[Not So] Enthusiastic for Plastic

The dominion of disposable plastic products may soon be coming to an end. Several countries and even certain cities within the U.S. have initiated a total ban against plastic shopping bags, while many supermarkets and other shopping outlets are offering incentives for costumers who choose to bring their own reusable alternatives with them to the store (BYOB- bring your own bag!). In similar cases, some local governments are considering further pressure to slow or halt the distribution of plastic bags by placing heaving taxes against them. There are also some grassroots movements working hard to reduce the production and usage of single-serve plastic water bottles, such as the national Take Back the Tap campaign, and NYC's own TapIT local campaign. These movements are supported by the growing popularity of reusable water bottles, like the nifty, BPA-free Kleen Kanteens, of which I happen to be a user :-) Citywide recycling and composting programs are also taking off, proving to be both cost-effective and environmentally sound for those who still choose to purchase single-serve water bottles and other recyclable plastics.

These are all extremely important steps towards ensuring the health and safety of our world's ecosystems and natural resources, especially in light of a recent discovery of a floating island of garbage, found in the Pacific Ocean. It is twice the size of Texas by some reports, twice that of the continental U.S. by others, consisting mostly of discarded and non-biodegradable plastic products. The pollution of our world's oceans is far more critical than we might have guessed, and it is both entirely our fault and entirely our responsibility to fix it. Already there are at least 400 oceanic dead zones; areas of water that are so heavily polluted that they contain hardly any oxygen and therefore cannot support sea life- at all. We are making it increasingly difficult for our fish, who nurture and feed such a large portion of the human population, to survive in any kind of habitable environment. And besides global warming and the increasing taxation of industrial over-fishing, the most prominent offenders to the oceans' situation are, not surprisingly, plastics. They are so destructive, in fact, that even the United Nations has called for increased regulation of plastic bags.

Besides the amendments we make to our own personal consumption, there are larger groups working to undo some of the damage inflicted upon world's oceans, and they have proved to be nothing short of heroic. Nextek Limited, for example, is a company that is based out of the UK and Australia, and is doing some really impressive stuff to counter-act plastic pollution. Although it boasts a variety of noble projects, the company's primary purpose is to process and recycle polymer plastics in a sustainable and responsible way, from discarded bottles and mixed plastics into clean, safe milk bottles and other products. By far their most impressive work is done at sea, where they collect the materials they need in order to forge these recycled gems. They sustainably gather floating plastics from the surface of the south Pacific ocean, while at the same time returning any accidentally captured sea life to the water. They then process the plastics in order to decontaminate them and subsequently recycle them. To read their full story, follow this link to Positive News.

How amazing! Congratulations to these benevolent and innovative businessmen who've created such a fantastic answer to plastic! They can't single-handily drain the ocean of its estimated 4 million tons of plastic pollution, but they have certainly set the bar in terms of environmentally-oriented social entrepreneurship.