Today is the first day of summer, which means that July is just around the corner. As I consider a challenge that July will present to folks with a penchant for creation justice matters, I am also recalling that it was in May of 2019 that this Creation Justice Blog was first launched. Back then one of the initial posts of that maiden voyage addressed the proliferation of the ‘Polymer Age’ and the ecological crisis that the dominance of plastic in our everyday lives has wrought.
One of the initial paragraphs of that post reminded us of the control that synthetic polymers have asserted over our daily existence:
“Nowadays life without plastic is unimaginable. I am entering text from a plastic keyboard into a plastic computer and viewing it through plastic lenses on a plastic monitor. If I want a hard copy of this post, it will come off a plastic printer from ink contained in plastic cartridges. Soon I will enter a plastic walled shower stall and grab a plastic bottle of body wash containing plastic micro beads. Then I’ll brush my teeth with a plastic tooth brush and a tooth paste also containing plastic micro beads squeezed from a plastic tube that was presented to me in a plastic bag by my dental hygienist whose services I paid for with (you guessed it) a plastic credit card.”
Those who make a very comfortable living off the tsunami of petroleum-derived plastic products that inundate every nook and cranny of the planet (as well as the bodies of those who inhabit it) will regale consumers with the myriad blessings that such synthetic polymers afford us. And while they acknowledge that the longevity of plastic in the planetary waste stream is a bane as well as a blessing, they also tout ‘recycling’ and ‘advanced recycling’ along with emerging ‘chemical engineering’ as the panacea to solve the problem. Bottom line, they’re not! [Do take time to visit the links in this paragraph.]
As a result of the proliferation of plastic products over recent decades, various industries have created a global plastic pollution crisis with single use plastics being the chief offender. For half a century they have used the myth of recycling plastic to pave the way for ever increasing petroleum-derived plastics production. The International Energy Agency estimates that “plastic production – which industry analysts forecast to double by 2040 – will be the biggest growth market for oil demand over the next decade.” Or in other words, in the face of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, Big Oil’s ‘Plan B’ is to ramp up production of synthetic polymers to keep the oil and gas wells flowing. Such synthetic plastic proliferation will, of course, only exacerbate the existential threat posed by global warming.
For our further edification regarding the plastic pollution crisis and the myth of plastic recycling as a way out, I refer you to two video links:
1. https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/trashed-secret-life-plastic-recycling-99557139
2. https://ambr-recyclers.org/2022/08/ambr-release-chasing-arrows-the-truth-about-recycling/
As for the July challenge mentioned in the first paragraph of this post, I refer you to www.plasticfreejuly.org/. Here you will learn about a campaign that began some years ago in western Australia and has now gone global as ‘Plastic Free July.’ Here’s what the web site says:
“Plastic Free July is a key initiative of the Plastic Free Foundation that allows us to work towards our vision of seeing a world free of plastic waste. From humble beginnings in 2011, the award-winning Plastic Free July campaign is the result of years of hard work.
It was started by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz (the founder of the Plastic Free Foundation) and a small team in local government in Western Australia, and is now one of the most influential environmental campaigns in the world. Millions of people across the globe take part every year, with many committing to reducing plastic pollution far beyond the month of July.”
And as an incentive to join the challenge this July, read what an impact the initiative has made:
“An IPSOS survey in 2021 of over 20,000 people in 28 countries revealed that 29% of global consumers surveyed were aware of Plastic Free July and, of those, 13% participated. This meant an estimated 140 million people worldwide took part in Plastic Free July from 190 countries (Up from 120 million in 2018, IPSOS survey 2018 – link will open in a new window)
Plastic Free July participants:
- reduce their household waste and recycling by 15kg per person per year (3.5% less waste)
- globally they reduced 2.1 billion tonnes of waste and recycling including 300 million kgs of plastic consumption
- 86% people made changes that have become habits/ a way of life
- after 11 years Plastic Free July has reduced global demand by 2.3% of all bottled water, 3.1% of all fruit and vegetable packaging, 4.0% of all plastic straws
We’re proud of how this impact addresses UN Sustainable Development Goals – link will open in a new window 11, 12, 14 and 15 (sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, life below water, and life on land).
Make an impact; join the challenge today.”
I’ve taken the ‘Pesky Plastic Quiz’ on the site and signed up for the challenge. I urge you to consider doing so also. Because as the Lorax said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.”
