I can't say i am a Green, but somehow i have the idea of what can i do the best (or the least) for our Mother Earth.
One issue that i always concern is the use of plastic bag. Most plastic bags, due to their non-biodegrable property, post a serious environmental issue to deal with when comes to disposal. If we burn them, they will produce toxic gases that will harm our health. We can't allow them to accummulate in the landfill sites too, 'cause they just simply don't degrade and will exist for hundreds of year. We, the human, already run out of land to develop, we can't afford to bury them forever, put it as a final solution. But the rate of plastic bags consumption in UK is terrifying. Each Briton uses approximately 150 bags per year. The problem with UK is , most of the plastic carrier bags in many supermarket chain stores are non-biodegradable. And everytime i queue up for the checkout, i can see people are just taking plastic bags as many as they please. I can't believe this could be the attidute of UK people here towards the environmental care.
I know that in Malaysia, few hypermarket chain stores such as Giant, and Carrefour already started to use biodegradable plastic bags. (they must do this -- just try to imagine Malaysia is only such a small country. Many people don't even have land to stay, how can we make way for rubbish?) And yet, we are still running out of space to dispose rubbish. ~sigh~ The public awareness about Recycling in Malaysia is still low... In UK it doesn't seem any better too.
Last Christmas, when my friend, Sin Hong, who is studying in Ireland, came to visit me, i was very surprised to learn that (really, i really mean it) he's still using those 5 plastic bags he brought from Malaysia (i don't know how to describe the condition of them already... abit worn out, but still usable). Not because he's a Green (maybe he is also), but the environmental policy of Ireland implements the law that every citizen has to pay the tax for every plastic bag they ask for (ie. buying it), equivalent to 9 pence per plastic bag (roughly 65 sen in M'sia). So, many Ireland citizen make their habit of reusing plastic bags, which is a praiseworthy act! And the enviromental policy does work to reduce tons of plastic bags usage, thus can save more oils, save the environment and our health. Other good examples are Taipei City (where people there respond to the call of recycling, very successful, under the project of Taipei Mayor Ma Ying Jiu) and Australia.
Back to my friend's case. I feel very pity for him. Contrast to my housemates, they keep taking plastic bags like mad, and stuff into one big compartment of cupboard full until overflow. Sometimes we have no choice but to clear them up and dispose them. This is already a very big contrast to my friend's precious 5 plastic bags. In the end, before he returned to Ireland, I gave him 20 different UK brands plastic bags as a gift for him. He was very happy. He even said that he could bring them back and sell them to his friends in Ireland , as UK Imported Plastic bag should have higher value.
To a certain extent, i tend not to ask for plastic bags, especially when shopping at Sainsbury's (the most frequently shopping place i visit -- i always bring my own plastic bags, unlike my housemates) and buying small things when i can put them all into my backpack. I do my very best to reuse plastic bags whenever i can. I know it is not easy to practise, if you are not making this as your habit. Before that, you must change your attidute first and be more environmental conscious. Try to make this earth a better place to live by reusing plastic bags, start from TODAY!
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