The Poly Plague . .
"The leatherback turtle can keep itself warm in cold water, dive over 1000 meters below sea level, travel thousands of miles and gulp down a Portuguese man-of-war but is threatened by the inert plastic shopping bag" - Mrosovky, N. 1987
Plastics, like diamonds, are forever!
(conveniently plagiarised from ERF Campaign Against the Plastic Plague)
The Poly Plague:
What to do with the 6-8 tonnes being collected from the shore stones of Altandhu? 80% of which is recyclable plastics.
Landfill?
Incineration?
Which crime is less damaging? In terms of long term environmental conservation, leaving it on the beach is probably the best plan. Exposure will break it down faster than burying it and is much less harmful atmospherically than throwing a match to it all. But, it don't look too good, does it?
Why am I cleaning beaches?
The reason I camp in the gale of Scotlands coast, dragging load after load off the stones is so we can all enjoy the view. An increased level of appreciation publicly for our home is necessary for any real large scale action to begin. Something which is critically required.
In excess of 80 million tonnes (1 tonne being 120,000 plastic bags) of polymer are produced every year. Using 8% of the worlds' oil supply to do so, and according to 2001 Environment Agency report 80% was sent to landfill, 8% incinerated, and only 7% recycled.
It's all well and good to pick it all up, but we need to take responsibility. Recycling should have to be taken into account when forecasting plastic production costs.
It's 4am. My eyes are blurred. And I've spent the whole night looking at some hard hitting figures on the sham of a recycling system in place in the UK and worldwide.
Wake up everyone. We've slept in and are very damn late..
- Six times as much plastic per weight than zooplankton is in any given amount of sea water taken from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
In Australia alone, my home, if every person averaged one plastic bottle per day, be it milk cartons, soft drink, whatever, there are close to 7 billion bottles going to landfill each year! (visy.com.au) Imagine that on a global scale.
Plastics, like diamonds, are forever!
(conveniently plagiarised from ERF Campaign Against the Plastic Plague)
The Poly Plague:
What to do with the 6-8 tonnes being collected from the shore stones of Altandhu? 80% of which is recyclable plastics.
Landfill?
Incineration?
Which crime is less damaging? In terms of long term environmental conservation, leaving it on the beach is probably the best plan. Exposure will break it down faster than burying it and is much less harmful atmospherically than throwing a match to it all. But, it don't look too good, does it?
Why am I cleaning beaches?
The reason I camp in the gale of Scotlands coast, dragging load after load off the stones is so we can all enjoy the view. An increased level of appreciation publicly for our home is necessary for any real large scale action to begin. Something which is critically required.
In excess of 80 million tonnes (1 tonne being 120,000 plastic bags) of polymer are produced every year. Using 8% of the worlds' oil supply to do so, and according to 2001 Environment Agency report 80% was sent to landfill, 8% incinerated, and only 7% recycled.
It's all well and good to pick it all up, but we need to take responsibility. Recycling should have to be taken into account when forecasting plastic production costs.
It's 4am. My eyes are blurred. And I've spent the whole night looking at some hard hitting figures on the sham of a recycling system in place in the UK and worldwide.
Wake up everyone. We've slept in and are very damn late..
- Six times as much plastic per weight than zooplankton is in any given amount of sea water taken from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
In Australia alone, my home, if every person averaged one plastic bottle per day, be it milk cartons, soft drink, whatever, there are close to 7 billion bottles going to landfill each year! (visy.com.au) Imagine that on a global scale.
writes somewhereinscotland at 3:18 am
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