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? Bottle deposit scheme back in the spotlight – Australia
Posted on May 1, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsBottle deposit scheme back in the spotlight – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
While bottle/container deposit schemes (CDS) have proven their efficiency time and time again, even in 2 states of Australia, the ineptitude of the government to take action contrary to what big business wants is likely to make this discussion hit a dead end and our pollution and lost resources will continue on.
Just earlier this year the State of Victoria had a container deposit scheme try to be introduced by a minority part. It was squashed by the party in power with the reason being given as “there is a federal discussion occurring at the time so no point in bring in a individual state law now”. In the article above the Federal minister for the environment Mr Burke, is quoted as saying “he needs to get the green light from state ministers.”
“The regulatory impact statement that needed to be done to get to decision making time has been done and we’ve pushed that through,” he said.
“Ultimately, the final decision on this belongs in state jurisdictions.”
He says he will have further discussions with state ministers over the next couple of months.
The beverages industry is largely opposed to the idea. They say they will lose sales and have to lay off jobs, an argument that makes almost every politician back down. This has been proven to be untrue time and time again, but still industry always threatens with this like a stuck record.
Can any of these people look ahead more than 1-2 years and think what it will mean other than their job and a few extra profits? The jobs a CDS will create are significant, the lack of the millions of littered plastic bottles that drink manufacturers make will be a huge relief, the less imports of raw plastic material is good for the Australian economy.
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