How To Travel Plastic-Free!

We’ve seen enough dystopian fictional movies about how the world would end because of alien invasions, pandemics, and zombie apocalypses. However, we can laugh it off and say that we would know when something like this would happen. Can we say the same for plastic pollution that is slowly but steadily gripping the Earth? Because of the slow creeping effect of plastics pollution, consumers are being blindsided to the negative after-effects of plastics if we don’t do plastics recycling. It is happening around us and we can no longer laugh it off!

What are the issues that plastics can give us?

Plastics are polymeric hydrocarbon chains that are very versatile in nature and function. However, their drawback is that they decompose extremely slowly and there are no efficient ways for their disposal. Burning them just releases toxic gases which can cause more harm to the environment and the people. There are some plastics that even leach out into water or food that they carry and can be carcinogenic.

Why go plastic-free?

Going plastic-free is extremely important right now. The world has already seen enough clutter and plastic production and it is just not stopping. That is our first clue: why doesn’t the production stop? This is because the demand is high and constant. Tackling the demand issue is key to solving the whole problem of excessive plastic.  Consumer excesses together with continual bombarding of advertisements to buy are driving demand.  

We know plastics can be extremely convenient thanks to their versatile benefits and properties. The one time they come very handy has to be during traveling. While traveling, we would want easy-to-use and disposable plastics that add convenience to the journey. However, this just adds to the ever-growing stockpile of plastic wastes on our planet.

In fact, Australia has been the pioneer for a movement called Plastic-Free July. The foundation initially operated from Australia but now is reputed almost globally. It focused on rallying people to take steps to prevent plastic waste generation. Also, July is the month people often travel, visit beaches and exotic places due to the summers. Hence, the amount of waste generated can be cumbersome. Single-use plastics actually lie at the heart of the problem and this can be bypassed by a few baby steps in the right direction.