Plastic Pollution IV - 海洋プラスチック汚染 4

Before moving on to a new topic, I would like you to watch this, which, I am sure, will shock you but is actually happening hidden from our cosy lives. 


From ThisisZINC

This movie might have made you think:
How awful we humans are!  
and/or
From now on, I will try to reduce plastic waste!

It is very unlikely that you could give up everything made of plastic just now, so, maybe, you could start with something which seems easy and doable?

For example,

A. No more plastic bags - carry your own bag.
I will do it because I do not want to see more dying whales.
If you shop three times a week, you can manage to reduce the equivalent of 10-plastic-bags' waste a month.

B. Carry your own bottle, when possible.
I will do it because I do not want to see more dying shearwaters or penguins.
Primary school kids go to school dangling their own bottles around their necks/shoulders, don't they. Kids can do it, why not adults?

C. Abandon plastic umbrellas altogether.
They are cheaply made and can be very dangerous when broken anyway.

D. Say 'NO' to a plastic straw when you order a cold drink in a cafe.
It may need a bit of courage but I will do it because I do not want to see sea turtles suffering with a straw stuck in their nose.
Even if you cannot do it every time in a cafe, whenever you say 'no', you have made less waste!

E. Avoid cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads.
Microbeads will eventually come back to us and threaten our health!

It is tricky to know which products contain microbeads in them in Japan as there is no legal regulation. Probably, the words 'exfoliating scrub' on the packaging could be used as an indicator that microbeads are in the product...

The countries which ban or have regulations on microbeads are listed on the following informative web-site:

http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/product-lists/

F. Choose snacks without individual packaging.
If you worry that you cannot eat them all in one go, you could prepare a tin or air-tight glass jar to keep them from becoming stale after opening. You might be able to even choose not to buy at all when you do not think you can finish them quickly. It is all your decision, not somebody else's. 

G. Buy bento and deli-food less frequently.
Bento or deli-food is normally in a plastic container with a plastic fork/spoon in plastic packaging. The chopsticks are wooden but they are usually wrapped in a plastic bag, occasionally with a cocktail stick in a tiny plastic bag! Because the plastic containers often have loose lids, plastic bags are normally necessary in case of leaking, which produces more and more waste as a result.

If you could do all of the above, even some of the time, that would be wonderful. But it seems rather hard. I am sure it is very hard! I would say it would be also wonderful if you could start doing something anyway. Then, if/when you feel confident enough, you could do more.

A life without plastic was our norm till merely a few decades ago. There are still a lot of people out there who remember that kind of lifestyle. Up until fairly recently, we recycled and reused anything, almost everything、 because we could not afford waste ("mottai nai" in Japanese).

We do not have to go back to the past. We simply cannot.

Instead, I would like to choose the way which is more friendly for the Earth, for us and our future even when there are many other options.

I think it is important that we just stop for a little and think about the consequences of what we are doing. And hopefully, our future friends will not become a victim of what we have done/have not done.

To calculate how much plastic you normally use in a year, try this.
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/content/plastics-calculator

You just put your name (or nickname or anything) and get started!

In my case, I use over 1,300 items of plastic a year😖

This is an article in the Guardian posted in March 2017 about the environmental costs of our throwaway culture.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/13/waste-plastic-food-packaging-recycling-throwaway-culture-dave-hall

I am hoping, one day, this kind of store will be open in Japan:

"Packaging-free shopping on the rise in Europe"
https://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/2014/04/packaging-free-shopping-on-the-rise-in-europe/

It looks like an inconvenient life, but I believe it is one of the most earth-friendly ways of life and also one of the most human-friendly ways of life.