Three cheers for Germany! By July of the year 2021, Germany has pledged to ban the sale of single-use plastics. The list includes single-use plastic straws, cutlery, cotton swabs, and food containers. This is a move that’s in line with a directive set forth by the EU, intended for everyone to do their part to reduce plastic waste. As much as we would like for recycling to be the answer to Earth’s plastic problem, it simply isn’t. And if any country is a perfect case-in-point, that’s Germany. (1)
Recycling Single-Use Plastics Isn’t An Option
With their literal award-winning “green dot” recycling system, Germany has done everything they can to ensure that the plastics they produce do not end up in landfills but are instead recycled. Dubbed the “Recycling World Champion” by World Economic Forum in 2017, Germany has run up against the same issues that recycling programs the world over have seen. In a word, it’s misuse. The wrong types of plastic end up in the recycling bin, and sometimes plain old trash does. In Germany, up to 50% of what ends up in bins designated for plastic, is actually just garbage.
Of course, all this waste needs to be separated from the plastics. And then there is the matter of what types of plastics are in the bins. Not all plastics are created equal. Some are not recyclable at all, and some have to be broken down in specific ways. To make matters worse, sorting machines can’t tell one type of plastic from another.
The bottom line is that recycling is just not sustainable. We have tried. It’s time to move on. (1)
Reducing Our Consumption Of Single-Use Plastics
It’s not just time to move on, but it’s time to get serious. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is where we can see real evidence of the damage we humans continue to do through our irresponsible behaviors. This is a giant collection of floating trash… bits of plastic, old tires, boat hulls, marine nets, whatever you can think of… swirled together thanks to the currents in the Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is so huge that no one actually knows how big it is anymore, and it is so dense that larger debris can sink several meters down, creating something of an iceberg effect. Researchers also believe the seafloor beneath the Garbage Patch may be a giant trash heap at this point too. But they don’t have any way of verifying because all of these factors, make it nearly impossible. In addition to that, the size of the area is so massive that it’s too big to troll. (2)
One Small Stand Against Single-Use Plastics
Banning the sale of single-use plastics is a bold move, but it’s the right one. It will no doubt involve individual changes in behavior, but that is precisely the point. Though Germany is just one small country on the globe, they have contributed to the problem just as we all have. By saying “no more” to that, they will be on the right side of the climate crisis, making changes that benefit the planet. Now, just imagine if every other country on this beautiful planet of ours got on board with that thinking? We have all had a hand in creating messes like that horrific garbage patch. The only thing that is going to make it stop, is us stopping.
