I believe that the right to air one’s views, to demonstrate, is a fundamental pillar of democracy. As a local councillor, when attending meetings at which matters important to the public are debated, I always get a thrill when I see groups of demonstrators outside; it means that someone cares. Why is it though that we only speak out when something is not going our way?
In protesting against climate change, I wonder if those involved considered the clothing they destroyed, and the cost of repairing, presumably at the tax-payers’ expense, the benches they glued themselves to at Gloucester County Council?
Recent news has also focused on school children who went ‘on strike’ to highlight the damage we are doing to our planet through the use of plastic, and the call for a ‘fast-fashion’ tax on clothes to offset the cost of handling waste and re-cycling.
These are all topics I have strong views on; my own pet littering peeves are the discarded cigarette ends and blobs of chewing gum I see on the streets.
When it comes to plastic packaging, it is not plastic that is the real problem; it is the irresponsible way that we dispose of our rubbish.
We appear to do little to penalise those who are the driving force behind excess packaging; supermarkets. They make huge profits by selling us goods, so they should be required to set up counters where shoppers can return their bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and other waste, in exchange for shopping vouchers or loyalty card points. This would also save a considerable amount of tax payers’ money by reducing the volume of on-street litter collection. The current system of individual on-street waste and re-cycling boxes is unsightly and refuse lorries crawling from house to house cannot be a cost-effective way to deal with this problem.
My recent visit to the Dharavi slum in Mumbai showed that by collecting, sorting and re-cycling the waste they find, slum-dwellers contribute the equivalent of a whopping great £324 million to the Indian economy.
As a single person I try to avoid using supermarkets, but when I do, I remove all excess packaging and leave it there; I did not ask for it, do not want it, and have less to dispose of when I get home.
I believe that all new builds should be designed to accommodate the requisite re-cycling facilities and a central collection point. Moreover, has anyone considered the cost of the water required to rinse out bottles and cans before disposing of them? I think not.
To reduce our carbon footprint, there is much we can do. It really is very simple; we cannot bemoan the loss of our local shops while we continue to buy out of season fruits, vegetables and flowers from foreign shores. With less choice available our diet may be less interesting, but we will all be better for it; fortunately, in Somerset we have an abundance of fresh local produce readily available.
When it comes to clothing and household goods, as a one-woman re-cycling unit I can hold my head up high with pride. I hate waste and eagerly accept cast-offs; over 75% of everything I own is second-hand, either from charity shops, auctions or someone else’s hand me downs, often for free. Most of my ‘stuff’ I have owned for over 25 years, leaving me with more money for life’s real pleasures, food, wine, travel and the theatre.
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