I think a lot about the climate crisis the Planet is going through and I have no doubt that the main culprits are companies and not people. For example, if solving what to do with plastic Coca Cola bottles is a global problem, then the company itself should be solving this problem at its root. We, the consumers, could stop drinking Coca Cola and instead separate a glass bottle, fill it with water and then make juice with powder ready, since we necessarily need to drink something with flavor.
Or drink water!
Imagine Coca Cola’s carbon footprint: it takes the water from the fountain, mixes it with their powder, bottles the mixture in a plastic bottle, which in itself already has a monstrous carbon footprint, transports it to the distribution center, transports it to the market, where we buy it and then transport it home.
Do you know that thing you bought in such a quantity, but so much, that it will never end? Like, someone who buys a box of 2,000 bags of sweetener, or a huge package of hair bands?
When I was very young, that Malthus phrase about population growth, in which population grows in geometric progression while food production grows in arithmetic progression always populated my thoughts. I still think about it a lot today. It is evident that technology has greatly improved food production, but it is also quite evident that we are consuming the Planet. If our survival were minimally sustainable, we wouldn’t have so many mining companies extracting “commodities” from the bottom of the Earth.
I am terrified of the amount of plastic litter I throw away almost every day. It is almost impossible to buy something without any plastic cover. I remember the time when I was taking my own jar to the shop to buy some products. I was using the same jar for years. It was also the time when we worked less, lived slower, and spent weekends regenerating.
I suppose what I am trying to say is that the interlacement of so many factors does require a ubiquitous program of transformation. Otherwise, we are doomed.
I’ve noticed and it’s hard to believe: I think each person in my house produces about 20 liters of plastic waste a week. And we’re careful what we buy, but we don’t have a choice, everything uses plastic. And when I contact companies with suggestions, they pretend to listen, but nothing changes.
Here in Brazil, they say that less than 10% of plastic is recycled, the rest is incinerated. And they ask that discarded plastic be clean. So I ask myself: using water and detergent to wash plastic, is it still worth recycling or is this just greenwashing?
Yes, and I have the impression that this phenomenon of using plastic has even accelerated recently. But the same with “everything in boxes”: cosmetics and any other products are double wrapped… there is a container – a plastic jar, or a tube, and then you get also a cardboard box which you throw away instantly after unwrapping the product. This is madness!
PS. thank you for doing your blog 🙂
Yes, and I have the impression that this phenomenon of using plastic has even accelerated recently. But the same with “everything in boxes”: cosmetics and any other products are double wrapped… there is a container – a plastic jar, or a tube, and then you get also a cardboard box which you throw away instantly after unwrapping the product. This is madness!
PS. thank you for doing your blog 🙂