are mostly used for carrying groceries from the checkout to the car then from the car into the house before being binned.  The NZ government then banned single use plastic bags about 18 months ago and people have survived and adjusted their habits quite readily. There was a local campaign going on around the same time in our nearest town to make it free from plastic straws - initiated by a film produced by some local school children and gaining momentum as more and more local businesses came on board. The business community at large rose to this challenge and now it is easy to find reusable stainless straws and most places are using paper straws now.

I have been using my own grocery bags for over 18 years - starting out I felt like a lone wolf at the supermarket as I asked the checkout people to use my supplied bags - mucking up their system and causing many of them to show poorly suppressed looks of annoyance! Subsequently I changed supermarkets to one where you pack your own groceries and it allowed me to carry on with my crusade. It is heartening to now see everyone using their own bags as the supermarkets have had reusable bags on sale for a while now and with the government ruling them plastic bag free people have just had to get on board.

It is easy to now also get mesh vegetable bags and I have been able to buy a new set in the last year - larger than my previous ones I had had for 13 years. The supermarkets also have string bags - my mum has had a wee chuckle at that - these used to be what people always used. She even has a pattern to crochet one yet they previously went out of favour for something we could throw away after one use! 

I have had a bit of a thing for reusable bags full stop - I have carried one in my handbag for the last 15 years to have on hand when I go shopping. I have been seduced to buy others over the years including the cute one pictured that is a bag within a little bag. I bought it 5 years ago and confess I have never used it as I always went to my tried and true ones I'd always carried. As it feels 'new' to me I am going to liberate it from the drawer and make a habit of enjoying it whenever I need a carry bag - hopefully not too often seeing as I am trying to reduce my spending!!

I am still concerned about the amount of plastic packaging there is around other items that seems unnecessary - especially when some items come packaged perfectly well in cardboard. I guess reducing my consumerism and spending will reduce the amount of plastic that comes into our house and that then needs dealing with - a double benefit.

Plastic is an amazing invention and it does play a huge role in in our lives but it needs to be reserved for the items where it has a long use and hopefully will not end up in the landfill, being able to be recycled to something else. The whole term disposable really should not have been invented when it comes to plastic because it is not disposable really - we throw it away and think it is no longer our problem but it is our problem and something needs to be done. I always remember a phrase I heard once that I think needs to be resurrected again so it is in the forefront of our consciousness - "throw away does not mean go away" - that plastic item you threw out is still somewhere. 

We had the perfect evidence of this in the last week - my husband and 2 friends went of a tramp into the wild to find and dig up a time capsule they buried there 35 years ago as teenagers. It was half a metre underground in a place that has over 2 metres of rainfall a year and the plastic bags they wrapped it in showed only minor deterioration on the outside layer, then next one in looked like new and could still be used today. Worrying I think!

Do you think about the plastic you use and throw away? Do you want to see where it has gone to and what harm it might be causing? Do you even care? We all need to care. I hope you do!