How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter? Australian retailer backtracks on green initiative
Posted on December 9, 2013 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsAustralian retailer backtracks on green initiative – News – Plastics News.
Geelong-based department store chain Target Australia Pty. Ltd. returned free bags to its 308 Target and Target Country stores in October, after removing them in June 2009.
Cooper said Target got about 500 complaints a year after it stopped handing out free bags. But he added that a far larger number of shoppers express dissatisfaction at the checkouts, although those complaints were not tracked or recorded.
“We had lots of feedback from customers saying they didn’t feel they should be forced to buy bags, but should have a choice,” he said.
Anne Sharp, a senior researcher in sustainability at the Adelaide-based University of South Australia, criticized the decision to offer free bags again.
“Target is responding to a small, vocal minority, while ignoring a largely happy majority. Many people valued Target’s environmental commitment in removing plastic bags. Going back on that has left these people confused and upset, with some saying they will no longer shop there,” she said.
This is a very disappointing stance taken by Target. One source we read mentioned that Targets sales were down to ‘only’ a few $100 million last year and the manager screamed do something to get it back up. And this is the best they can come up with? Blame their drop in sales on the plastic bag? Did they not think it may be due perhaps to a recession in the economy like other business had at the same time? Shame on Target for being so short sighted.
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