Hello, welcome and good day!
I’ve been wanting to get back to these hot topics for
years now. More than ever, I want to put out a little optimism. And where
better to have hope than with our endangered species and animal buddies?
June 5 has been designated as World Environment Day. In 1972 the United Nations launched
the first major conference on environmental issues June 5 in Stockholm, Sweden,
originally called the Conference on the Human Environment. Over the last 53
years, the hope has been to create a platform to preserve and enhance the
environment and take action on issues like consumption, waste, toxic chemicals
and climate change. The Republic of Korea is hosting the event this year and
the 2025 spotlight is on ending plastic pollution.
Here’s the bugaboo: our willy-nilly consumption of
plastic water bottles and cereal bags sets the stage for our sea turtle,
seabird and whale buddies to choke down plastic floaters or get tangled up in
the six-pack rings and strings from party trash. Breeding and feeding grounds
are degrading for our endangered buddies in habitats like coral reefs, wetlands
and forests due to the mounds of plastic dumped into the planet that end up
leaking into these sensitive places. Incinerating the plastic as is typically
done turbo-speeds greenhouse gases into a climate change predicament. Also,
there’s the nonsense of the plastics leaking into the soil, water, food chains
and whatnot, riddling our brains with plastic. Plastic trash is not just
floating around the ocean. It’s floating around inside you. And inside
me. We too are degrading due to plastic, not unlike the wetlands.
Gross, right? Don’t panic. We can take steps. I think
it’s mostly going to come down to policy and our collective insistence that
manufacturers who defecate out the plastic take it back from consumers and
transform it without dumpster firing our environment. Where we can hit the
ground is from the angle of supply and demand. Like bring our own water bottle,
travel mug, or cloth bag. Dialogue is another way to make progress. Let’s talk
about trash, baby. Let’s talk about you and me. Let’s talk about plastic
riddling our brains. And also buying in bulk at low-waste shopping systems. Use
glass, aluminum, and paper products whenever we can. Pick one plastic-elimination option for the month and see how it integrates. I’m going to try to start bringing my own glass takeout box for leftovers. Shout out to Algramo in Chile. A company that puts machines in
convenience stores where customers can refill their shampoo, laundry detergent,
and other liquid essentials without having to buy and trash a new plastic
bottle into the ocean every single time. Saludos a Chile y Algramo.
Full disclosure: I am still trying my damndest to ween
off the plastic teat. Mission incomplete. And still trying.
Over and out.
Britt
You’re back! And kicking butt as usual. Keep up the good work. For the buddies!!
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