BK 18 (Dec 3, 2019): Turning the Tide on Plastic - How Humanity (and You) Can Make Our Globe Clean Again

Hi Everyone...

Our Dec 3rd meeting with be a discussion of Turning the Tide on Plastic: How Humanity (and You) Can Make Our Globe Clean Again by Lucy Siegle (Jul 26, 2018).

With 4 weeks and approximately 241 pages it is about 9 pages of reading a day.

Check out the Bio & Videos below:

"Enough plastic is thrown away every year to circle the world 4 times
More than 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans each year
300 million tonnes of new plastic is produced every year
An estimated 15-51 trillion pieces of plastic now litter the world's oceans
38.5 million plastic bottles are used every day in the UK
A million plastic bottles are used per minute around the world
500 million plastic straws are used per year

Without big action, at the current rate, pieces of plastic will outnumber fish in the ocean by 2050. That is the legacy we are leaving our children and grandchildren.

Plastic flows into our lives from every direction and most of it is not recycled. Instead it is incinerated or ends up in landfill, where it will sit for hundreds of years, or enters the world's seas where it fragments into tiny pieces to become microplastics - the environmental scourge of our times.

Many of us had assumed that governments, brands and waste authorities were dealing with plastic on our behalf. But the impact of shows such as Blue Planet along with national beach cleans and high-profile campaigns have resulted in a collective wake-up call. If there were plans and strategies, they have not worked as we imagined. It would be easy to feel despondent but instead we need to turn our anger and emotion into action, starting by making a big dent in our own enormous consumption.

Turning the tide on Plastic is here just in time. Journalist, broadcaster and eco lifestyle expert Lucy Siegle provides a powerful call to arms to end the plastic pandemic along with the tools we need to make decisive change. It is a clear-eyed, authoritative and accessible guide to help us to take decisive and effective personal action.

Because this matters. When it comes to single-use plastics, we are habitual users, reaching out for plastic water bottles, disposable coffee cups, plastic straws and carrier bags multiple times a day. If only 12 of us adopt Lucy's 'reduce, rethink, refill, refuse' approach, we could potentially ditch 3K-15K single items of plastic in a year. When we consider our power as influencers - whether at school, the hairdressers, at work or on the bus - we suddenly become part of something significant.

So now is the time to speak up, take action and demand the change you want to see in the ocean, in the supermarket aisles and on the streets. It's time to turn the tide on plastic, and this book will show you how."

 *****
Here is what we discussed at the meeting...

* We were all grateful for and shocked by the statistics.

* We found it interesting on how plastic is used in Sustainable ways.

* We learned new problems with plastic.

* We discussed the many problems of plastic in the ocean.

* We discussed the gender differences in recycling plastic.

* We discussed microfibers from clothing.

* We discussed the recent death of marine life due to plastic.

* We discussed the "8 Rs."

* We discussed delivery packaging.

* We discussed plastic used in restaurants.

* We discussed microbeads and IL has banned.

* We discussed soap & I brought my Beekman 1802 soaps to discuss & for everyone to smell. :-)

   ~ Beekman 1802            ~ On HSN         ~ On QVC

* We discussed LUSH

* We discussed cloth diapers, cardboard toys, receipts covered with BPA, airplane coffee cups, food pouches, plastic umbrella bags, Weebles, tampons etc.

* We discussed soft drink plastic bottles.

* We discussed the refills The Body Shop use to do.

* We discussed METHOD brand & factory Bert & I toured a number of years ago in Pullman District.

* We discussed Whole Foods buying bulk etc.

* We discussed tea bags.

* We discussed fleece.

* We discussed balloons, glitter & wrapping paper.

* We discussed recycling rates.

* We discussed Unilever.

* We discussed Addidas & Nike Shoes.

* We discussed Ocean Clean Up Machines.

* We discussed the Netherlands.

* We discussed Bubble Wrap.

* We discussed resources.