REDcycle was never about recycling.
The "return-to-store" soft plastics program was never about recycling.
Those thick, soft plastic bags were never about "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".
Calling plastic bags "multi-use" was a lie intended to transfer the responsibility of dealing with plastic to customers.
It was about telling customers they could continue using plastic bags. Supermarkets didn't want to change how they do things, and they didn't want to deal with the marginally increased cost of using paper bags. That's it.
The government should be suing supermarkets into the dirt for their years of fraud, malpractice, and environmental vandalism.
In the meantime, the fix is far more straightforward than the naysayers claim:
Do not let retailers "self-regulate" use of plastics.
Cambodia's rivers are getting a much-needed cleanup! A new German technology is removing a whopping 20 tonnes of plastic daily from the Tonlé Sap. This initiative targets not just cleaning the water but protecting fish and public health. #Cambodia#Plastic https://focus-cambodia.com/article/everwave-river-clean-up/
Plastic can release toxics into the stomach, according to a new study.
Material left to float in seawater may turn it cloudy potentially releasing toxic chemicals into the water, and could do the same in stomachs.
When left in the water for six months, the pristine plastic also appeared to cause a kind of scum to form on the surface, turning the mix into a “soup”. #ClimateChange#Pollution#Plastic
I found this deflated Mylar balloon on a nature reserve this morning.
Come on, folks. It’s 2024.
I’m pretty sure your seven-year-old could celebrate their birthday without these portable natural disasters.
Why haven’t these been banned? 😒😡
Though they agreed to reduce microplastics in drinking water at the source they handed out water in plastic bottles.🤦
"Canadian and U.S. mayors promise 'blue-green corridor' along Great Lakes and St. Lawrence"
"The declaration constitutes a commitment to "attract blue and green industries" to the basin's communities, such as high-tech companies that have strict standards for water consumption."
Boyd said: “I started out six years ago talking about the right to a healthy environment having the capacity to bring about systemic and transformative changes. But this powerful human right is up against an even more powerful force in the global economy, a system that is absolutely based on the exploitation of people and nature. And unless we change that fundamental system, then we’re just re-shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.”
>Boyd said: “There’s no place in the climate negotiations for fossil-fuel companies. There is no place in the plastic negotiations for plastic manufacturers. It just absolutely boggles my mind that anybody thinks they have a legitimate seat at the table.
>In his final interview before handing over the special rapporteur mandate, Boyd said he struggles to makes sense of the world’s collective indifference to the suffering being caused by preventable environmental harms.
>over 40 million people have died of air pollution since I became special rapporteur in 2018, yet I just can’t get people to care.
>“I can’t get people to bat an eyelash. It’s like there’s something wrong with our brains that we can’t understand just how grave this situation is"
>"If we don’t have a living, healthy planet Earth, then all the other rights are just words on paper.”
I can only agree ... without a livable planet and a stable biosphere, everything else is for nought, as "home" is then unlivable.
A dream collaboration between 2 wonderfully evil #corporations, working hand in hand on the future we now live in:
"Is everything of plastic? - Almost!"
The world is struggling with plastic pollution — Canada is no exception
👉 "Less than 10 per cent of plastics in Canada end up recycled"
The feds have a new registry
"The registry is part of the federal government's overall effort to reduce plastic waste in Canada. Canadians throw away more than four million tonnes of plastic waste every year, according to Ottawa. Only nine per cent is recycled, with the bulk ending up in landfills."
"While industry claims it could be part of a circular plastics economy, experts say that chemical recycling is extremely damaging to the environment and provides no real benefits."
“Chemical recycling is really an industry ploy to convince the public and policymakers that we don't have to reduce plastic production in order to deal with plastic waste,”
Which foods have the most plastics? CNN says ninety percent of animal and vegetable protein samples tested in research published in February tested positive for microplastics. Other studies said vegetables can absorb microplastics through their root systems, and salt and sugar can also contain plastic. Here's the full story, including some advice on reducing your exposure. Tell us: Which of these proteins do you think contains the most plastic?
Microplastics found in every human testicle in study (lighthouse-eco.co.za)
Microplastics have been found in human testicles, with researchers saying the discovery might be linked to declining sperm counts in men.