In our recent submission on the Government’s proposal to phase out single-use shopping bags, the Dunedin City Council overwhelmingly supported the move. There is a growing understanding of their negative impact on marine life, to say nothing of the resource inefficiency of producing 7 million a year for this country alone. We also felt that while suitable alternatives currently exist, the cost of such a switch would fall disproportionately on our low income residents, and that the Government should make it easier for them as part of its final plan.
A lot has been made of the various efforts globally to reduce our reliance on singe use plastics, with shopping bags and straws being singled out specifically, but this isn’t because they’re our biggest waste problem. The Great Pacific Garbage Dump — 79,000 metric tonnes of rubbish between Hawaii and California — is mostly abandoned fishing gear.
Effective campaigns of any sort are simple and tangible, which is the real appeal here. The impending rules around plastic bags is a victory, and when people feel like they’ve been part of the winning team, they’re more likely to get increasingly active in looking after the place a bit better. It’s good to get people thinking about how they can contribute to the challenges we face, but it becomes counter-productive when we let it morph into preaching, shaming people for not making the "right choices" because that clearly means they "don’t care enough".
Too often the onus here is on the individual to change, for the good of the planet. If we all just made an effort and used less plastic the whales would be saved!This is noble, and well intentioned, but we should always ask: who are we leaving behind?
Countdown’s recent decision to stop selling plastic straws is a great example of perverse outcomes. For a number of people living with a disability, these simple tools afford them a degree of independence and dignity they wouldn’t otherwise have. The alternatives — metal, paper, silicon, whatever — are inadequate or hazardous for various reasons. In the discussion following the announcement, I was amazed at how many of my fellow middle class, able bodied environmentalists were happy to expect them to simply adapt, for the greater good. That somehow an already vulnerable community should be responsible for fixing the system, rather than manufacturers, and because we can’t be trusted not to buy stuff we don’t need, they should go without something that they do.
The problem with the focus on individual solutions is that many of them require time or money that many people simply don’t have. When you’re working two jobs to keep food on the table, you’re not likely to stop and think about whether it could have come in cardboard. As an experiment, our family went through the month of September without buying plastic. We made exceptions for things like medicine. We got lucky in that we had enough of some supplies to see us through. We didn’t do this to prove it was possible, but to pay attention to what made it impossible.
I paid $24 for a stick of deodorant. Bin Inn isn’t on a bus route. Reusable nappies are equally as absorbent of unpaid labour. Being able to take action at a household scale should be applauded, but it can’t be expected. The answers lie in more inclusive, collective action. The Government is reviewing the tools in the Waste Minimisation Act, including making the producers of products like tyres and batteries more responsible for disposing of them when they’ve expired. In Dunedin, we’re looking at our own waste minimisation and management plan, as well as looking at what we do with kerbside collections, recycling and landfills.
Should we look at kerbside organic waste collection, and what would we do with it when we’ve picked it up? Can we rely on other countries to keep taking our empty plastic bottles, or do we need to face up to the reality of dealing with our own mess here at home? More importantly, how will all this be paid for?
When we’re tackling all of these big questions, it’s important that we keep the principles of fairness at the front of our minds, equality of outcome and of opportunity. Most New Zealanders understand this stuff is important and want to help out. We need to work together to make sure everyone has the chance to contribute in the most meaningful way possible.
