"Plastic pollution is the visible symbol of our global crisis of over-consumption.
Let's pledge to shift our societies away from the disposable habits that poison our oceans and land, eliminate our consumption of throwaway plastics, and begin embracing a culture of sustainability.
Our health, our children, and the survival of future generations depend on us."
~ marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols
20 minutes on December 10, 2013 at Access 16
Litter by weight: 2.1 oz
Cigarette butts: 63
Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 223 days:
57,251
My biggest frustration, now that I am trying to avoid single use plastic and plastic in general, is how to succeed 100%, or close to it. Everything you buy in stores is packaged in plastic, I throw away about two bags of trash per week and inside is all wrapping that our municipality doesn't collect. At the stores I try to buy unwrapped alternatives but it is possible only sometimes. The other big problem I have is the awareness or lack of thereof in people. Unless it comes from the top I don't see how we can change the pervasive use of plastic. I surely hope that there is a smart chemist who is trying to develop alternatives to plastic or a way to recycle it in a sustainable way.
ReplyDeleteSomeday I feel panic thinking of the polluted world my children are living in, why is it that I am in the minority?
I completely understand how you feel Laura. It's definitely hard as a parent knowing what we know.... sometimes it can feel so overwhelming.
DeleteFor me personally, I feel like if I'm at least doing something then that's being an active part of change (even if I am a minority). And maybe not everyone is paying attention, but trust me... if your doing things differently.... someone is going to notice and chances are they're going to get inspired :)
As far as avoiding plastics, I have found that by skipping past the big grocery store and going instead to smaller locally owned stores to do my shopping that I am able to use less plastic and have in some sense more control over my abilities to live with less plastic. I'm definitely not 100% plastic-free, but as a family of 5 we fill an office sized trash can at the most maybe once a week. Right now, I can live with that. I don't know if you've ever taken the plastic challenge at My Plastic Free Life, but it's a really great exercise to help focus on what plastics we use but could avoid or possibly what we just can't live without.