Plastics - what we could and should do

I used to imagine that pollution was a problem of modern cities. When I travelled to third world developing countries I was shocked to see the litter in their villages and urban streets and in dumps on the edge of the cities. The developing countries were developing litter and pollution.

What can you do?
1 Reveal the problem. Spread the bad news
2 Prevention. Do your bit to not buy plastic.
3 Do your bit to recycle plastic.
4 Spread good news about recycling initiatives.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
When I tried to photo individuals, my own families, or locals, I would rush to remove bits of litter spoiling the picture.

Should You Photograph Litter - yes or no?
When I tried to photograph graffitit and litter and dumps, my family objected. You would think they were employed by the local tourist board. They did nto want me to show litter. They thought it was unkind and disrespectful and ungrateful to both the family who had contributed to the cost of my family to show me good things in other countries as well as unfair to local people and might repel other potential tourists.

My view: Hiding the proble.. Not facing the problem. Not dealing with the problem.

Litter After Events
We have all seen photos of the litter left behind and the clear up needed after a major concert or event, whether in a farmer's field or a city centre. Sometimes the clean-up is represented as a story of horror. Sometimes as a forgotten team, the hard-working and saintly clear-up team.

Litter Picking
As soon as you think about it, your realise that a clean up can be done if somebody is willing to pay the cost.

DISNEY
Disneyland has huge numbers of people. They don't have litter during the day nor the morning after. Disney doesn't have signs threatning to fine you like Singapore. Disney has teams of people picking up litter at the time and after closing hours. (I can imagine somebody saying, yes, so that's why the prices are so high.)

SINGAPORE
I have read compaisons between Hong Kong and Singapore. Generally they show that Singapore does not just have people who are more litter conscious or more afraid of being fined. Singapore spends more on people picking up litter. You can employ low-paid foreign workers, conscript your army or gap year students, pay students pocket money, employ the handicapped with an easy job, have volunteer days.

Litter Disposal
But, after you have picked up the litter, where does it go? The official litter pickers and volunteers may be more keen or more skilled at separating litter into different types.

But we still have the question of where to put the piles of litter, neatly sorted, but what next?

The Disposal Problems
1 Plastics in the ocean are damaging wildlife, fish and birds.
2 It is aesthetically displeasing to see litter on the previously pristine ocan floor
3 Discarded litter causes fires in forests
4 Discarded litter causes fire in cities (The UK's fatal King's Cross station Fire was attributed to litter possibly catching fire due to a spark or cigarette end

Solutions Aggravating The Problem
China has stopped importing waste to put into landfill - which helps them but puts the problem back on others.

Local councils in the UK used to dump both sewage and unfiltered waste from sewage pipes into the ocean.
Burning waste makes pollution.
Shredding plastic makes smaller particles which get trapped in balleen whales. The balleen is a kind of comb instead of teech which filters their food so tiny creatures go through to the whale's stomach.


The balleen in a balleen whale which gets clogged with microplastic. Photo of ballen from Wikipedia article on balleen whales.

GOOD NEWS Current Solutions - Recycling

UK
UK COUNCILS
1 Harrow - compost machines
2 Hillingdon - biodegradable bags for kitchen waste

UK SUPERMARKETS


3 Waitrose is replacing plastic trays for ready meals with material which will compost at home



4 Morrisons is introducing plastic free fruit and veg - sold loose.

USA -
1 DIY shredding and reforming thin plastic (bags) into multi-colour sheets
2 Loopstore is collecting, washing and reusing packaging. They are linked with brands such as Body Shop, Colgate, Crest, Dove, Febreze, Haagen Dazs, Tide and many more.

AFRICA
1 Africa - turning plastic mixed with sands into durable protective roof tiles to build new homes and replace or improve shanty housing

Future Solutions
Small scale recycling businesses employing the handicapped in the UK. No need to worry about creating huge profits for shareholders if they are not for profit recycing organizations whose part purpose is to provide employment, teach skills and give satisfaction to employees.

Some Sensible Slogans
A journey starts with a single step (Chinese, attributed to Confucius)
Be the change you wish to see (Mahatma Gandhi)

Useful Websites
Problems
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7054471/Plastic-debris-bigger-risk-filter-feeding-whales-OIL.html

Solutions
SINGAPORE

UK
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7056017/Waitrose-unveils-worlds-compostable-ready-meal-trays.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed
USA
https://loopstore.com/
https://loopstore.com/brand-partners

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Please share links to your favourite pages.

Watch Your Bag and Why

Your bag could disappear anywhere, in London, Singapore or Russia, whether you are a tourist or a business visitor or a resident. If you see a warning sign, take extra care.

At The Volunteer pub near The Sherlock Holmes museum (see other posts) the ladies toilet is upstairs. My companion said to me, "Leave your bag here. It'll be all right with me." He was eating breakfast. We'd just finished.

I said, "Will you stay here?"

"Yes," he said. "Where would I go? I'm not leaving until you get back."

Upstairs in the Ladies a sign warns you to watch your handbag. A bit late for me. I had just left mine downstairs with my companion.

When I go back he said, "I'm glad your back. I want to go outside to smoke a cigarette."

Fortunately I was not away long and he waited for me to come back.

He was a friend I already knew. I've known him years. I know his home address.

But he wanted to go outside and smoke a cigarette.

What if he had been a new friend? A new group of friends? And one of them had assured me my bag would be all right with them?

I would not trust strangers. I don't know them. I do not know their honesty. I do not know their home address.

They might leave without my bag if there was a fire alarm, a fire, or a bomb alert.

What if my acquaintance is OK but goes to the bar to get food and one of the others is not to be trusted? Or they are busy talking to each other and a stranger takes my bag and they don't notice?

Unlikely?

It has already happened to me.

1 I was a teenager in a disco in the South of France. I met a boy and we danced not he dance floor. He said leave your bag. My bag went. The following week I went back to the disco. He was still there. He admitted that his acquaintances included a bag thief who was always on the lookout every night for somebody who left a bag. I never found out whether the boy I fancied was part of the group and it was a set-up. I suspect it was. His desire to dance with me never turned into a long-term relationship.

2 On a train across Russia with a group of students on a holiday, at a station a girl got out to buy a sandwich, leaving behind her bag to be watched over by Boy 1 who was with Boy 2. Boy 1 was supposed to watch the bag. Boy 2 had not been asked. Boy 1 decided to get out and get a sandwich. He claims he assumed boy 2 would watch the bag. Boy 2 decided to follow the others and get a sandwich. The bag disappeared. Including her passport.

She and the organiser were delayed, missed their flight, and both had to wait for than 48 hours for her to get a new passport. (We travelled on without the escort who was supposed to be looking after the whole group. So now Boy 1 was in charge of group tickets, etc etc. I didn't know the others, because my return had been swapped with somebody from a group on a longer holiday, because I wanted to stay longer, whilst he decided to take a shorter trip. That was another hoo-ha.)

She had no money to get her train ticket in the UK and hotel overnight in London and bus or taxi to hotel or home. So my last souvenir money had to be loaned to her. Everybody in the student group loaned what little they had left to her and she took our names and addresses and promised to write and tell us what happened and return the money. By now I had lost faith in everybody and had no expectation that she would. But she did return my money and tell me the end of the story. She never got her bag back.

I have other friends who have lost bags. Even when the bag is next to you. Another group of people sitting close by.

I lost my bag earlier this year in Singapore. It was gone moments after I got off a bus. I thought I'd left it behind on the bus. However, I was jostled by people behind as I walked from the bus stop towards a hawker centre. Afterwards I read that it's a common ploy. You are jostled from the right and somebody take your bag from the left. Or somebody knocks you from behind and another takes your bag from in front. Three of them and one of you. You might decide it's not worth fighting. You can't take a photo of them if they've just stolen your camera or camera phone.

Keep your passport and credit cards separate from your visible bag.

The moral is. Watch your bag. Keep it attached to you.