v: The Climate Column
A blue pill for the planet Patrick Dunne Plastic. Perhaps the most successful man-made Marianne with illustration by Hazel material of Hughes, all, and perhaps the most iconic product of the climate and ecological crisis. Plastic is everywhere: from individually wrapped fruit, to pacemakers; from the Pacific Ocean, to human placentas. In many ways it is a tremendous success story of human innovation, a versatile and incredibly useful— and cheap —substance. Plastic has created innumerable diversions for our entertainment, contributed to the flood of disposable clothing, and protected produce in our vast global food networks. We don't seem to be able to do without it. But plastic is made from fossil fuels and is increasingly a product of fracking. It has been found in microparticle form in every part of the earth, every food chain, organism and habitat. It can choke, poison and corrupt. Plastic, as well as its by-products and production processes, has been linked to all manner of human health and ecological crises, from litter on beaches to cancers, infertility and illness. Anyone who has attempted to identify, clean and separate their own household plastic knows how difficult it can be to dispose of. Imagine that multiplied by seven billion people and you can see the challenge we face. Huge amounts of plastic are shipped to China, Malaysia and elsewhere, as we in the UK and other industrialised countries offload our waste to less economically and politically powerful parts of the world, often using this practice to mask our emissions. But even as we send it away, we can’t get away from it. Even our gardens are full of plastics: from pots, trays and labels to packaging for plants, seeds and compost. If you have used compost made from recycled garden waste, or dug over an urban allotment, then you will know how much plastic is now in the soil. It is in everything, everywhere.
Attitudes to plastic are changing. It litters
Brady almost every beach, forest and mountain on
earth, and as a result is the target of every litterpicking and beach-cleaning environmental action group. Campaigns against single-use plastics are popular and easy to communicate to an increasingly aware public. Plastic-free shops and products are springing up to offer meaningful alternatives to this poisonous (literally) and toxic (politically) product. So, will we see less plastic soon, perhaps? Perhaps not. The fossil fuel industry has no plans to put itself out of business. Nor do governments appear to have serious plans to address demand for plastic products or the consumption of disposable items (which themselves depend on plastic-choked supply systems). As oil companies look to a future with less demand for petrol, they are keen to identify markets where they can still sell their products, and plastics is a market they are investing in. Heavily. Fracking has made plastic production cheaper, and international supply chains, Western farming models, fast fashion and disposable consumerism are driving demand. Plastic is central to so-called ‘aspirational’ lifestyles, and companies are planning for increased demand in the coming decades. (Yet still they promote their Net Zero plans? More on this in future columns...)
