TRAVELBUCKET

IS IT REALLY NECESSARY?

Lately I am very much leaning towards the “greener” side of things.  When we take a drive with Wallace (for those of you that do not know yet, that is our Landy)  I am more than average noticing plastic pollution on the roadside.  Plastic is sadly killing our planet. 

The reality of African cities – Abidjan

Reading National Geographic a horrific picture popped up about a turtle with a plastic straw embedded in its nose.  This made me ponder on how can we, in our ordinary every day lives, make a significant impact to reduce plastic waste to save our planet.

Like a lot of things it starts at home with educating our children from a very young age.  I know we are living in a quick and easy, fast paced life where everything is individually wrapped, etc.  This to me is one of the biggest problems at the moment!  Do we really need all that individual wrapped plastic stuff to avoid germs?

Let’s have a look at how can we change the plastic use of the world with small steps at a time.  Check your plastic trail from when you wake up in the morning until you go to bed.  This was really an eye-opener for me to see how plastic in all sizes and forms just creeps into our daily lives.

Do you really need to use a  coffee pod (served in a plastic container)  to make that “good” cup of coffee to get you out of bed and moving?   There are other methods that can be implemented to also enjoy coffee – I must be careful now not to get involved in a coffee debate here!    Maybe my family got my drift about plastic as I received a green Masterton’s coffee dripper for Christmas which is washable and reusable.

My Mastertons dripper

Rethink your bathroom routine.  Do you really need to use soap from a plastic pump dispenser bottle to wash your hands after visiting the bathroom?    Maybe I am old-fashioned, but In our home we have a bar of soap with a paper wrapping and it also works great.

Do you need a plastic bag for that sandwich and cold drink that you are buying over lunch time from the take-away shop that you anyway are going to eat immediately?   Lately I noticed that some of the take-away franchises already switched to using brown paper bags which will disintegrate over a short period of time instead of plastic bags.  Thank you for your forward thinking!

Do you really need to buy a new bottle of water every time?  ­With so many “water on tap” shops nowadays it is east to take your own bottle and to refill.  If that is not possible every day at least try to have the plastic one refilled twice before discarding it.  By implementing this step you are surely reducing your plastic footprint on the globe.  Yes, I know some water available in taps is a bit dodgy, but where you can, try to refill!

Say no to plastic straws!

Something that really boggles my mind is why do you think that using a straw will avoid germs when you drink a cold drink from a glass, but when you sip on a gin and tonic (at the same restaurant),  there are no germs on the rim of your gin glass?   Please guys, rethink the straw issue!  Recently I have accomplished this to deny taking a straw from the waiter.  😊

It is also scary to think that single use plastic (knives/forks/spoons/wrappers)  is responsible for 40% of the world’s plastic waste which causes huge plastic waste “islands” in the Pacific Ocean. 

Keep the beaches unspoiled for the next generation

Once you have made a trip through Africa you will understand my request and plea to be considerate when buying/using products that causes plastic waste.  Our beautiful African continent is choking on cheap plastic.

“Pollution: If you do not kill it; it will kill you!”

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