Learn a little more...with a link!
Video: PBS LearningMedia, Flipside Science, Healthy Oceans, Preventing Plastic Pollution | Watch where all that plastic goes & how to reduce the amount.
Magazine Article: INFOhio EBSCOhost Explora, Should Plastic Straws Be Banned, Scholastic Action, Dec. 1, 2017. | Decide for yourself before you reach for that straw. May need password.
Interactive Website: Environmental Protection Agency, Recycle City | Visit this online sustainable community to learn how to reduce waste & energy use.
Read the script:
NOW, IN THE NETHERLANDS, A GROCERY STORE IS TRYING TO GO WITHOUT PLASTIC AT ALL. ISA SOARES HAS THAT STORY.
ISA: PLASTIC, A CONSTANT PRESENCE IN THE CONVENIENCE OF OUR DAILY LIVES. BUT THE PLANET IS PAYING A HIGH PRICE FOR OUR THROWAWAY CULTURE. FROM COFFEE CUPS TO WATER BOTTLES, SOME EIGHT MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC TRASH LEAK INTO THE OCEAN EACH YEAR. AND OF THE ESTIMATED 8.3 BILLION METRIC TONS OF PLASTIC EVER PRODUCED, ONLY 9% HAS EVER BEEN RECYCLED.
BUT THE WAR AGAINST THE WORLD'S PLASTIC BINGE IS GAINING MOMENTUM. WITH GOVERNMENTS AND BIG RETAILERS UNDER GROWING PRESSURE TO REDUCE WASTE AND THINK MORE SUSTAINABLY ABOUT DISPOSABLE PACKAGING.
EKOPLAZA SUPERMARKET IN THE NETHERLANDS IS HOPING IT CAN BRING ABOUT CHANGE, AN AISLE AT A TIME. THIS IS THE WORLD'S FIRST PLASTIC-FREE SUPERMARKET AISLE, ORGANIC AND A LITTLE LANE OF HOPE. WHERE CUSTOMERS CAN BUY A WIDE SELECTION OF GROCERIES, ALL 100% PLASTIC FREE. AS A CO-FOUNDER OF THE CAMPAIGN GROUP A PLASTIC PLANET, SIAN SUTHERLAND IS HOPING TO TAKE THIS GLOBAL. THIS, SHE TELLS ME, IS A GAME CHANGER.
SIAN: RIGHT NOW, YOU WILL GO INTO YOUR SUPERMARKET, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE HOME THAT SHED-LOAD OF PLASTIC THAT YOU DON'T WANT. SO ALL WE WANTED WAS TO SAY, IN A DAY WHERE YOU CAN BUY GLUTEN-FREE, FAT-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, ALL OF THESE THINGS FREE, JUST GIVE US ONE AISLE. AND THAT AISLE IS OF COURSE A SYMBOL. IT'S A SYMBOL OF WHAT CHANGE CAN BE IN THE FUTURE. IT'S A SYMBOL OF WHAT THE FUTURE OF FOOD RETAILING WILL BE.
- GREAT, THANK YOU.
ISA: ALSO AT THE VANGUARD OF THE GROWING ANTI-WASTE MOVEMENT, IS AN UNLIKELY ECO WARRIOR. RICHARD EKERSLEY IS A FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALLER, WHO RECENTLY SET UP THE UK'S FIRST ZERO-WASTE SHOP, EARTH FOOD LOVE, IN TOTNES, IN THE SOUTHWEST OF ENGLAND.
RICHARD: SO I WANTED SOMETHING TO CONTRIBUTE. I WANTED TO CONTRIBUTE AND I WANTED TO USE THE RESOURCES THAT I GAINED IN FOOTBALL TO PUT INTO SOMETHING. AND THIS JUST SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT FIT. IT'S JUST TRYING TO PROVIDE PEOPLE WITH EVERYTHING THAT NORMALLY COMES IN PLASTIC WITHOUT PLASTIC, BASICALLY.
ISA: HERE, CUSTOMERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING THEIR CONTAINERS AND FILL THEM UP WITH AS MANY AS 200 ORGANIC PRODUCTS, FROM DRY FOODS TO WASHING UP LIQUID. AND IT SEEMS, IT'S CATCHING ON.
- I'VE JUST WANDERED IN HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME, SO I JUST BOUGHT A FEW HERBS IN PAPER BAGS. BUT I WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK WITH ALL MY CONTAINERS, 'CAUSE I THINK IT'S A TERRIFIC IDEA.
ISA: SIAN SAYS THE MOMENTUM IS HERE TO STAY, AND THAT MOST SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS WE CAN USE TO REPLACE PLASTIC, ARE ALREADY OUT THERE.
SIAN: PAPER, CARD, WOOD PULP, GRASS, GLASS, TIN, NOT PLASTIC LINED, ALUMINUM. THERE'S SO MANY OTHER MATERIALS, THERE WON'T BE ONE THING THAT DIRECTLY REPLACES PLASTIC. IT'LL BE A PLETHORA OF THINGS, MANY DIFFERENT THINGS.
ISA: OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, THAT MAY JUST HELP BREAK OUR PLASTIC HABIT. ISA SOARES, TOTNES IN THE SOUTHWEST OF ENGLAND.