Tag Archives: toomuchplastic

Time to Ban the Bags

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 In my opinion plastic pollution is 100% not talked about enough. All over the world we are using tons of plastic and it’s just a waste and we are worsening our environment by the second.There aren’t enough news articles that are making the front page and spreading awareness today and we need to start to spread the word before it’s too late. Since Covid hit so many people have had time to sit at home and realize a bit more about what’s going on around them but that still isn’t enough. Now here’s one thing that is happening across the water I just read about that is going to benefit our environment over the next year and I’m really happy to read about it. Over in France starting in January they are planning to ban plastic packaging from fruits and vegetables. Below is a picture of the unnecessary plastics that are used to help keep fruit fresh. But we need to start finding better alternatives for this. 

Even though this isn’t happening in our country this may boost other countries to start to do the same. The government says that it “ expects to prevent the use of more than 1 billion plastic packages a year” Which our environment is excited to hear about. They have about 30 fruits and vegetables that have been administered to have a plastic packaging band for them. leeks, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes and carrots, large tomatoes, onions and turnips, cabbage, cauliflower, squash, parsnips, radishes, and root vegetables, the ministry said in a statement. And that it’s just the start. Hopefully over the next coming years they will start to add more items from sale in plastic. I love that France has started to make their mark on plastic pollution and try to limit plastic waste as much as they can. I hope other countries see this big step that they took and start to take action from this as well. We need to start focusing more on how we treat our earth and stop being so lazy. When you were first introduced to plastic we thought it would help benefit us because we didn’t always have to clean the dishes and it makes carrying things from the grocery store easier. But now we have gotten too lazy with it and we are using plastic in dumb ways where we dont need it. We see it everywhere. We sit in the grocery store and restaurants in our homes. We even basically put it into our systems by digesting micro plastics. None of this is hoping for us in a healthy way and it’s not helping my environment either. People need to start making their small changes and deleting plastic in their life could help to make their environment healthier in so many ways. And for that fact governors and ministers need to start taking action so that the plastic that builds up in our grocery stores and restaurants doesn’t keep hurting the consumers and the planet around us. I hope this change in France starts a movement so that the next generation doesn’t have to worry about the damages we made and just left for them to clean up.

Plastic Reflection

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“Plastic pollution free world is not a choice, but a commitment to life – a commitment to the next generation.”  Amit Ray was not the first person to iterate this, nor will he be the last one.  We live in a plastic world.  We are constantly touching it, using it, and throwing it away, until the cycle repeats again and again.

 

After reflecting upon my use in plastic, I realized that this issue is bigger than myself and the world right now.  My use and carelessness carries into the next generation of people not even alive yet, incapable of helping themselves.  I reflect on how the generation before me started the problem, and now it’s in my generations hand to do something to solve the problem, or pass it on once again to the next generation.  As a human, I feel empathy.  I feel that if I can do something so easy to help, such as substituting everyday items with more sustainable items, why would I not.

 

Plastics that I have realized would be selfish to not substitute for a sustainable product:

The products listed above are the easiest switches in my life that require no sacrifice.  Why would I not change simple things like plastic bottles to a reusable water bottle, where the reusable water bottle would probably keep my water tasting fresher anyways.

These are simple habits that I can break to live a more sustainable lifestyle to protect the Earth for my generation and the generations to come.

There are still non-sustainable items in my life that I am not willing to replace.  This includes tampons, makeup in plastic packaging, and tennis racket grips.

For one, as a girl, I get periods.  I know there are more sustainable methods such as the diva cup, but when dealing with something unfavorable, I would rather just use tampons at my own convenience. Tampons, pads, and panty liners create more than 200,000 metric tons of waste annually.  This is a ton of waste, pun intended.

Some advice I have for changing one’s lifestyle to a more sustainable one is to just try it.  It does not hurt to try out a shampoo bar because if it is not your thing, you can always go back to plastic bottled shampoo.  Try to actively bring reusable bags to the grocery, and maybe it will become a habit, such an easy habit.