On Plastic Consumption

Yesterday, I read an article in The Guardian about ‘Mountains and mountains of plastic in Cambodia’, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

The article was upsetting, however, it was the photographs from Sihanouk in the country’s south west that had a profound impact. They depict in horrifying detail the extent of plastic waste produced, and in most of them, the ground or water body is completely covered in a thick layer of plastic. I am well aware that plastic is a massive problem, but photographs like such show the extent of the problem, and it left me gobsmacked.

Later that night clearing up my kitchen garbage bin, I took a peek inside to see if there was any plastic, and my heart sank. My belief was I didn’t use a lot of plastic. But the garbage bin was showing a different reality. If truth be told, I do make an effort to reduce my plastic consumption by doing things like using a cotton tote bag, requesting my local butcher wrap my meat in a paper, avoiding packaged fruits and vegetables… Yet there was a lot of plastic. The garbage bin was filled with plastics from things I didn’t consider a big deal like those little wrappers and packages of biscuits, lentils, and pasta. Together, they made for a colossal plastic mess.

Following the brutal discovery, and the images of Cambodia still intact, I have made the decision to be more mindful of how much plastic I use. To start, I noted down everything in my apartment that came in plastic. It did not take me long to realize that there is no escape from it. Even plants come in plastic pots!

Walk down any supermarket lane and it seems like they are on a mission to make the entire supermarket out of plastic too. We can all agree that we can’t continue to consume at the current rate. We are addicted to plastic and it not going to be easy to limit it. I do want to make an effort, but I don’t know where to begin! Do you try to limit your plastic usage? I’d love to hear some tips.

Photo of a vintage ad.