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? 
Ban on plastic bags is looming
Posted on October 8, 2018 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting Regulations
The government is likely to introduce a ban on single-use plastic bags in the Cook Islands. Infrastructure minister Robert Tapaitau told Parliament…
Source: Ban on plastic bags is looming
“We also have a Cabinet submission which is involving ban of single use plastic bags. I know this topic have been around for a while and I have taken it upon myself to make the hard decision to go ahead with this. It might not be a popular one but this is the way to go,” Tapaitau said.
Environmental group, Te Ipukarea Society (TIS) was pleased with the announcement from the minister.
TIS project officer Liam Kokaua said the submission would be a great step forward in reducing waste and promoting guardianship of the island.
Meanwhile Tapaitau also told Parliament they were looking at imposing disposal fee for bringing items such as plastic bottles, cups and others.
He said there were plans in place to rehabilitate the current landfill and purchase of an incinerator in the next five to 10 years was also on the cards.
The islands are particularly vulnerable to the problems of disposal of plastic waste. There the concept of the producer or importer of plastic items has to be involved to generate the necessary capital needed to properly dispose of their products.
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