General Chat

Dear All

Hello

Today is the celebration of the earth.


This year's Earth Day is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to eventually end plastic pollution.

Many of us use or encounter plastic every single day, even if we don't realize it. There's single-use plastics, such as bags, bottles, plates, utensils and straws.

But there are also plastics in our electronics, cars, clothes and paint.


Some of the plastic gets recycled. But a lot ends up in landfills or is
simply littered as plastic pollution, which gets into our waterways.

Plastic is made to last forever -- it cannot biodegrade.

Disposed plastic materials can remain in the environment for up to 2,000 years
and longer, according to a 2009 article published in scientific journal Chemistry
and Biology.

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"Plastic pollution is now an ever-present challenge.

We can see plastics floating in our rivers, ocean and lagoons, littering our landscapes and affecting our health and the future of billions of children and youth.

We have all contributed to this problem –- mostly unknowingly,"
states Valeria Merino, vice president of Global Earth Day at Earth Day Network.

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Our Earth needs tender care.

We can all do our bit to help the planet and each other.


Take gentle care
Love Elizabeth, EOS
xx

'If there is one good thing to come out of our winter floods, storms, frost & snow, is that we have been awarded some humility by nature which has shown us once again that this planet does not belong to us.

And though we may not realise it, sometimes we are not its most important species'.

If only supermarkets would stop wrapping the fruit & veg in film/plastic.

Sure, somethings which easily bruise do need to be protected. They are the minority of items, not the majority. We're all perfectly capable of washing or peeling the produce before use.

Aubergines in plastic bags? Apples & Pears, swede, leeks, carrots & potatoes? Come on!

How-about a consumer protest? Have the items scanned at the checkout, then leave the packaging there. :-|

Yeah, if only ....
The plastics problem is all pervading.
The complex just in time global food distribution system would be unworkable without plastics.
Automotive, avionics and I.T. manufacture would be impossible without plastics.
The delivery of many health and cosmetic produycts would be impossible without plastics.
There have been some minor victories eg supermarket bags, microbeads in cosmetics and toothpaste. The distance to go can be seen when the oil majors see loss of market to electric/green power as being more than made up for by plastics demand.
Replacing plastics is for the most part futile. What is needed is a tough recycle / disposal regime which is doable. Plastic bottles are a good start. Wet wipes, fishing nets are good targets too.