Stunning Go for the green Real estate tips Healthy point of VIU

Following the plastic trail
Our sleuth digs deep into the morass of plastic
By Emma Levez Larocque
For the past couple of years I have
been on a rampage against plastic.
Why? you may ask. Well, it started when
I began learning about cities around the
world that were banning plastic bags. I
questioned why they would ban such
a useful thing. I was intrigued, so I did
some research. I learned that there were
lots of good reasons to ban the bag. These
seemingly benign articles were filling our
oceans and landfills, littering our landscapes,
causing animals to starve, blocking
sewers, and generally causing havoc
around the globe! And so it began. One
brave day I opened the closet where my
massive collection of plastic bags had
been ceremoniously stuffed (not without
fear that I might be suffocated in the process),
and moved them from that closet
to my little blue car. I took them all to the
recycling depot and vowed never to use
plastic bags again.
But it didn’t end there. Next I learned
about Bisphenol A, also known as BPA,
and how it was leaching into the bottled
water I was drinking. Then I started
thinking about the plastic Tupperware
and “reusable” margarine containers I
was storing my leftover food in. Thoughts
of toxic chemicals permeating everything
I touched and gave me goose bumps
(which I feared might be early signs of
some scary plastic disease). So I braved
my Tupperware cupboard. There were
containers of every imaginable size,
shape and colour all precariously stacked,
threatening to collapse into a heap, with
me at the bottom. Who said you couldn’t
have too much Tupperware? I struggled,
especially with no plastic bags in which
to carry them, but I got them into my car
and down to the recycling depot. Phew!
What a relief!
Then I found out about the Great Pacific
Gyre, also known as the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch. I watched video footage
of Captain Charles Moore and members
of the Algalita Foundation dragging
tonnes of plastic garbage from this
current-free zone in the ocean. Images of
the Great Pacific Garbage Patch floated
through my dreams, causing me to go, I
admit, just a little bit crazy every time I
saw another piece of plastic being carelessly
tossed away. So now I knew where
all the plastic was going. I thought of all
my discarded plastic bags and Tupperware
containers. But wait! What about
the recycling depot?
I have been a fanatical recycler for many
years, proud that my household produces
only one bag of garbage per month. Most
people I know recycle, so how can all this
plastic garbage be in the ocean? I was on
a mission; I wanted to know.
The movie “Addicted to Plastic,” recently
shown at the Powell River Film
Festival, stated that only five per cent of
manufactured plastic is actually recycled
into new materials once it has served
its useful purpose. Five per cent? There
was one obvious reason I could think
of: people aren’t recycling. I had always
known there was a certain amount of
truth to that, but I wasn’t prepared for
what I found out.
I made a call to the Powell River Regional
District to find local garbage and
recycling statistics. In 2008 Powell River
and area residents produced 5,045
tonnes of garbage. We recycled only
GREEN PET TIPS
4480 Manson Avenue
(corner of Duncan & Manson)
604 485-2244
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POwEll RIVER lIVINg : april 2009 7