A week of watching my waste (and my family's!)
By taking part in the initiative (my Mum has been doing it too) the hope is that the outcomes will compel the government to take decisive action against plastic pollution.
Inspired by the pioneering work of Daniel Webb, founder of Everyday Plastic, who meticulously documented his plastic consumption for a year, The Big Plastic Count gives us an insight into the volume of our plastic waste as well as opportunity to see what happens to it once it leaves our hands.
For one week, we have counted every single piece of plastic packaging waste that we threw away - that's plastic waste that we put in the general waste and plastic that we put in the recycling. We also tried to count anything we threw away while out and about too; I was only away from the office for one day this week, so it wasn't too challenging to track everything. I suspect it's my daughter who consumed the most away from home as she had a typically active week rushing between school and clubs with all the snacking that entails.
To make sure we captured everything, I left a tally sheet in a prominent place in the kitchen and here are some of the numbers for our household:
- We threw away 15 snack packets, mostly those that contained crisps. Almost all such packaging is not recyclable and in the UK last year it is estimated that we consumed 6 billion packets of crisps!
- We disposed of 6 small drinks bottles - generally we try to take bottles/flasks to refill but when you run out it's still rare to find a water fountain in, say, a railway station. It's often the case that, when the trains are all late, they bring out pallets of bottled water.
- At least 8 of the plastic items that ended up in the bin were packaging from 'fresh' fruit and vegetables - supermarkets seems to wrap everything excessively.
The Goal: A Global Plastics Treaty
The last time a similar count took place, the findings were eye-opening, revealing that almost 100 billion pieces of plastic are discarded annually in the UK, with minimal recycling efforts in place.
Greenpeace and Everday Plastic want the UK Governpment to push for a strong and ambitious Global Plastics Treaty, to protect people and the planet from plastic roduction and pollution.
Negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty are happening now, at the United Nations, and they want the Treaty to:
- Cut global plastic production by at least 75% by 2040.
- End single-use plastics and the devastation caused to the natural world, as well as human health.
- Move us towards an economy focused on re-use of materials, so packaging can be kept in circulation and out of the environment.
- Ensure that alternatives to single-use plastic are developed that work for everyone.
One analogy I've seen Greenpeace use is that of smoking and how, largely through government action, the habits of our nation have changed. The hope is that a similar change in behaviour can be achieved by prohibiting the use of plastic.
Now that this year's count is done, I'll be uploading our data and will keep you posted on the changes we make in our household. Banning crisps might not be popular, but it would make an immediate difference!
Roland at One Tree Travel 🌳
