A Plastic Ocean

[platy]

This can be a rather overwhelming topic when you see footage of people and animals living on a plastic filled island. Seeing this young bird having over 100 pieces of plastic in its stomach when it died.

I think the public is misled about what actually happens to that bit of rubbish they've thrown away and especially that bit of plastic they've tried to recycle. It might be out of sight out of mind, but it doesn't disappear. I am as guilty as the next person, but having the reality of it really put in my face and seeing first hand the damage these products are causing has made me try harder to change my ways and really think before purchasing and putting it to companies to try and change their ways.

We're never going to have a world without plastic, but we should try to have a world with less plastic.

http://www.plasticoceans.org            :Find out more

http://www.plasticoceans.org/watch-trailer/   :Watch the trailer

http://www.plasticoceans.org/screenings/      :See if there's a screening on near you

http://www.plasticoceans.org/a-plastic-ocean-itunes/       : Pre-order the film on Itunes (44% off between Jan 13-15)

[Tobi]

Plastic rubbish is having a devastating effect generally on wildlife....but to see the floating seas of plastic, and to know the horrendous things this waste is doing to marine life and sea birds....well that is like something out of a horror film.
Thank you for posting this, platy.

I also am guilty in the past, of disposing of plastics of all kinds unrecyclable, into the general rubbish bin. That is supposed to get taken to a landfill. That started to worry and upset me years back now, and I thought -would I bury this rubbish in the earth? No.

Anyway that is no guarantee the plastics won't end up in the oceans. Landfills (bad enough!)  obviously stay open, and items can be carried into water courses, or blow on the wind.

I now burn anything I can't recycle. It is the best solution I have come up with.
That can't really be the answer, as it pollutes the air. And anyway, not everyone has a corner of a field where animals don't graze, where the landowner doesn't mind them having a small bonfire either.
A very good solution is for us all to be thoughtful about what we buy, what it is packaged in, can it be recycled? I love the old fashioned brown paper bags which all shopping automatically used to be packaged in, from bread, to potatoes, and apples, etc but those are rare nowadays.
The supermarkets need to start packaging their food in 100% recyclable material.

[Catherine]

We certainly need to change our ways of doing things. We can't keep dumping plastic in to the oceans.  Even if we stop completely how will we ever clean things up? I haven't seen the ocean in years and I wonder if I would be shocked and horrified. I am sure things are worse than the last time I was there.

The trailer was great now I want to see the movie. I see there is a Toronto screening on Jan 24. I might be able to go to that.
I might try the iTunes site tomorrow. I have an iTunes gift card. Maybe it will work.

People still buy those silly single use plastic bags. Those things are deadly to the environment.
I am getting biodegradable bags now for my compostable waste. Most people do not even know about them or why we should use them. Maybe the movie needs to be screened in the schools.

[platy]

Update:

A Plastic Ocean is available now to Rent $5.99 or Buy $9.99

https://aplasticocean.vhx.tv/buy/a-plastic-ocean

[Catherine]

Thank-you for finding the link. I want to see the movie and I think it will be worth buying. 

I didn't make it to a Toronto screening and I am not even sure that there has been one. I would rather watch it at home. I can have a bearded dragon on my shoulder or a snake snuggled around me.

This will be a first. I haven't bought a movie online like this before.

[LPC]

I'm glad that this film has been made, as it highlights an issue that is indeed very grave for our planet. Thank you, platy, for telling us about it. It deserves support.

[Catherine]

I just checked and the movie is not available on Netflix yet. They still have Blackfish and some other good documentaries.

I really hope people watch A Plastic Ocean and take it seriously. Every time I shop I see people using piles of the single use plastic bags that are doing so much damage. I wish they would show the movie in the schools. Children still are open to learning things and they do care about the future.

[LPC]

Are they still using those signle-use plastic shopping bags in Canada, Catherine? What about the USA, I wonder? Probably they are still available there, too. Although formal legislation came fairly recently in France, in practice supermarkets stopped giving out flimsy plastic bags many years ago. For a transitionary period (about six months), they gave out one long-term, sturdy, bag for free to each customer - which then had to be reused until it was too tatty to be reused. Most people (ourselves included) used more than one supermarket, so got a free one from each - resulting in a sufficient number for weekly shopping.

In the years since then, that type of long-use bag has been the ONLY one available in stores, although they are not expensive (a few centimes). These sturdy bags last for years; we have some that are at least five years old. These sturdy bags can then be exchanged for new ones free of charge, with the old ones being sent by the supermarket for recycling. The system works well and everyone I know seems happy with it.

I do not see why such a system could not be used in every country of the world.

Later edit to this post: I had to resort to trusty Wikipedia for the current situation in the world about flimsy non-reusable bags:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_...astic_bags

We still have a long way to go yet in some countries - especially in the USA, which is lagging way behind most countries. Since the USA uses a phenominal amount of throw-away plastics, it is precisely there that a ban is needed urgently!

Regarding the so-called biodegradable plastic bags, they are an improvement but not an ideal solution:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...astic-bags

[platy]

That's why I like the Aldi type of supermarkets. They don't supply plastic bags so you either have to buy their re-usable ones or bring your own.

In Australia I'm fairly sure plastic bags are banned in South Australia, Tasmania, NT and ACT and in Queensland from 2018. Victoria, NSW and WA really need to get their act together. Nationwide ban. South Australia has had the ban since 2009. I don't know why other places are so slow or why it's so hard?

I think even those little plastic sandwich bags should be banned. They are resealable hence should be reusable, but people don't reuse them.
So long as shops supply them people will use them.

There's a group called Boomerang Bags, it started in Australia a few years ago and has spread to North America, New Zealand, the UK, even Iceland. The idea is people make reuseable bags from recyclable items (not plastic) and share them with the community for free.

[Catherine]

Reusable bags are available everywhere in Toronto. I have dozens of them in different sizes  and colours. They are sold and given out in all big stores. They are sold as tourist souvenirs at all sites and events. I give them away and I still have plenty. Every event I attend gives me yet another free reusable bag.

I use reusable bags!

However many people will not use them. I work with seniors and they are hoarding the one use plastic bags because they are afraid they will be banned and they don't want to be without them. I opened a linen cupboard in a house once and found it stuffed with bags. (Sadly this is something I see a lot of) I see people shopping who have 2 bags of groceries, but they pay a nickel each for a dozen bags. They do this every time they shop. City council talked about banning plastic bags and people went into hoarding mode. I don't know how we are going to break this cycle of behavior.

Some of us faithfully carry the reusable bags and put our purchases in them, but we are not the majority yet.
I don't know how we can change this. Maybe we need a new campaign against the plastic bags. It is hard to get people to care about the oceans when they live inland and have never seen an ocean anyhow. It is hard to get them to care about anything.

So when it comes to one use plastic bags Toronto is an epic fail, in fact all of Canada is an epic fail.

The plastic bag hoarders wouldn't watch A Plastic Ocean anyhow.

Yes I am actually discouraged about his. Any suggestions for dealing with my plastic bag hoarding seniors would be welcome.