The problem with plastic — and the hopes we have for sustainable change

"Micro-plastics are present in our food and in our water and ‘green’ labelling on packaging cannot always be trusted, but there is hope for change"

It's time to consider our relationship with plastic and its production

Plastic is everywhere, but it didn’t become a problem until after 1871, when an American inventor, John Wesley Hyatt, began producing celluloid, the first semi-synthetic.

A call had been put out for someone to create billiard balls but without ivory, which was becoming scarce. The balls were made, but not without a propensity to explode. 

Even so, there was no going back. In 1907 Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, which meant it didn’t contain any molecules found in nature.

Industry loved it. So did consumers. More was manufactured. The world couldn’t get enough.

This year, the World Economic Forum announced that we are “eating, drinking and breathing microplastics; they are raining down on us and are even found in breast milk and fed to our children”.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

While the impact that plastic pollution has had on planetary and human health is “abundantly clear”, the forum said, there are “major opportunities for the global community to bring about positive changes for plastics and the ocean”. 

Most of us are aware of this, so we seek out green-labelled products when shopping. However, environmentally friendly labelling is not always what it seems; we can not assume that such labelling is authentic While some of it is legitimate, much is not.

LABELS AND QUESTIONS

Margaux Le Gallou, of the Environmental Coalition on Standards, says: “Anyone can come up with their own label. There are no rules on what a label can or cannot claim on environmental matters. 

"A telling example would be a company that creates a sustainability label for their own products — self-awards it to their own product — with no consultation with any third party on the methodology behind how to be awarded the label.” 

She says consumers will see a ‘green’ label on the packaging, assume it’s reliable, and think the product is sustainable, when there is no guarantee of this.

Of third-party certification labels, Ms Le Gallou says: “Even for those, there are no legal rules on how open or transparent they should be, on how their criteria and methodologies are carried out, or as to their level of ambition. 

"There are no legal rules as to what happens after a label is awarded to a company, no guarantee of checks and monitoring, or of taking away the label if the company is in breach.”

Acknowledging that there are lots of reliable and credible labels, Ms Le Gallou says: “But there are also many more that are misleading, due to the absence of rules. Also, because hundreds of labels exist, consumers usually are not too familiar with them and, apart from the biggest, most well-known ones, they cannot really tell them apart. This is typically what the EU proposal on Substantiating Green Claims is trying to address, by removing all the really bad labels from the market.” 

Joy O'Leary of Cork Clothes Swap

ASSESSING REPLACEMENTS

In considering alternatives to plastic, Ms Le Gallou says the principle is to first assess if this replacement is useful. “For example, replacing single-use plastic packaging by single-use paper — or worse, glass — packaging would be a total waste of resources,” she says.

“Throwaway products should, as far as possible, be replaced by longer-lasting ones, and habits changed so they’re no longer needed. As evidence of this, she points out that many people are now in the habit of carrying around refillable bottles instead of buying single-use every time.

“Some people go to pastry shops and lunch places with their own box.”

As for clothes, she says: ”Most of them are now made with synthetic fabric and their lifetime has significantly decreased over the years. This is both a matter of production and of habits that need to be reverted. We need longer-use, mendable garments. Less clothes, less waste.”

While much product waste is caused by consumers, Ms Le Gallou says, “Even more are destroyed without ever getting into the hands of consumers, because of problematic stock-management practices and ever-changing trends.”

According to the charity Oxfam, every minute, half a tonne of clothing is dumped into a landfill in Ireland. That amount produces over 12 tonnes of carbon emissions, the same as driving 65,000km in a car. 

Buying just one white cotton shirt produces the same amount of emissions as driving 56km in a car. These are harrowing statistics, which make clothes swapping not only a great habit, but one we can all easily adopt.

Joy O’Leary is working to make this happen. She’s the founder of Cork Clothes Swap, a monthly event she initiated as a response to the planetary perils of fast fashion.

Confirming that she “sees a lot of synthetic clothes coming in to be swapped”, she adds: “This material doesn’t age well and because it’s cheap to buy, people are quick to throw it away.”

Flossie and Harriet Donnelly of Flossie and the Beach Cleaners

THE NEXT STEP

Because Cork Clothes Swap “struggles to rehome fast fashion”, a lot of it ends up in donation bins.

“The real gems that people are hunting for at our swaps are clothes made from plant or animal-based fibres,” Ms O’Leary says. “These age better and don’t fray as easily with wear.”

She recommends thrifting or swapping shoes, instead of buying new. She says: “Don’t forget about the sole. Natural rubber is biodegradable and can be recycled, and if choosing plastic, go for recycled rather than virgin.”

Ms O’Leary suggests opting for natural materials over synthetics, then qualifies her words with a wise reminder: “Even natural products have an impact on the environment, during production.” 

For those who buy shoes and boots made of plastic, she pragmatically suggests giving plastic a second life, by choosing recycled rather than virgin plastic. 

“It’s not always about replacing what you have for a sustainable alternative,” she says. “If you have shoes made from plastic, wear them, to keep them out of landfill.”

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the environmental issues facing our planet. But if we all try hard to make planet-friendly choices, reduce our carbon footprint, and reuse and recycle every day, the cumulative positive impact will be great.

Given the gravity of climate change reality, we very much need to hear whatever good news there is. One who’s well aware of this is Harriet Donnelly, founder and CEO of the marine charity, Flossie and the Beach Cleaners.

In her environmental educational work, she regularly visits schools. Often she hears youngsters asking in fear whether the planet will burn.

“They need positivity,” Ms Donnelly says.

“So when I’m talking to sixth-class students, I tell them: ‘We have five years to turn it around. There is still time to turn it around. Humans are very clever. We will always be able to live with climate change. The weather will get warmer, but inventions will be made. We will survive’.”

• For further reading on waste, see: www.mywaste.ie