Plastic Free July, was so successful that I decided that I will carry on from Plastic Free July and repost some updated previous posts on plastic from 2019…the reason being sometimes I feel we are going round in circles and promises are made and not kept…
I just want to revisit those initiatives praise those who are and have been as good as their word and taken their ideas forward and made a difference…
It is good to talk the talk but you have to walk the walk…
As you know because I tell you…haha… I am constantly really heartened by the initiatives which I am discovering that are happening from all around the world…Your comments are also a revelation when I hear from you guys what is going on in your neck of the woods… all good stuff…How you are reducing your carbon footprints and coming up with ideas to cut waste and protect the environment.
Politicians THE WORLD OVER make promises to the electorate…That is us... we need to become Climate Voters…Not because we are told to BUT because we have checked and are sure that who we give our vote to …HAS and WILL continue to make a difference and to honour their election promises…
The time has come for us to make our voice heard…Our beautiful natural wonders are being decimated, polluted we can stop this with our carefully, researched and considered vote… Politicians who endorse and allow what we consider to be environmentally wrong…we have the vote and can VOTE THEM OUT!
Be a climate Voter!
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Have a look and see what this community in Amsterdam, Holland is doing …
What a fantastic idea…and one which could be adaptable anywhere…Not a plastic bottle in sight…
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Bioplastics…There has been much written and many innovative products like straws made from mango peels which are now a bioplastic product…On the face it even I have thought wow how inventive is that all those mango peels and avocado pits made into something we can use…
That product however still required disposing of correctly…
Let’s look at Coca Cola...we all know who they are and how profitable their products are…
Another Sustainable Innovation they say and want us to believe and continue buying…can you feel the sarcasm?
The world’s first fully recyclable PET plastic bottle made partially from plants…They say!
Planet over profit ..they say!
But what does the small print say?
It’s easy to assume…I hear plant-based and my ears prick up…MADE FROM PLANT-BASED PRODUCTS…Smile…
It all sounds familiar though doesn’t it…Low Fat, Low Sugar, Low Salt, Organic, Fair Trade…I could go on but I am sure by now you got the picture…
Not all bio-based plastics are biodegradable, and not all biodegradable plastics are bio-based. And even biodegradable plastics might not biodegrade in every environment. Sounds confusing? It certainly is…
The answer does not lie in Bioplastics say the experts...experts who did not go to… The Google University or the elite Facebook University…Real experts who know more than me as they have studied and trained for years for their degrees…
Only a minority of these plastics are home compostable, so, the label “compostable” most often means industrially compostable. That coffee cup with a Seedling logo you’re drinking from won’t decompose very quickly, if at all, on your home compost heap, but will break down inside the right kind of industrial equipment.
We need to be more aware… we need to read the small print we also need to home in on words…home compostable…the right kind of industrial equipment…much of our waste can be compostable BUT only if your state, province has the right kind of equipment IF not our carefully sorted waste still goes to landfill or just a garbage mountain.
That my friends unfortunately is the stark reality!… Companies like Coco-Cola need to be producing bottles that can be recycled at home or pay for proper industrial equipment to recycle THEIR bottles.
Failing that …do your health a favour and stop buying soft drinks in non-recyclable bottles…
All we can do is cut our waste in our homes by buying in bulk, making sure we refill bottles where we can, finding alternatives that are just as good…but are more sustainable…I am doing mine one product at a time…
Choosing glass bottles over plastic when we shop as then we can reuse them when we cook from scratch…or make our own carbonated drinks…Let the kids help they will love it…
Most importantly please do not think that what you do in your own home doesn’t count because it does …It really does every little bit no matter how small adds to the bigger picture and that picture is growing and there will soon be enough to fill many galleries BUT we cannot rest on our laurels there is still much to be done and if you think of an initiative join a group make it a group effort if it requires that…
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Two years ago I posted about the Uk’s first local circular economy drive…when Sky Ocean Rescue campaign, a region of the UK had created the country’s first local circular economy.
The UK has re-affirmed its commitment to recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035 as it on (30 July) 2021 set out its approach to transposing the EU circular economy package (CEP) into domestic law.
The traditional system of getting rid of waste is linear: packaging is made, used and disposed of but the local authority in Cambridgeshire along with a local plastics processor and packaging company have joined together to create a model which is circular.
Update 2021
The UK has re-affirmed its commitment to recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035 as it today (30 July) set out its approach to transposing the EU circular economy package (CEP) into domestic law.
It also seems that the local Cambridge authority is forging ahead and going forward which is good to read…
Lego…The name ‘LEGO’ is an abbreviation of the two Danish words “leg godt”, meaning “play well”. The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The company has passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a grandchild of the founder.
My children and my grandchildren have loved Lego and it has been passed down through our family for years and now Lily plays with it building her shops and houses…
Lego has now taken it one step further and listened to the children and their parents and are turning plastic bottles into Lego…
Thank you for reading this post which I believe will point the way to a few changes we can make to really make a difference as I know I am not doing enough and should be doing more and that seems to be backed up by much in this post… what do you think?… Are you doing enough to Save the Planet ???
Just once I would love to pick something up off a supermarket shelf be it labelled healthy or just junk food and know with absolute certainty that it contained no harmful chemicals or preservatives and that the package was fully decomposable…I can but dream…
Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx
Retired? No one told me! 