Where does your plastic trash go after you’ve disposed of it?
By RCN Ghana · 04 November 2008
Don’t you ever want to know what happens after – say, you’ve thrown away the black plastic bag – the one given to you as a carrier bag for the 50 pesewa bread you bought yesterday? Oh, the bread itself was packaged in a whitish plastic bag in the first place before the whole thing was repackaged in the black plastic! I am curious. I want to know. I so desperately want to track the life cycle of all the light-weight harmless-looking little plastic bags gifted to me for just about every little thing I buy.
Don’t you ever want to know what happens after – say, you’ve thrown away the black plastic bag – the one given to you as a carrier bag for the 50 pesewa bread you bought yesterday? Oh, the bread itself was packaged in a whitish plastic bag in the first place before the whole thing was repackaged in the black plastic! I am curious. I want to know. I so desperately want to track the life cycle of all the light-weight harmless-looking little plastic bags gifted to me for just about every little thing I buy. Out of good old politeness, no matter how well plastic-clothed the things I buy, I am shown more respect. And the respect translates into – more plastics.
Many times I have begged for less plastic but the sellers look at me and as if they secretly wonder: “Who is this strange little woman who cannot accept respect showered on her?” I am disturbed because I do not know what happens to the innocent-looking tough little creatures after I have used them and mindlessly ushered them into the universe, into the bottomless abyss. Well, the truth is: I don’t really use the plastics; they just cross my path! And I instantly dispose of them as soon as I pull out the contents I need and to which the plastic was a mere accompaniment.
The plastics are therefore only pretty and convenient add-ons. Since I don’t really need the many plastic wrappings, I let them go. So – they’re with me one moment and gone the next. But gone where? That’s what I want to know. Don’t you also want to…
Don’t you ever want to know what happens after – say, you’ve thrown away the black plastic bag – the one given to you as a carrier bag for the 50 pesewa bread you bought yesterday? Oh, the bread itself was packaged in a whitish plastic bag in the first place before the whole thing was repackaged in the black plastic! I am curious. I want to know. I so desperately want to track the life cycle of all the light-weight harmless-looking little plastic bags gifted to me for just about every little thing I buy. Out of good old politeness, no matter how well plastic-clothed the things I buy, I am shown more respect. And the respect translates into – more plastics.
Many times I have begged for less plastic but the sellers look at me and as if they secretly wonder: “Who is this strange little woman who cannot accept respect showered on her?” I am disturbed because I do not know what happens to the innocent-looking tough little creatures after I have used them and mindlessly ushered them into the universe, into the bottomless abyss. Well, the truth is: I don’t really use the plastics; they just cross my path! And I instantly dispose of them as soon as I pull out the contents I need and to which the plastic was a mere accompaniment.
The plastics are therefore only pretty and convenient add-ons. Since I don’t really need the many plastic wrappings, I let them go. So – they’re with me one moment and gone the next. But gone where? That’s what I want to know. Don’t you also want to…
