The Plastic that Binds Us

The beginning of December shouldn’t always catch me off-guard. I’ve been meaning to do this all year- track my living to see if I’m sustainable and what improvements and adjustments I need to make. At this stage in the world’s development, my feeling is that the more of us that do this, the greater a chance the Earth has to survive. There are so many examples of how we, as humans, have failed the Earth: air pollution, senseless animal killings, plastic killing off seabirds, plastic in general, development that destroys nature for no reason… it’s a devastating picture, and for some reason 2017 is the year I’ve seen it all in its terrible blood-soaked strokes.

My journey with "sustainable living" is not new, but over the years it has been anything but sustainable. I’ve done the environmental fads: I’ve ditched bottled water on and off; I’ve taken to walking to get  wherever I need to be on and off; I’ve switched to more environmentally friendly hygiene products on and off. What I’d like to do is do these things (and several more) in the ON mode.

One of those other things is a change in diet, because with the air travel necessitated by my current job, my carbon footprint is overwhelming! For just 4 of the 9 (maybe more) return flights this year, I'm almost at 10 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is so bad, given that the average footprint for people in Kenya is 0.30 metric tons, and the worldwide target to combat climate change is 2 metric tons. You can check your footprint using this tool: <iframe width="710" height="1300" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" src="https://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx"></iframe>

But this lifestyle change will require its own dedicated page. Let me focus first on the most pervasive cause for concern, and perhaps the hardest to change.

At the Oceans Conference in New York in June, my colleagues and I were appalled at the state of the oceans due to human pollution. Plastic is choking the life out of the seas, and the many creatures that depend on the sea for survival. The plight of plastic on Albatross birds on Midway Island is one of the tens of videos that brought tears to our eyes-  Midway Island is in the middle of nowhere. There are no human habitations for 2000 miles, and yet, here are these defenseless birds dying because of the bits of plastic we throw away each day. Its become apparent that we, as an entire world, were duped by an industry whose sole goal is profit. 

The plastics industry somehow convinced us that this indestructible material (plastic) could also be disposable. We substituted it in things that were already frivolous -paper straws for plastic straws for instance. Plastic Forks. Plastic Spoons. Plastics Bottles. Plastic Shopping Bags. It's stuff that is easily replaceable but has made such a dramatic mark on us and our lifestyles that it took nearly a decade to effect a ban on plastic shopping bags in Kenya, with legal challenges that threatened to overturn the ban. 

Having fallen for the industry trick, we've become insatiable in our hunger for plastic. And now everything is dying because of it. Entire species are at risk. If they are not eating it (and thus dying of starvation because plastic cannot be digested and so the brain is tricked that the stomach is full and sends no hunger signals), then they are consuming harmful algal blooms that thrive in warmer ocean conditions (occasioned both by climate change and by plastic pollution that traps heat in the ocean) and dying as a result. Whatever the case, our addiction to plastic is revealing unconscionable unintended consequences.

And I’m part of the problem. Living this new Nairobi lifestyle means eating out and ordering in more than I did growing up. With each of these events, the total amount of single-use plastic items I use has increased. From two straws in a cocktail glass, to a plastic fork and knife wrapped in plastic, to a toothpick also separately wrapped in plastic, I have fueled this great ocean killing spree. So, in a bid to sleep easier at night, I stopped using all these things. I actively request the serving staff to NOT include a straw with my drink. I have a standing request for all online food deliveries to come sans cutlery or condiments. I roped some family members in with me, and some friends, but we’re not even making a dent. So what next? 

Restaurants are getting involved: Kudos to J's and the Tin Roof Cafe for saying no to plastic straws. At the Ocean's Conference, one great concrete step suggested was a "4R" strategy: Refuse-Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. You and I as consumers, have the ability, right and duty to refuse single-use plastic like straws and cutlery and condiments we know we won't use. Let's exercise this right. Because all these items are demand driven, restaurants won't continue purchasing them if their patrons don't want them any more. 

Of course the bigger step is the change in mindset: Carrying your own water bottle is not a status symbol but an act of conscious living. I've even started carrying real cutlery in a side pocket of my handbag. When my sister posted about this the other day, a friend asked "What happens when you want to eat yoghurt and there is no straw?" The answer (use a spoon) is now in a side pocket in my bag :) If you think that's crazy and will never catch on, imagine how many plastic spoons you've used in your lifetime that are ALL currently sitting in some landfill somewhere or floating in the sea. There must be thousands, all attributed to just one person. If that caught on, and put us in the bind we're in today, why can't handbag/pocket cutlery? ;-)