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? 
Canadians demand nation-wide strategy on plastic pollution
Posted on April 23, 2018 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting Regulations, Plastic Waste News
It’s time for action on the federal level.
Source: Canadians demand nation-wide strategy on plastic pollution
On November 3, 2016, a South Korean ship spilled 35 containers off the coast of Vancouver Island. The result was a mess of Styrofoam and metal that washed up on the famously beautiful beaches of Tofino and surrounding area. To make the situation worse, the federal government refused to provide funds to help with the cleanup, leaving local organizations and volunteers to do all the work. (The government said it was the shipping company’s responsibility to pay.)
For Gord Johns, the MP who represents the region, this experience made him realize the need for a federal strategy on (a) shoreline cleanups, which are an unfortunate reality in this day and age, and (b) an effort to stop the flow of plastic at its source. In response, Johns has tabled a new bill, titled M-151, that
“aims to create permanent, dedicated, and annual funding for community led projects to clean up plastics and debris, and to reduce the use of micro-plastics and single-use plastics.”
It is a good time for Canada to consider such a step. As president of the G7, environment minister Catherine McKenna has mentioned adopting a zero-plastics-waste charter and pushing anti-plastics interest beyond the G7 nations to the G20. However, McKenna and Prime Minister Trudeau have both been criticized for failing to take stronger action at home. Canada has not implemented any broad-reaching bans on plastics bags or single-use disposable plastics, despite several cities doing so independently. Nor does it seem to have any kind of comprehensive response to disasters, such as the one in Tofino, when they happen. Mayor Josie Osborne described the community’s struggle to get any kind of response to the Globe and Mail. Clearly it’s not a priority.
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