Hello. An interesting article in the Guardian today. Eight months on, is the worlds most drastic plastic bag ban working? Kenya's ban comes with the worlds stiffest fines, and some businesses are struggling to find affordable alternatives, but in Nairobi's shanty towns the clean up is changing lives. Waterways are more clearer, the food chain is less contaminated with plastic - and there are fewer flying toilets.
It's going to be a long difficult haul towards a plastic free environment, but it has to be done. So keep making those cloth shopping bags everyone, and do your bit.
Read the article here. The discussion in the comments is interesting.
Weather looking a bit better today, I have to go and check on Scruff, Barry has had to go out. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Stormy weather
1 hour ago
I absolutely agree, I have been thinking about all this plastic a lot lately, I do my bit.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
Marlene
I so agree with you,but when standing in the Aldi checkout last week,I still noticed people buying plastic bags.I would have thought that people shopping in Aldi and those sort of shops,Home Bargains ect,would be a bit more money savvy and take their own bags...but it seems not.Ive really tried spelling this out to people,who I know and they just look at me and laugh.And this makes me inwardly angry because they have Grandkids the same as me and while im trying to make this world a bit better for my Family,they are making it worse..not just for their Family but my Family too.Its like alot that goes on in this world,no one listens until its too late.xx
ReplyDeleteAll my life I have always wondered what happened to plastic as it does not break down. Now I know, it just pollutes the world. My daughter even done a project entitled Plastic Fantastic. What a marvellous invention!! Seeing the plastic in the most beautiful country of Indonesia on the news broke my heart. They have called the army in to help. If we don’t get on top of this problem the world will suffocate. Stop using the sea as a dust bin.
ReplyDeleteI've said this before (a double gripe) but I am heartily sick of clearing up litter from my driveway that people have chucked out of their car windows; plastic bottles, takeaway cartons, lager tins, mainly plastic items: I loathe litter and I am concerned about the plastic epidemic we seem to have.
ReplyDeleteAs one of your UK comedians said in a song several years ago, I take my canvas bags to the supermarket, pop them in the washer as needed, and have been using them ever since I heard the song.
ReplyDeleteWe recycle and try to purchase only what's needed, is sustainable, and (when appropriate) is made of recycled materials.
Wishing you well!
Ive been reading through a few Frugal blogs and although I use my own material bags,pillow cases even old back packs for my shopping,which I pack at the car...too `much hassle to do it at the checkout when you are shopping for 2 weeks...I never thought to use my really old tea shirts as bags.You just tie the arms around the neck tightly...and ..there you have another carrier to take your shopping in home!.When they are worn out n tearing,then they can be cut up and used as rags n dusters!xx
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing your part in getting rid of plastic bags. I am glad I do not have to worry about "flying toilets" in my town but the plastic bags end in the ocean where turtles try to eat them thinking they are jellyfish.
ReplyDeleteI walk the dog twice a day near me and I pick up coffee cups by the dozen, we have a Tim Hortons coffee shop over the road and people just throw them away when finished. We have no public garbage bins around to put them in so really what can we do. I hate plastic bottles with water still left in them, seriously tap water is free and safe, in other countries they have to walk miles to get fresh water and here we throw it away.
ReplyDeleteFor at least 20 years now, I take a fabric bag to our village baker, where I buy breakfast rolls almost every morning. So I have saved about 5000 paper bags. Of course, paper is not as bag as plastic, but it takes wood and energy to produce. Just a small example how to do something for the environment.
ReplyDeleteI just ordered some mesh produce bags from Amazon (they are washable too), so that I don't have to take a plastic bag at the market for loose items, like apples and oranges. I admit I find the plastic bags handy for lining trash buckets, etc. but I am also making a concerted effort to ALWAYS bring my own shopping bags to the market now and keep them in my car. I think your project of making and giving out fabric bags is a great idea. On the bright side, I do see more and more people here in the states bringing their own bags which is encouraging. It will take time but hopefully, we can turn around this bit of pollution.
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ReplyDeleteCheryl Jane from Australia
ReplyDeleteWe wash and store all soft plastics and take them back to the supermarket for recycling. We have been doing this for about a year and are quite amazed how much we accumulate even though we shop mostly at the produce market where we use our own bags. We no longer need plastic bags to line bins as we started using newspaper. It works really well. Since making these changes we find that waste in the curtsied bins has reduced dramatically. Of course all food scraps etc go to compost. I have made bags from old cotton shirts and absolutely love them because they stretch to accommodate the volume of goods I want to carry. These are small changes and I want to do more.