How much plastic do we need?
How much plastic do you use a day? I guess it depends firstly on where you live, what alternatives you have available and, mainly, on what your own personal ethos is regarding the environment as a whole.
In Indonesia, as in many other countries in the world, the love affair with plastic shows no sign of waning. It is with a puzzled look that the shop assistant hands you your bottle of water when you have told them you do not need a plastic bag. Even the smallest of products, such as chocolate or noodles are packaged within an inch of their lives. Not only bad for the environment, but kind of frustrating when you have to open three layers of packaging to get to your Dairy Milk!
And what about the not so obvious offenders; mobile phones, chargers, other electrical goods. And fashion? Anyone who has ever cleaned a beach will testify to the omnipresent lone flip-flop (most commonly the right foot in our experience!)
Greenfins provide the following facts on the breakdown of plastics:
- Plastic bags – 10-20 years
- Styrofoam cup – 50 years
- Foamed plastic buoy – 80-100 years
- Plastic bottle – 450 years
- Sachets (Low Density Polyethylene) – 500-1000 years
It’s great to see action being taken in Flores. The Plasticman Institute has been set up to help the community manage their waste and to raise awareness about recycling. Working closely with them is The Ecoflores Network, which is actively working on many issues within Flores to support a strong future. In October 2012 Eco Flores Foundation initiated the Eco Flores Waste Management Waste Initiative
At Wicked Diving we are always working to protecting the environment we are lucky enough to live and work in, and making it a place that the local communities can be proud to share.
- On our liveaboard boats we provide guests with refillable, aluminum bottles for the duration of their stay, meaning that we eliminate single use plastic bottles
- Guests on our trips are also invited to join in with beach cleans in the local areas
- We have set-up a bottle refill station in our shop to encourage our guests to reuse their plastic bottles, and hey, you get to save some money too – win win!
- We try to be clever about the products we use, what can be refilled and what can be bought in bulk, to reduce our use of excessive packaging in the form of small bottles and containers
We always welcome suggestions from our guests and friends as to how we can do more and use less. Ideally, regardless of whether you can recycle or not, the best course of action is not to use plastic in the first place.
Hopefully with time and education, we will be able to see a positive change which will allow future generations to enjoy the natural planet year after year, and will also preserve the places of spectacular beauty for the local communities who live and work there.
