Plastic recycling is complicated. Much of it isn’t recycled locally and has to be shipped overseas to process it. Even when it is processed, it has to be clean for it to be recycled.
All of which means that a tiny percentage of plastic is recycled and the rest is landfilled, or littered, or drifting around in our waterways.
When I was a kid, Airfix branched out from their core business of plastic model kits to make airplanes to a variety of things to appeal to children. I made a T Rex. I thought I might have misremembered this, but a quick search shows you can still buy the kit I used (though Airfix have gone back to their core business).
I have a horrible feeling that the Tyrannosaurus rex I made is now in landfill. Like most of them.
I am trying and failing to have a single-use-plastic-free July. As I mentioned before I have found some positive alternatives, like compostable crisp bags and making my own oat milk. But I have inadvertently bought plastic wrapping as well. I bought merino wool tops online and they arrived in plastic bags in a plastic envelope. And I was excited to buy lilies to plant in the garden, only to realise after the purchase that they were in little plastic bags. And I haven't been buying salted peanuts, but I have been eating the peanuts that the boyfriend bought.
Although I haven't succeeded in being plastic free, I have reduced the amount of plastic I buy and it has made me a lot more aware of where the plastic comes from that ends up in my recycling bin or landfill. But really it highlights how even the most motivated consumers cannot provide the solution to our huge plastic waste problem. We have to incentivise producers, particularly food producers, to use plastic free alternatives in their packaging.
Plastic pollution is a problem everywhere and particularly near waterways. And sending it to landfill isn't the answer, as New Zealand found out recently when heavy rains caused a huge part of a landfill to be washed into the Fox River. You can find plastic on nearly every beach in the world. Even on the relatively pristine beaches near New Zealand's Abel Tasman National Park. I went to Stephen's Bay yesterday.
Stephen’s Bay
Stephen’s Bay beach
It's a small beach, but I still picked up a couple of pieces of plastic (the packaging was something I found en route to the beach).
The best way to prevent single use plastic ending up in the ocean is to not buy it in the first place.
Since it is plastic-free July, I'm going to try not to bring any new plastic into my life this month. The challenges so far have been contact lens solution, which only comes in plastic bottles (I will make the one I have last longer by wearing my glasses more), and crisps. Crisp packets cannot usually be recycled. I love crisps and it is hard to make them from scratch without a deep fat fryer. But I discovered that Proper Crisps (based in Nelson, near where I'm staying at the top of the South Island) have released a crisp packet that it is biodegradable.
I'm amazed to see if that it even looks like foil inside.
Is this really going to break down in my compost? Watch this space.
I saw this by the beach too. Although it looks manmade, it is actually a basket fungus!
