2103
“Stop playing videogames, Charles! You’ll ruin your eyesight. Now go play outside in the garden – there’s a dear.”
“GRAN! First of all, my name’s Charlie, and I’m not going outside! Max gets to play on his PS8 every day. Why can’t I?”
“That’s enough, young man. I’m your grandmother, so you listen to me!”
Charlie sullenly slinked into the grass.
“And plant something while you’re at it!”
He took out a spade and attacked a patch of soil. Underneath the soil – there were no worms, no millipedes, just plastic. Cans, rubbish – all plastic. It was sickening.
“Ugh.” I glower in disgust at the island of yoghurt pots and drinking cups spread out in front of me. “This wasn’t here a month ago.”
“No, it most certainly, absolutely, definitely wasn’t!” squeaks a small voice in reply. “Uh, is that good or bad?”
“Bad. Very bad.” I snap back at Polly. “We can’t row through this; the boat will capsize.”
“So…what do we do?”
“We need to tell someone. I’ve never seen so much plastic in one place.”
“Okay!” chirps Polly, and off she runs.
I wait for a moment, looking at the waste, then hurry after her.
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest problems on earth. In the ocean there is a plastic island as big as three times France. The problem is that plastic is not really recyclable more than once or twice e.g. you cannot make a plastic bottle out of another plastic bottle.
Is there a way of stopping all this? In the 1960-70s there was already a plastic crisis and people had tried to ban plastic bottles and use glass.
Unfortunately the big manufactures went to court and the bans got lifted. Maybe we should put the ban again and keep it.
Poor planet… plastic products…
pointless, suffocating, supermarket packaging…
shortening the food’s life… mountains of waste…
cling-filmed meat – buy it in paper, keep it on a plate in the fridge
plastic water bottles and juices – fill your own, make your own
packed lunches – reuse reuse reuse
crisp packets, sweet wrappers – why not paper
sandwiches, freezer bags, ziplock bags – all such a waste! – eco paper bags or wrap in brown paper
airless fruit in moulded plastic – what about cardboard
plastic containers for toys – use tins or old tupperware
plastic pots for yogurts and puddings and soup and milk – all could be glass or compostable cardboard
plastic in the bathroom: toothpaste, shampoo, soap dispensers – buy bars of soap wrapped in paper, metal tubes of toothpaste
poor plastic planet…
Plastic is no longer something you just throw on the ground that one time because you can’t be bothered to find a bin. The world is different now; it’s… adapted. Everyone’s… adapted. There’s no more protests, no more rallies or boycotts. Its just there, another thing no one needs to worry about. Because there’s nobody left to worry about it. You see, everyone’s either died from the gas, or is enjoying life on mars, just another planet to kill. Elon Musk perfected his vitality systems less than 2 months before the first wave hit. I am the only one left.
2103
“Stop playing videogames, Charles! You’ll ruin your eyesight. Now go play outside in the garden – there’s a dear.”
“GRAN! First of all, my name’s Charlie, and I’m not going outside! Max gets to play on his PS8 every day. Why can’t I?”
“That’s enough, young man. I’m your grandmother, so you listen to me!”
Charlie sullenly slinked into the grass.
“And plant something while you’re at it!”
He took out a spade and attacked a patch of soil. Underneath the soil – there were no worms, no millipedes, just plastic. Cans, rubbish – all plastic. It was sickening.
“Ugh.” I glower in disgust at the island of yoghurt pots and drinking cups spread out in front of me. “This wasn’t here a month ago.”
“No, it most certainly, absolutely, definitely wasn’t!” squeaks a small voice in reply. “Uh, is that good or bad?”
“Bad. Very bad.” I snap back at Polly. “We can’t row through this; the boat will capsize.”
“So…what do we do?”
“We need to tell someone. I’ve never seen so much plastic in one place.”
“Okay!” chirps Polly, and off she runs.
I wait for a moment, looking at the waste, then hurry after her.
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest problems on earth. In the ocean there is a plastic island as big as three times France. The problem is that plastic is not really recyclable more than once or twice e.g. you cannot make a plastic bottle out of another plastic bottle.
Is there a way of stopping all this? In the 1960-70s there was already a plastic crisis and people had tried to ban plastic bottles and use glass.
Unfortunately the big manufactures went to court and the bans got lifted. Maybe we should put the ban again and keep it.
Poor planet… plastic products…
pointless, suffocating, supermarket packaging…
shortening the food’s life… mountains of waste…
cling-filmed meat – buy it in paper, keep it on a plate in the fridge
plastic water bottles and juices – fill your own, make your own
packed lunches – reuse reuse reuse
crisp packets, sweet wrappers – why not paper
sandwiches, freezer bags, ziplock bags – all such a waste! – eco paper bags or wrap in brown paper
airless fruit in moulded plastic – what about cardboard
plastic containers for toys – use tins or old tupperware
plastic pots for yogurts and puddings and soup and milk – all could be glass or compostable cardboard
plastic in the bathroom: toothpaste, shampoo, soap dispensers – buy bars of soap wrapped in paper, metal tubes of toothpaste
poor plastic planet…
Plastic is no longer something you just throw on the ground that one time because you can’t be bothered to find a bin. The world is different now; it’s… adapted. Everyone’s… adapted. There’s no more protests, no more rallies or boycotts. Its just there, another thing no one needs to worry about. Because there’s nobody left to worry about it. You see, everyone’s either died from the gas, or is enjoying life on mars, just another planet to kill. Elon Musk perfected his vitality systems less than 2 months before the first wave hit. I am the only one left.