Plastic Isn't Nice: Women lead the anti plasitc revolution!

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Women lead the anti plasitc revolution!

There are many people out there who are concerned about the effects that plastic is having on the environment, people are saying. 'enough is enough.' Oh yes, plastic is an integral part of all of ours lives, and its withdrawal will be a long and slow process, but at least we can see a chink of light at the end of this very long tunnel!

I've been blogging about plastic for about a month or so, but, the more I research this subject, the more I am amazed and dumbfounded that we have used and discarded this material so lightly. The same was true of asbestos in the 50's and 60's, before its real dangers were revealed.

What I am finding is that most of the blogs and a lot of the campaigns around plastic, are being instigated by females. I imagine that this is down to the fact that on the whole, women have a more thoughtful and compassionate outlook on life. There are two women in particular, I must mention, who are doing amazing work by bringing to the attention of the public, the toxic effects of plastic, as well as waste in general. Rae with her husband, in Gloucestershire, runs the My Zero Waste site and blog. This is a place full of wonderful articles and practical tips that we can all follow to reduce our waste. On the other side of the Atlantic, Beth runs the Fake Plastic Fish blog and site. This woman seems to run on adrenalin! She's very active and is well known over there. Beth has produced a plastic free living guide. Its good and lists 70 ways we can live without plastics.

I salute both Rae and Beth, and females everywhere for their devotion and compassion to life and securing the continued health of our planet

3 comments:

rae-ann11 August 2010 at 06:17
Ahhh, bless you - you're right about Beth; that woman is a force to be reckoned with; tonnes of energy that leaves me flagging.
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Anonymous11 August 2010 at 22:19
Hi, John. Welcome to the Age of Plastic! I am a fellow man blogging about plastics and my attempt to deal with plastics. I am with you on honoring those women out there at the forefront of this battle. I look forward to hearing more from you!
David
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Lobma.12 August 2010 at 04:12
Hello David. Good to see another male blogging. Maybe we can support the women now in their valiant work. I like your blog too.
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Welcome

I've been aware of the dangers posed by plastic to the environment for a while now. But it was whilst watching a video clip which showed graphically the effects the stuff is having in our oceans, that inspired me to create this blog. I hope that you will feel able to contribute in some way, either by adding comments or sending pieces for me to post. We won't rid the earth of plastic over night, but we can make our voices heard, so those who produce this highly versatile yet dangerous material, will begin to question the logic of manufacturing a product that takes hundreds of years to break down and which is filling our rivers, oceans, and fields with its detritus, causing millions of wild creatures to suffer painful deaths. We can but try to lessen our dependency on the stuff!

Some Sobering Plastic Facts

To clean the oceans, you'd need to fill 630 oil supertankers to the brim at a cost of about $56,000 per each a day to charter

To give an example of how long plastic lasts in the ocean. In 2001 a piece of plastic found in an albatross stomach bore a serial number that was traced to a World War II seaplane shot down in 1944 (US Fish & Wildlife)

All plastic breaks down into particles.It does not dissolve; it just breaks into tiny pieces and stays there. At this size it is small enough to be ingested by every single organism in the world's oceans - animals as small as krill and salps (plankton feeders) right up to the great Blue Whale.

It's estimated that over 10's of thousands of seabirds choke or get tangled in plastic debris (including domestic waste and disused fishing gear) and about 100,000 seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, other marine mammals and sea turtles suffer the same fate, although some scientists believe this figure to be much higher. (DNR) (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission)

UK beaches have on average 2000 pieces of litter for every kilometer. (MCS)However this average is only given to larger items.The number of plastic particles (small plastic pieces) on a beach in just one square foot can range from hundreds to thousands in some of the worst polluted area's. (Thompson) (Algalita)

The world produces over 200 million tonnes plastic annually. Around half of this is used for disposable items of packaging that are discarded within a year. This debris is accumulating in landfill and the problem is growing. (Thompson).

Since the 1950's almost every piece of plastic that we have ever made, used and thrown away is still here on this planet in one form or another, whether its in our homes, in landfill or in the environment; and it will be here for centuries to come.

An estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given away annually by United Kingdom supermarkets-enough plastic to cover an area the size of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and west Yorkshire combined.

On average we only recycle 1 plastic bag in every 200 we use. (londoncouncils.gov.uk)