Why Plastic Free July is Important

Our Living Smarties group watched Bag It last week. It was a great way to kick off Plastic Free July. It reminded me that there are very important environmental, health and social reasons to reduce our family's use of single-use plastic.

The environmental reason that struck a cord for me is that plastic is made from fossil fuels (oil and natural gas), which take hundreds of thousands of years to form in the earth. They are non-renewable and, after a fossil fuel is burned, can never be used again.

Many single-use plastic products are used for less than a couple of hours before they are discarded. It doesn't make any sense to buy a single-use plastic bottle of water, for example, when we live in a country where we can get clean drinking water straight from the tap! It is such a waste of precious fossil fuels. My re-usable bottle is so much nicer to drink out of too.

The health reason that struck a cord for me is that since the late 70's we have been surrounded by plastic. It touches our food, our drinks, our medicines and everything else. Let's be honest. We are offered plastic shopping bags to carry food that is often packed in at least one layer of packaging or plastic. Although the use of some plastic elements (think BPAs) are being phased out of products that touch food we don't really understand the potential impacts of the other components yet.

Since plastic doesn't break down in the environment for millions of years it fragments and is eaten by wildlife, particularly in the ocean. Apart from being terrible pollution the plastic is then passed up the food chain to humans. How can we begin to understand the flow on health effects of that for not just humans, but all of the animals impacted within the food chain? Hormone mimicking effects (again, such as BPAs) are also realised through the food chain, particularly in the ocean.

Image Source

The social impacts motivating me arose directly from Bag It. The movie talked about plastic recycling and how numbers 1 & 2 (in the recycling triangle) are the most readily recycled products (as opposed to numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7). I know this is true because when I was working to increase plastic recycling at my work the only plastics that were collected (because they have a market) were numbers 1 & 2. Bag It explained that numbers 1 & 2 (which include PET plastic drink bottles) can easily be recycled into the lower grade of plastics (3-7). The lower grade of plastics, however, can't be recycled into a plastic of high enough quality to be economical. This means that plastic is generally only recycled once and then it becomes unusable waste.

When the higher quality plastics are collected and recycled they can be shipped to third world countries and processed in abominable working conditions. Workers sift through plastic waste and melt it down with no safety equipment. That is a pretty considerable social price for my plastic use.

On a more positive note I should mention what an amazing product plastic is. It can do so many things and it is so cheap to manufacture! In countries where there is no clean drinking water I'm sure many would suffer incredibly without it. It's like everything - let's try to use a great product responsibly so that we can continue to use it in a much nicer world for a much longer time.

Do you share my concerns about plastic? 

Leading by example and being proud of your beliefs

I was chatting to a like-minded person at Living Smarties recently about how the people around us notice that we do things differently because we care about the environment. We have both observed that it often motivates them find ways to protect the environment too.

It was a brilliant conversation. We also talked about that uncomfortable feeling you sometimes have when you want to do the right thing for the environment, but you feel self conscious because you don't want to make anyone feel awkward or to stand out too much by being different.

My Living Smart friend remembered hearing an older woman speak up at a workshop recently, saying that she has gotten to the point where she doesn't care anymore. She wants to act in the ways that she feels are ethically right and (pretty much!!) to hell with anyone else if they aren't on board. My Living Smart friend and I thought it was a liberating way to think. It does raise an interesting point. Why do we sometimes feel uncomfortable about doing things differently to protect the environment?

We discussed my friend's workplace and how they use styrofoam cups instead of real cups. This horrifies my friend who has brought in her own mug and uses it instead (note: doing things differently). She has only been working there for a few months though and doesn't want to "rock the boat" and be pushy in her approach to trying to change things.

There are a couple of issues of concern here. One is the waste generated from single use disposable cups being used by not just visitors to the workplace but staff too. The other concern is the impact of styrofoam on the environment as a toxic and non recyclable material. I reviewed 6 local government websites across Perth (Perth, South Perth, Bayswater, Rockingham, Kwinana and Gosnells) and 4 of the 6 do not accept styrofoam in their domestic recycling collection.

As far as I am concerned styrofoam should be banned. I think it is in many places but sadly Perth is not yet one of them. If I get take away served in a styrofoam container that is it - I am never to return to that establishment.

It was so inspiring to chat about ways that my new friend's workplace might be able to switch from styrofoam. I am so admiring of her motivation to take on creating this change despite it not being her paid role. It was great to be able to suggest some ideas to help her to connect with colleagues and create change as part of a team. I don't often find I am able to discuss my work experience in such detail so I really enjoyed it.

After this discussion I am further convinced that influencing and encouraging others to protect the environment requires individuals to lead by example and demonstrate how. This is something you have to do naturally and because you care. It is obvious when you are making a show of doing something and people are not fooled by it. When you do it because it works for you, however, and it adds value to your life, that is inspiring. People are likely to, therefore, be inspired. They can see the benefits that they can also have if they take on a new way of thinking about, or doing, things.

Going back to the point of why we can feel uncomfortable about openly caring for the environment. I guess it's because it doesn't fit with the mainstream culture of buying and disposing of things. Ok, I'll say the C word: "capitalism". It is so ingrained that we buy, use and throw, rather than make, mend and repurpose, that it challenges our way of life. Heaven forbid the economy take a back seat. Even for a second.

I do think times are changing though and I am going to make it my mission to be more proud and less pained while I help to pave that new path.

What inspires you to create change in your life? Do you think leaders are important?

Lizzing Lightly

Connecting with your community

When I worked full-time (pre-baby) I was quite busy with sustainability events and activities through my job.  As such, I often didn't have time to attend local events that I knew I would find interesting.  This prevented me from getting to know like minded people in my local community.

While I am on leave from work I want to attend more of these kinds of events and meetings.  Of course, my time is limited by family commitments but I want to use this opportunity to connect with my own community.  Particularly with people who share my interests and passion for sustainability and the environment.

Enjoying South Perth foreshore

About four years ago I attended a Living Smart course at our local community centre.  I think the course is a bit West Australian-centric so I'll explain what it is.  You go along to a two hour session each week for 6 - 8 weeks and learn about reducing water use, energy use, waste, travel alternatives to the car and general information about reducing chemicals in your home and improving your well being.  It is a great course to attend if you are interested in these things and it is a great way to connect with like minded people in your community.  To find out more here is a link to the Living Smart website.

As someone who works in Local Government I think an additional benefit for individuals and families who attend Living Smart, and other types of sustainability events, is that you become familiar with officers who work in the community and you can build rapport to work together to develop events and activities that you think are important.  One of the biggest barriers to making good ideas a reality is not knowing the people who can support and guide a way to make them happen.

Amazing acrobats at Fremantle Festival

Last week I attended my first meeting of the local Living Smarties, a group of people that have attended a Living Smart Course and want to stay connected with like minded people.  The group meets monthly to discuss topics of interest, bringing food and their passion about sustainability and the environment to share.

Since it was the first meeting of the year the conversation mainly focused on planning meetings for 2015.  I felt welcomed by each and every one of the Smarties and I was extremely glad that I had dragged myself out of the house, just after Turtle had gone down for the night, and went along to introduce myself.  I was even invited to contribute to the selection of topics that will be discussed throughout the year.  I chose decluttering, since it is a topic that is close to my heart in our bustling little home.

Car tree holder at Adelaide Fringe Festival

Hearing the group discussing electric cars, buying batteries for storing solar power, developing a star rating system for gardens and making passata from tomatoes was interesting and inspiring for me.  I felt energised and reminded that there are so many amazing things that people are doing in the world. It is so easy to forget that while you go through the motions of your daily routine and see the mindless news that is reported.

I wanted to share this positive experience and encourage you to get out and find a way to connect with your community.