Plastic Packaging is Polluting my Planet. Why Should I Care?
This summer, Friends of the Earth surveyed 2000 UK shoppers. Why? Because this year, plastic is on everyone’s minds.
If you examine your recycling bin, you will discover the sheer amount of plastic packaging we consume each week.
Plastic pollution is a huge worry. According to the report ‘Plastic & Climate The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet’: “At current levels, greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic lifecycle threaten the ability of the global community to keep the global temperature rising below 1.5°C degrees.”
At COP 26 earlier this month, political leaders set goals to reduce emissions to net-zero by 2030: something only achievable if we tackle our plastic once and for all.
Figure one demonstrates there is much to improve. We have little control over how products are packaged and although eco-friendly alternatives exist, they are often time-consuming and costly to acquire.
Eleanor Rowland, an MSC Applied Aquatic Biology student admitted: “You don’t have as much choice as you think you do. It’s tricky, especially for broke university students.”
According to PlasticsEurope (PEMRG)’s report, the annual production of plastic globally increased by 9 million metric tons between 2018 and 2019.
Figure one reveals almost three-quarters of those surveyed experience extreme emotions toward product packaging. This is a phenomenon called ‘Climate Fatigue’, which occurs when despite their best efforts, citizens don’t feel like they are making a difference.
Action is being taken to study plastic and break it down, but the only way we can fully address this is to go bigger. Hopefully, an outcome of COP 26 will be establishing adaquite legislation to reduce plastic production and source affordable, green alternatives.
