Like
many others across the globe I have been spurred by the reports of the
accumulation of waste plastic in our natural environment to change how I live,
and in particular to change the relationship I have with single-use plastics.
It has not been easy. Try and live a day without creating plastic waste and you
will see what I mean. It is impossible. You have to cheat and change the terms
of the challenge to ‘single use’ plastics and even then it is nigh-on
impossible (less than 5% of plastic is reused). Last week I was in a café
explaining to a friend how I had made it to lunchtime with my only plastic
discharge being that annoying plastic cap that goes on the top of milk cartons
(weighing less than 0.0005kg; the typical plastic produced per person is between
0.4kg/day – 0.8kg/day). My impressive run however was broken by the arrival of
a smoothie (specifically requested in a glass not a plastic cup) with the
world’s biggest thickest plastic straw. In a weak lapse in concentration I had
lowered my guard and forgotten to stipulate that my drink should be without a
plastic straw. It was a rookie error.
I
shouldn’t really complain, I have it a little easier than most. As I
gracelessly drift into middle age one of the benefits of my receding hairline
is that my usage of hair-products, which are invariably contained in plastic,
has dropped significantly. It has been 10 years since I used a plastic comb and
I hardly ever wash (my hair that is, I am not a complete animal). Nonetheless,
when I am in a hotel I still have to actively supress the urge to collect the
complimentary bottles of bath foam, shampoo and conditioner. Despite spending
half my life in hotels the kleptomaniac in me still hungers to amass these
ridiculous freebies, despite them adding nothing whatsoever to the quality of
my existence. Like a devout Catholic at confession, I am able to recount
exactly how many days it has been since my last shampoo bottle transgression.
Aeroplanes
are terrible for plastic usage. The airline hostesses, bless them, bend over
backwards to offer a seemingly endless array of single-use plastic items (cups,
cutlery and plastic food containers). It is as if my guilt over the carbon
footprint of my travel schedule wasn’t burden enough. At least that I can
off-set. Hey Mr Airline, want to give good customer service? How about
trusting me with a real knife and fork rather than forcing me to pollute
the environment with a silly plastic one?
Of
course I recognise that my appetite for plastic is not my only flaw. There are
many other aspects of my life which are equally imperfect and
un-environmental: I travel too much, I eat too much red meat, I am about to
launch my own unique brand of Shark Fin & Rhino Horn Moisturiser*. But to
claim that we shouldn’t address a particular problem simply because there are
lots of other problems is wrong, lazy and inexcusable. The build-up of plastic
in our environment is an issue we should all get angry about. Righteously angry
(the very best sort of angry). A few isolated nutters sending their smoothies
back because of a stray plastic straw isn’t enough, We need an army of them.
Some
people might argue that small changes made by individuals are meaningless and
that real change can only be effected by organisations, politicians and policy
makers. They are wrong, We cannot leave this issue to The Suits. It is too big
and too thorny to be resolved by them alone. It requires widespread engagement.
Thankfully there is lots of activity underway. For example this July
Northumbrian Water, a UK Water Company based in the North East of England, is
holding its second annual Innovation Festival. This is a week-long event which
follows the format of a typical English summer festival (ie lots of rain….) and
will involve over a thousand people, both general public and water
professionals alike. During the week there will be a series of
‘Innovation Sprints’ delving into specific problems. Isle (the business I
work for) is leading the Sprint on the plastics challenge.
These
Sprints are very intense. Over a 5 day period problems are systematically
scoped, solutions evaluated and advancements proposed, refined and tested. It
is intense but, as evidenced from last years’ NWL Festival, it delivers great
results. The combination of technical brainpower, practical experience and
sheer, unadulterated can-do attitude all focused on a target topic is a very
powerful tool. Already I have seen some of the potential solutions and they
make me quiver with anticipation. I am particularly excited about how the water
sector could lead the way with the production of proper biodegradable
plastic from sewage sludge (‘proper’ as in fully biodegradable, not the rubbish
stuff that is called biodegradable but just breaks into micro particles).
I
want you to join me in my Righteous Anger. If you share my passion to address
this issue, then please join me in taking action, no matter how small. Cafes
will stop using plastic cups only if enough of us make a fuss. It won’t be
enough on its own of course. This issue requires a swathe of technical,
operational, economic and behavioural solutions, all working in tandem. Perhaps
we should start by identifying everyone who disposes of more than 500g/day of
plastic and painting their front door with a big red cross.
In
blood.
Theirs.
Perhaps
that’s going a little too far. Nonetheless, I suspect the limit to how much our
generation can solve this problem so that it does not burden the next is the
scale of our imagination. If you want to be part of the Northumbrian Water
Innovation Festival and the Innovation Challenge on plastics then please let me
know, or visit the Northumbrian Water website for more details.
*Not all of these are strictly true
FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE VIDEO
AT https://plasticoceans.org/about-film/ OR
READ THE TRULY EXCELLENT ESSAY BY CLAIRE LE GUERN AT http://plastic-pollution.org/ . THE PHOTOS ALONE ARE WORTH THE CLICK.
For more blogs by Piers click on: http://notesfrompiers.blogspot.co.uk/
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