Eco Friendly House And Garden

Should you use normal plastic loads of times - or biodegradable plastic just the once?

There have been many recent developments in the plastic industry and the most controversial is the biodegradable versions that we had all waited so long for!

However, there are some unforeseen problems with these new versions - and it is a difficult eco friendly choice between them and ‘normal’ plastics.

See the 2 examples below of the 2 ways in which these plastic can be more eco friendly:

1) Buy a product in a normal plastic bottle and either re-use it forever or recycle it again and again, or;

2) Buy a product in a biodegradable plastic bottle (either HBP or OBP) that contains ingredients that will speed up its bio-degradation or turn it into compost when you dispose of it.

The 2 don’t mix!  It has to be 1 or the other!

What Does Biodegradable Mean?
If you first consider the word ‘biodegradable’ in its general meaning - it is any product (solid or liquid) that will break down naturally into environmentally safe and virtually natural products that can be used by living organisms in around 6 months.

However, there is no legal definition in terms of products in the stores - so anything claiming to be ‘biodegradable’ could be just that - or could be nothing of the sort; even if it has green pattern all over it and a picture of some wildlife on it!

So, what these biodegradable plastics are trying to do is to be better than existing plastics.  They claim that they will break down into less harmful and polluting particles relatively quickly compared to standard plastics, and so will have less of a detrimental effect on wildlife in the long term.

Don’t forget that existing plastics will also break down naturally (in the sense that if you leave a carrier bag part buried in your garden - it will eventually fall apart) but the plastic doesn’t actually disappear, it will just be in ever smaller parts.

Why Biodegradable Plastic Then?
Well, there has been an awful lot of bad press for plastic lately - what with sea turtles swallowing carrier bags and albatross feeding bits of plastic to their young - not to mention the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch that people were looking for a way to make plastic bottles, containers and other products get a lot smaller a lot quicker.

By making a plastic that breaks down as soon as possible means that whole bottles and bags won’t be found floating in the sea killing birds and turtles any more!

Washed Up Plastic Waste

You still need to be aware of the way the products break down though to be most effective - for example the 2 types of biodegradable plastic currently available as HBP (hydro-biodegradable plastic) and OBP (oxy-biodegradable plastic).

And as their name suggests; one needs water to break down quickly and the other needs air - so bury these in bin bags in land fill sites won’t really make either of them disappear any quicker than normal plastics - but imagine they were litter in the countryside or rubbish floating in the Atlantic.

It’s a whole different story then!  They would soon disappear making our wild areas cleaner and safer for living things!

What’s The Problem Then?
We have discussed that biodegradable plastics must be the best for the environment then - as they don’t stay in the environment for ever and ever as whole plastic products - they break down fast into less harmful particles!  Right?

Well, it’s not so clear cut as you can’t recycle them. 

Adding either HBP’s or OBP’s to recycled plastic can actually be more harmful than good - as these new plastics are designed to break down - so they can actually render a recycled plastic product virtually useless in just a few months!  And many councils are actually trying to get them banned as a result!

We all know that there is only a reason to make a product if it is financially viable - so reducing the need for plastic recycling could cause an end to recycled products!

And if the biodegradable products are meant to break down - then we are actually creating a market for more and more plastic to be created.  Rather than re-use your old toiletries bottles and food containers again and again - you would have to keep buying new ones instead!

So, is the new plastic actually any more eco friendly than the old?

Don’t think that ’someone like you’ can’t make a bigger company have to make changes.

In today’s society there are plenty of ‘little poeple’ out there fighting for a larger cause - so don’t think that you couldn’t be one of them.  Not everyone wants to take on something huge - but if you do, then take the following as inspiration.

The Film CRUDE (2009) is all about a massive ongoing court case between the indigenous tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon and Texaco (which was brought up in 2001 by Chevron).

30,000 people from the area filed a class action lawsuit against the huge oil company in 1993 for polluting their land.  They wanted them held responsible for causing human health issues, animal health issues, and environmental health issues through systematic ’spilling’ of oil into the natural watercourses and penetration into the ground from continuous overflow and dumping of toxic petrochemical waste over the past decades.

And who took on this case for the people?  A newly qualified young lawyer called Pedro Fajardo who lives close by.

He had grown up watching his environment being destroyed and poisoned by the petrochemical company, and decided to work really hard towards fighting his case as soon as he was able.  Being from a poor family he worked extra hard to get good grades and so was able to get sponsorship from a Catholic School to take his law degree.  This case was his first case taken on after graduating!

How Is This Relevant To Me?
Well, what are you passionate enough about to make a real difference?  What things have you thought were ‘unfair’ or ‘unjust’ in your local area or around the world?

You can make a difference if you just make sure you are in the right environment to make a difference - and you make sure you can do the best job possible to achieve it.

For example a friend of mine found out that a property close to the entrance to her children’s school was going to be converted into 8 flats - with the drive emptying out into the street where her children walked every morning.  She found out about the application and what it meant for the local area and then produced a short print-out of facts to other parents - raising her concerns over increased traffic so close to children.

She managed to get enough signatures of complaint from other concerned parents that the application was refused - although she wasn’t too happy about the photo of her they put in the local paper!

I know this is only small fry compared to the years long battle in CRUDE, but every small step can lead to a larger one.  And every other person out there fighting a case is winning for truth.  As Pablo said in the film; Texaco have a harder job than him fighting the case as he is just telling the truth - they are having to think of a lie to cover that truth every time!

How Did He Do It Then?
Of course it wasn’t just a self-funding attorney from Ecuador that is taking on the entirety of the $200 billion annual revenue multi-national oil-producing Chevron - he had friends!

When you are fighting a true case like this - where the evidence speaks for itself - you will always find other people fighting for similar causes that will chip in - making your voice louder.

For example Pablo had won the attention of a US attorney and his board of funders - and they believed in his cause.  Whether they were really in it for the Ecuadorian people or the huge sums of money doesn’t matter - they were there when he needed them.

Other charities also stepped into assist, including Trudie Styler and Sting who work for their own humanitarian charity the Rainforest Foundation Fund - as well as articles in magazines such as Vanity Fair.  Of course the best voice for his cause was when this documentary was made by Joe Berlinger (and make sure you watch it) - as the world can now see first-hand the people involved and the damage they are having to live with.

So don’t think that when you start something you are alone - you can always find others willing to make a difference too - and together you can make it bigger!

Here we continue on from our debate with a look at what Organic and Fair Trade mean in terms of our food. 

One is more concerned with the health of the environment and ecosystem, while the other places more of it’s attention onto the growers and the farming communities of developing countries.

Organic:
Many governments have strict laws regarding the use of the word ‘Organic’ on food and feeds and they must be registered with a certified organic body.  However organic food can be imported from any country in the world, as long as it also has a certified organic body. 

The aim of organic farming is best described as optimizing the health and productivity of linked communities of soil life, plants, animals and people. 

As a result the environment is better treated; livestock and crops are not injected or sprayed with chemicals and the resulting food is as natural as can be and ultimately contains more natural ingredients and nutrition.

As a result the animals that we farm will be better treated (ie. have more space and more natural diets), the wildlife and watercourses will not be exposed to intensive farming and overuse of chemicals and associated problems, and the resulting food will be more nutritious and virtually chemical free.

Fair Trade:
This heading is more directed at the workers themselves, rather than the nutritional value of their foods.

Basically, it promotes the equality of workers in all countries by guaranteeing certain prices and certain working conditions that benefit small farms and local farming communities.

As it offers better quality of life to people, it therefore offers a great alternative to non-fair trade products from the same locations, for example fair trade bananas.  We can’t grow them here and have to import them; so why support poor working conditions by buying non-fair trade products?

The amount you pay is not that different, but more of the money can go into schools and communities rather than an international firms pocket!

Your Conclusion?
It is still very difficult to decide when you should by organic and when fair trade?  And can local produce even be fair trade?

You need to decide what is important to you first for each food type (as sometimes you will have little choice apart from not eating that food when you want - but when it’s available!).

1) If you want to reduce climate change then only buy locally and seasonal to prevent carbon emissions from extra resources and from flights and shipping long-haul.

2) If you want to be more environmentally friendly, then choose seasonal to reduce growth enhancers being used; and organic which will reduce the chemicals and fertilisers being used en masse in the countryside and waterways.

3) If you want to support developing countries and small farms, then buy fair trade (and possibly organic) to reduce their stresses and exposure to multi-national abuse and chemical overload!

4) If you want to ‘be healthy’ and reduce your families exposure to chemicals then buy locally and organically to reduce your exposure to artificial ingredients and chemical in your foods, but also from exposure from exhaust fumes from transported goods from elsewhere.

Sometimes, it’s not that easy - or that clear cut, but if you want to seriously make a difference, you are going to have to start making some decisions.

Trying To Be Seasonal - But Don’t Know What’s What?

We are so used to seeing certain fruit and vegetables on our supermarket shelves that we are not sure now which ones are in season and which ones are being shipped in from the other side of the world!

If you have your own allotment or back yard veggie patch, then you will be more than aware of which crops are available when, but there is still the question of food miles for everything else that we still buy from chain stores.

All packaged fruit and veg in stores is labelled with where it is from - but then you have the question of ’should we be buying all that packaging in the first place’, however, those loose fruit and veg usually have no identification or use by dates.  You just pick the individual pieces you like the look of, and eat them before they look too rotten!

Obviously, buying from a local pick-your-own farm store or independent food store will usually only be selling those items that they have pulled from the surrounding fields, but even they and many larger organic home-delivery veggie-boxes contain ‘foreign foods’ like pineapples and bananas. 

They may well be in season, and they may well be organic - but they are from plantations on the other side of the planet!

Is all this right?

Well, here are a few definitions to help you make up your own mind about your shopping habits:

Seasonal:
This means that the fruit or vegetables are being grown naturally where the weather is right for their germination and subsequent growth.

This works in exactly the same way as wild flowers like daffodils.  They are waiting for the right environmental circumstances (heat/light/moisture) to burst from the ground and into flower. 

Plants grown in season are growing ‘naturally’ and so need less chemicals and fertilisers.  As they are growing in their natural climate and at the right time of year they should be healthy and easier to grow.

Non-Seasonal:
These are plants that are forced to grow in an artificial environment and therefore will use many more resources (heating/bright lights/pumped water) to flourish.  Using the same example as above - this is like trying to grow daffodils in Antarctica. 

This also highlights that non-seasonal goods can be grown almost anywhere - and this is usually in developing countries with cheaper resources. 

It is rare to find an organic product that is grown ‘out of season’ due to the articicial resources needed, which is why we move to different farmers around the globe to keep supplies of certain foods ‘in season’ - adding to air miles.

Locally Grown:
Ideally this should define foods that are grown within 12 miles (20km) of where you purchase them (which should ideally be where you live).  However, they may contain any number of chemicals and be grown out of season.

Many farm stores grown their produce around the back of their own buildings, but they do bring some further distances as and when. 

Make sure your farm store doesn’t start to morph into an independent supermarket though, and starts stocking out-of-season veg or foods from overseas to meet demand!  If enough people expect their local farm store to stock bananas - they soon will, and this surely defeats the whole point of their initial ‘local’ ethics.

Locally grown food can however, have better eco credentials than overseas organic food due to the distance imported food has to travel in the air or by road to get to the supermarkets.

See Should We Buy Seasonal Food Even If It’s Not Organic?  Part 2 for details on Organic & Fair Trade Options.

The Environmental Cost of Cheap Plastic doesn’t make for a great story.

However, there are some people out there who want to make a difference - and a crazy millionaire is about to set sail in a 60ft boat made of plastic bottled stuck together to prove a point!

He is trying highlight the problem of the ever growing ’sea of plastic’ in the Pacific Ocean. This ’sea’ is a place where all floating rubbish from the worlds oceans eventually ends up. It then becomes ‘trapped’ there, stuck together in this one place somewhere between Hawaii and mainland US.

This mass of rubbish floating just under the surface currently weighs an estimated 3.5 tonnes and is around 3 times the size of Japan or larger than Bolivia!

The Problem:
The UN estimates that there are over 45,000 pieces of plastic floating on every square mile of the oceans - devastating the wildlife that depends on it for survival. We are all aware that turtles eat carrier bags thinking they are jellyfish and seabirds collect them from the seas and feed them to their young instead of actual food - dooming them to starvation.

Because it isn’t biodegradable, plastic is with us for ever. Every piece of plastic that has ever been made since it’s invention is still here today. Yes, it’s not all whole pieces - plastic is gradually worn down or crushed by animals and people and much is buried under the earth - but it is all still there, doing nothing but damage.

More frightening is the fact that figures suggest that over 100m tonnes more plastic is being produced each year!!! All because of human demands.

How it’s generated:
Starting with food: Think of all those individual bottles of kids fizzy soda available, all the individually wrapped cheeses rather than fresh chunks off the deli counter. Shrink wrapped vegetables rather than fresh from the farm store!

Then the home: Disposable pens are thrown away, dropped or broken every day. Because they are cheap we don’t really care about them. Like so many modern technologies, it’s cheaper to throw them out than get them repaired. Disposible anything is a disaster waiting to happen - lighters, cups, cutlery, bottles, plates, straws, jewelry, razors and diapers to name a few.

If you buy things that have been designed to be thrown out after a short time or even one single use then you are directly contributing to this environmental disaster. Companies are not going to invest money in making these disposible items recyclable either if you are buying them as a product you know you are not going to use again.

Would you put loads of effort into making your friend an expensive gift if you knew it would be thrown out straight after?

What you can do?
Here is a list of ideas for you to help reduce your plastic use, affect manufacturers and clean up after yourself and others:

1. Never drop litter or expect someone else to take care of your waste.
2. Try to avoid buying over-wrapped products - even if the packaging is recyclable, it still had to be created and who is to say that the person who uses your recycled plastic won’t dump it later.
3. Buy larger containers of your favourite packaged products so that there is more product per outer wrapping. You could even write to the companies to ask if they could reduce their plastic packaging or offer refills rather than whole new products.
4. Let your local stores know that you would rather see less packaged fresh produce by actively buying those products that are currently loose. These include meat, fish, cheese, fruit, vegetables, bread and pastries to name a few. This way the stores sales reports will hightlight customer shopping patterns and improve their service in those areas.
5. Spend that bit extra for technology and office equipment so that it lasts longer. Better quality products will be cheaper in the long run as when maintained they will have a very long shelf life. Think about what you want to buy before you make a purchase so that your technology isn’t overtaken in a month forcing you to upgrade again. If you reduce your demand on manufacturers of cheap appliances, they will have to improve their products to stay in the market.
6. Don’t buy disposable anything. If you plan your time and activities better, you will never just need that one little thing to tide you over - and disposable goods usually come in large pack sizes creating more waste than you needed!
7. Take time to reuse everything plastic you can - use bottles for mini garden cloches, tubs for jams and preserves, to store leftovers, and many more uses.
8. Recycling can sometimes be trickier as many agencies send waste to other regions or other countries to be processed creating more energy waste than necessary - as long as it’s cheaper, it will be done like this. Make sure you know where your waste and recycling is processed and voice you opinions if you aren’t happy about it.
9. Organise a beach-combing or woodland team to collect litter and plastics before they do more harm. Not only are these great fun, they make your own environment look better and improve the health of your wildlife all at the same time. And then you can dispose of the waste more responsibly.