The author argues that we won't make any significant headway in solving the plastic pollution problem unless the onus is shifted from the consumer to the manufacturers. Instead of relying solely...
The author argues that we won't make any significant headway in solving the plastic pollution problem unless the onus is shifted from the consumer to the manufacturers. Instead of relying solely on personal responsibility, establish a regulatory framework that decreases the demand for and production of single-use plastic products.
I suspect that most of capitalism's problems won't be solved until we put the onus where it belongs: on capital. Plastic pollution, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, income inequality -- these...
I suspect that most of capitalism's problems won't be solved until we put the onus where it belongs: on capital. Plastic pollution, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, income inequality -- these are all issues that mass individual action alone cannot solve. They require political solutions.
This is sadly the reality. I remember learning about it in grade school, that the majority of harm was done before a product even reaches your home. But that's not to say there's nothing the...
In fact, the greatest success of Keep America Beautiful has been to shift the onus of environmental responsibility onto the public while simultaneously becoming a trusted name in the environmental movement. This psychological misdirect has built public support for a legal framework that punishes individual litterers with hefty fines or jail time, while imposing almost no responsibility on plastic manufacturers for the numerous environmental, economic and health hazards imposed by their products.
This is sadly the reality. I remember learning about it in grade school, that the majority of harm was done before a product even reaches your home. But that's not to say there's nothing the individual can do.
I honestly believe that as a consumer, we need to stop buying in to the green-washing. I admit, I'm not really doing much on the activist front, but I am doing my best to consume as little as possible. They can't sell us plastic that we're not buying.
Here in Australia, our two major supermarket chains have recently "banned" single-use plastic bags from their stores. They sold it as a voluntary altruistic action on their part, but it's not...
Here in Australia, our two major supermarket chains have recently "banned" single-use plastic bags from their stores. They sold it as a voluntary altruistic action on their part, but it's not coincidental that the date the supermarkets stopped using these bags is the exact same date that laws came into effect in two more Australian states to ban these bags. This now makes a majority of states which have banned single-use plastic bags, with one of the remaining two states planning a ban within the next year or so. The supermarkets obviously decided it was easier to jump before they were pushed.
However, the publicity about this has caused me to look at my own plastic use again. I already used re-usable shopping bags, and have been for years. I already had my own water bottle, so I didn't buy bottled water. But I've taken a couple more steps lately. I bought sandwich boxes so I'll stop using plastic cling wrap on my lunches. And I emailed the manufacturer of my soap to ask them whether that soap really needs to be wrapped in two layers of plastic (especially when it used to come in cardboard packaging many years ago). And I'm continually looking for other opportunities.
But I can't do enough as a consumer. Too many products come in plastic to avoid them. For example: drinks of all kinds used to come in glass bottles, but now it's extremely difficult to find any drinks that aren't in plastic bottles. As a consumer, I have almost no non-plastic options in this category. Even though I want to buy a better option (to speak with my wallet), I can't.
Consumers can't do this alone. Manufacturers have to help.
Seattle banned single-use plastic bags in stores a couple of years ago. This is a problem we can make progress on in local areas, which fortunately are much easier to influence.
Seattle banned single-use plastic bags in stores a couple of years ago. This is a problem we can make progress on in local areas, which fortunately are much easier to influence.
The author argues that we won't make any significant headway in solving the plastic pollution problem unless the onus is shifted from the consumer to the manufacturers. Instead of relying solely on personal responsibility, establish a regulatory framework that decreases the demand for and production of single-use plastic products.
I suspect that most of capitalism's problems won't be solved until we put the onus where it belongs: on capital. Plastic pollution, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, income inequality -- these are all issues that mass individual action alone cannot solve. They require political solutions.
This is sadly the reality. I remember learning about it in grade school, that the majority of harm was done before a product even reaches your home. But that's not to say there's nothing the individual can do.
I honestly believe that as a consumer, we need to stop buying in to the green-washing. I admit, I'm not really doing much on the activist front, but I am doing my best to consume as little as possible. They can't sell us plastic that we're not buying.
Here in Australia, our two major supermarket chains have recently "banned" single-use plastic bags from their stores. They sold it as a voluntary altruistic action on their part, but it's not coincidental that the date the supermarkets stopped using these bags is the exact same date that laws came into effect in two more Australian states to ban these bags. This now makes a majority of states which have banned single-use plastic bags, with one of the remaining two states planning a ban within the next year or so. The supermarkets obviously decided it was easier to jump before they were pushed.
However, the publicity about this has caused me to look at my own plastic use again. I already used re-usable shopping bags, and have been for years. I already had my own water bottle, so I didn't buy bottled water. But I've taken a couple more steps lately. I bought sandwich boxes so I'll stop using plastic cling wrap on my lunches. And I emailed the manufacturer of my soap to ask them whether that soap really needs to be wrapped in two layers of plastic (especially when it used to come in cardboard packaging many years ago). And I'm continually looking for other opportunities.
But I can't do enough as a consumer. Too many products come in plastic to avoid them. For example: drinks of all kinds used to come in glass bottles, but now it's extremely difficult to find any drinks that aren't in plastic bottles. As a consumer, I have almost no non-plastic options in this category. Even though I want to buy a better option (to speak with my wallet), I can't.
Consumers can't do this alone. Manufacturers have to help.
Seattle banned single-use plastic bags in stores a couple of years ago. This is a problem we can make progress on in local areas, which fortunately are much easier to influence.