This is not a call to the end of ALL plastic usage. Plastic does serve many good purposes. However, this is a gentle reminder to be on alert to the unnecessary and wasteful usage of most things polymer.
My inspiration for this comes from my observations of the seemingly unconscious usage some people seem to have towards this environmentally unfriendly product. My neighborhood of the Upper (upper) West side of Manhattan is the perfect (though not singular) example of this practice. Even though I carry my groceries to the register in my own canvas bags, the baggers mindlessly start to load my things into not a single, but a double bag of plastic.
I know you must have your own anecdotes and stories, so please contribute to the blog and website by offering your own tales, links to other websites, helpful hints, articles, book recommendations or anything else you may deem appropriate to help raise awareness of this worldwide problem. (If you are a non-English speaker I welcome your posts as well.)
At worst, these sites will stand as a place to vent your frustrations on the subject. At best, perhaps they can be a catalyst for change.
Steven
To understand the full impact discarded plastic is having, my first recommendation is to check out info on what is being called "The Great Garbage Patch at http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/. I first learned about this in the book "The World Without Us" by Alan Wiesman. And the March 30, 2009 New Yorker article "THE MAKING OF THE PLASTIKI" describes this man made ocean plastic dump.
This is just a start, I hope to see both the blog and the website grow into full maturity over time. But as for right now, I had to do something. My chinese take out doesn't need to include 4 plastic forks AND chopsticks. Besides I am taking it home where I have perfectly useful non-plastic silverware.
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