I've been reading a report from Penn University all about degradable plastics. Here are a few facts and figures which leapt out at me:
- 46 billion lbs of plastic waste is produced each and every year
- of that, only 3% is recycled - 1.38 billion tonnes, leaving 44.62 billion tonnes of plastic waste every year
- one million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the ocean each year
- degradable plastics cost around six times as much as non-degrading plastics - mainly because of research costs and the economics of the smaller market
- degradable plastics make up a vanishingly small proportion of the plastics we use - 4% of the US output by 2006
- plastics, degradable or not, contain multiple toxins including plasticisers, colourings, stabilisers, and heavy metals including cadmium and lead. Both non-degradable and degradable plastics release these as they break down, though of course degradable plastics do this quicker.
- degradable plastics do not break down in landfill: they behave like regular plastic
Thursday 4 July 2013
Wednesday 3 July 2013
Weekly stocktake #1: The Bathroom
Today's plastic waste: 2 sweet packets picked up off youngest daughter's bedroom floor, torn plastic bag, spent deodorant bottle, the bag the supermarket-bought apples came in, main wrapper from sadly finished multipack of Tunnocks Caramel Wafers, inner wrapper from one of said wafers; plastic netting that held oranges from the supermarket again, packaging from sliced chorizo, film wrapping around frozen pizzas
I thought the best place to start is here. In other words, I need to record where I'm at right now: the plastic I have in my home. So every week I'm going to take one room in the house and take a good, long look at how much plastic it contains.
Week 1: The Bathroom
Lino flooring
Plastic coated blind and 'bobble' blind pull
UPVC windows
Light fittings: neon bulb thingy has plastic backing and plastic cover, light switches are also plastic
Mosaic tiles behind the sink are coloured plastic too
Plastic sink and bath (we have to watch floor weighting in our bathroom)
Plastic inlays on taps
Toilet seat and lid
Ballcock in cistern, plus other fittings
Bathroom fan casing
Shower curtain (plastic coated fabric) and hooks
Shower handle
Houseplant (dead,mostly) in plastic pot
Toothbrushes: 4 disposable, 1 rechargeable (the wire is coated in plastic, plug and socket also plastic)
Two toothbrush holders
In them: four tubes of assorted lip balms and eczema cream, all soft plastic with hard plastic lids
1 tube toothpaste: soft plastic, hard plastic lid
Disposable razor with plastic handle: part of a pack of 10 in a plastic wrapper (there are plastic guards over the blades, too)
Soap with plastic inlaid label
Contact lens solutions all in plastic bottles with a plastic lens case
Deodorant bottle
Plastic lid on ceramic moisturiser pot
Glasses case
Dispenser bottle for emollient cream
Shaving gel in aerosol can with plastic lid
Body spray (from Body Shop!) in plastic bottle
Makeup bottles, plus a makeup brush with a plastic handle
Makeup remover wipes in a soft plastic pack with hard plastic top
Sanitary towels (getting a little personal here): plastic wrapper, and as for the towels themselves...
Plastic bag liner in rubbish bin (re-used plastic bag, but still...)
Toilet cleaner brush and holder
The bottle the toilet cleaner is in
Shampoo, conditioner and shower gel all in plastic bottles
More plastic bottles for assorted lotions and potions (mostly unwanted gifts) in the under-sink cupboard
Pill packaging for hayfever pills and cold remedies
The wrapper the soaps come in is also plastic
Scary, isn't it? And this is the smallest room in the house...
I thought the best place to start is here. In other words, I need to record where I'm at right now: the plastic I have in my home. So every week I'm going to take one room in the house and take a good, long look at how much plastic it contains.
Week 1: The Bathroom
Lino flooring
Plastic coated blind and 'bobble' blind pull
UPVC windows
Light fittings: neon bulb thingy has plastic backing and plastic cover, light switches are also plastic
Mosaic tiles behind the sink are coloured plastic too
Plastic sink and bath (we have to watch floor weighting in our bathroom)
Plastic inlays on taps
Toilet seat and lid
Ballcock in cistern, plus other fittings
Bathroom fan casing
Shower curtain (plastic coated fabric) and hooks
Shower handle
Houseplant (dead,mostly) in plastic pot
Toothbrushes: 4 disposable, 1 rechargeable (the wire is coated in plastic, plug and socket also plastic)
Two toothbrush holders
In them: four tubes of assorted lip balms and eczema cream, all soft plastic with hard plastic lids
1 tube toothpaste: soft plastic, hard plastic lid
Disposable razor with plastic handle: part of a pack of 10 in a plastic wrapper (there are plastic guards over the blades, too)
Soap with plastic inlaid label
Contact lens solutions all in plastic bottles with a plastic lens case
Deodorant bottle
Plastic lid on ceramic moisturiser pot
Glasses case
Dispenser bottle for emollient cream
Shaving gel in aerosol can with plastic lid
Body spray (from Body Shop!) in plastic bottle
Makeup bottles, plus a makeup brush with a plastic handle
Makeup remover wipes in a soft plastic pack with hard plastic top
Sanitary towels (getting a little personal here): plastic wrapper, and as for the towels themselves...
Plastic bag liner in rubbish bin (re-used plastic bag, but still...)
Toilet cleaner brush and holder
The bottle the toilet cleaner is in
Shampoo, conditioner and shower gel all in plastic bottles
More plastic bottles for assorted lotions and potions (mostly unwanted gifts) in the under-sink cupboard
Pill packaging for hayfever pills and cold remedies
The wrapper the soaps come in is also plastic
Scary, isn't it? And this is the smallest room in the house...
Tuesday 2 July 2013
The start of something?
Yesterday I watched a film. It was only 20 minutes long, and it was a news report from 2008: like most reporting (and I am a journalist, so this I know) it was probably forgotten five minutes after it's broadcast.
It was set in the Pacific atoll of Midway (site of the famous battle): about as idyllic as you can get, 2000 miles from any other land and the picture-postcard white sands, azure blue sea.. you get the picture.
It's also in the middle of what's known as the North Pacific Garbage Patch.
The plastic that washes up here is instantly recognisable: disposable cigarette lighters, scraps of plastic packaging, washing up bowls, the back of a television set. This is where our everyday plastic waste ends up: this is where we mean by 'away' when we throw away.
The albatrosses who live on the island think disposable cigarette lighters are squid, and feed them to their chicks. At one point in the film, David Shukman (the reporter) helps pull a green plastic hook from the beak of one chick: on the end is a barely-recognisable plastic net. It was with a jolt that I realised that I use those plastic nets all the time: it's what your garlic comes in when you buy it from the supermarket. It would have killed that chick, given time.
It is common to find the carcasses of seabirds with stomachs full of plastic bottle caps, netting, toothbrushes, and unnameable scraps of plastic which have floated thousands of miles from our supermarkets and rubbish bins and thoughtless lives to kill animals and cover beautiful places with garbage.
Why should we care about a bunch of albatrosses on a far-off island nobody lives on?
Well: you may not. I do. I really care. I love animals, and I don't want anything I do to cause suffering. I also don't want 'away' to become 'here'. I don't want our island, or anyone's island, to become a garbage patch. And the rate we're throwing away plastic, that's exactly what is going to happen.
You can see a part of David Shukman's report here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7314240.stm
And for the bits David Shukman couldn't show: watch this. It says much the same thing. Just remember, while you're watching it, that this is your rubbish.
This, and David Shukman's report, broke my heart to watch, and made me think so deeply about the way I live. I'm an average, ordinary mum living an average, ordinary, Western life. I'm vaguely eco-conscious: I do try to think about the impact I have on the world.
But I look around my house with new eyes after watching this film and see room after room filled with plastic. It makes me realise just how dependent on this material we've become. So I've decided to try to find out more about it: this thing we've made which we value so highly there is barely an area of our lives in which it is not found somewhere.
I may not ever be able to live a plastic-free life: I may even decide plastic is a necessary evil. I might find that all the above hand-wringing about North Pacific atolls and albatrosses is a lot of emotional overkill. I do, however, want to start thinking about this most pervasive yet least noticed area of my modern life, and work out what its value and impact is on the world. If we're going to kill albatrosses for it, it ought to be worth the sacrifice, don't you think?
It was set in the Pacific atoll of Midway (site of the famous battle): about as idyllic as you can get, 2000 miles from any other land and the picture-postcard white sands, azure blue sea.. you get the picture.
It's also in the middle of what's known as the North Pacific Garbage Patch.
The plastic that washes up here is instantly recognisable: disposable cigarette lighters, scraps of plastic packaging, washing up bowls, the back of a television set. This is where our everyday plastic waste ends up: this is where we mean by 'away' when we throw away.
The albatrosses who live on the island think disposable cigarette lighters are squid, and feed them to their chicks. At one point in the film, David Shukman (the reporter) helps pull a green plastic hook from the beak of one chick: on the end is a barely-recognisable plastic net. It was with a jolt that I realised that I use those plastic nets all the time: it's what your garlic comes in when you buy it from the supermarket. It would have killed that chick, given time.
It is common to find the carcasses of seabirds with stomachs full of plastic bottle caps, netting, toothbrushes, and unnameable scraps of plastic which have floated thousands of miles from our supermarkets and rubbish bins and thoughtless lives to kill animals and cover beautiful places with garbage.
Why should we care about a bunch of albatrosses on a far-off island nobody lives on?
Well: you may not. I do. I really care. I love animals, and I don't want anything I do to cause suffering. I also don't want 'away' to become 'here'. I don't want our island, or anyone's island, to become a garbage patch. And the rate we're throwing away plastic, that's exactly what is going to happen.
You can see a part of David Shukman's report here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7314240.stm
And for the bits David Shukman couldn't show: watch this. It says much the same thing. Just remember, while you're watching it, that this is your rubbish.
This, and David Shukman's report, broke my heart to watch, and made me think so deeply about the way I live. I'm an average, ordinary mum living an average, ordinary, Western life. I'm vaguely eco-conscious: I do try to think about the impact I have on the world.
But I look around my house with new eyes after watching this film and see room after room filled with plastic. It makes me realise just how dependent on this material we've become. So I've decided to try to find out more about it: this thing we've made which we value so highly there is barely an area of our lives in which it is not found somewhere.
I may not ever be able to live a plastic-free life: I may even decide plastic is a necessary evil. I might find that all the above hand-wringing about North Pacific atolls and albatrosses is a lot of emotional overkill. I do, however, want to start thinking about this most pervasive yet least noticed area of my modern life, and work out what its value and impact is on the world. If we're going to kill albatrosses for it, it ought to be worth the sacrifice, don't you think?
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