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I'll eventually be checking out first hand what happens to our recycling here locally, but in the meantime, Beth over at Fake Plastic Fish posted the following shocking video made for a British news service.
It's only about 3 minutes long and well worth the watch. I think the guy who has the recycling plant makes a good point. Each nation should be responsible for dealing with their own waste/recycling, just the same as we as individuals should be responsible for our personal output.
It's ironic because Tesco, one of the company's whose bags they found in China, is one of the few, if not the only, superstores in the world to list carbon output on all their products.
Food for thought.
Dave
Monday, January 7, 2008
What Happens To All That Recycling Anyway
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6 comments:
After watching the video I wanted to go back to bed and pull the covers up over my head!
Instead I wrote e-mails to some companies that I think might listen. I wrote to Newman's Own, Newman's Own Organics and Ulimana (they make fair trade, organic, raw chocolate!).
Perhaps everyone can write one e-mail today encouraging change. Maybe we can post who we wrote to and then next week we all write to someone different on the list and do the same each week. That way those companies keep getting the message from unique individuals. Maybe get one company to eliminate plastic from their packaging. Just a thought...
I just felt so bad when I saw that child in our trash.
It really is about doing something instead of just feeling bad.
I will take action.
I received comments back from Newman's Own Organics and Ulimana. Maybe if they get more e-mails asking, suggesting, demanding that they find plastic free alternatives they will explore it.
Nancy Marie - I would be happy to send additional e-mails to anyone you write just let me know!
Can you post a comment about where you sent your email? I'll write up a post and share it with everyone so emails will go the same place and have a greater impact. Good for you. Public activism and consumer will are the things that will make the difference.
I sent an e-mail to Trader Joe's asking why they starting using plastic boxes for their produce. For that I went to the "contact us" section of the website (www.traderjoes.com)
I sent e-mails to Newman's Own and Newman's Own Organics asking them to seek out plastic free packaging. I used the "contact us" section from each website. I received a reply from Newman's Own from consumermail@newmansown.com, and one from Peggy Westenhofer - peggyw@newmansownorganics.com.
I sent an e-mail to UliMana asking them to seek out plastic free packaging. I used the "contact us" section of the website. I received a reply from Theresa Green - ulimanamana@yahoo.com
I sent the Trader Joe's e-mail before I saw the video. The other three, I sent them a link to the blog (fakeplasticfish - it was before it was up here) with the date of the post.
are there ways to process the plastic without so much toxic waste? i may just be dreaming, but wouldn't it be possible for experts to advise that town on ways to keep their workers from dying? at the very least, there should be ways of keeping the sludge out of their water and air on that magnitude. Don't hate me for saying this, but i couldn't help but notice the big smile on that lady's face when she was talking about how they are poor, so they're willing to work. I don't think that the problem is that China is dealing with it. Yes, we should be willing to do the work, but at least it gives them jobs, even as cheaply as they're paid. The real problem with this situation is the pollution, and there are ways to deal with it, if they're willing to listen.
don't get me wrong--i totally agree that we should reduce the amount that is sent over there in the first place, because honestly the amount of plastic we use is ridiculous. (I'm American, but the same thing applies to the US) but i don't think we need flip out over the fact that the plastic is ending up in China--the part we need to care about is how badly it's being handled once it gets there. The plastic sent there is giving them a livelihood--now we should try to make sure it doesn't take away their lives in the process.
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