Plastic Bag Overload

ISP has reported that only 375 tonnes of waste a year is collected in Nairobi, meaning that over 1,200 tonnes of waste is not only left within the community but is then dumped in the local river. In the slum areas of Nairobi there is still not any formal kind of garbage collection, meaning that since its creation in 1899, when it was first known for its clean river, it has had rubbish dumped in it for 110 years. The majority of this solid waste is put into plastic a bag which is then thrown into the neighbouring River.

In response to this detrimental amount of rubbish the government has been in talks with local businesses in order to reduce the plastic consumption. Since the main issue is that the people have been using plastic bags as garbage bags the government has been looking into alternative packing which is bio degradable. If the plan was to go forward this would mean that although rubbish would still be put into the river it would, eventually, dissipate quicker. However, Nairobi has highlighted the fact that although their situation may be dire it is actually only a reflection of other countries predicaments. This raises the question, of firstly is this true and if so what can we really do to stop it.

As we, in the UK, do have a garbage disposal system and are becoming more plastic conscious it would at first seem unlikely that we will end up throwing our garbage in local rivers. However, if all of the government's proposals were to go through it does not seem unlikely that many of us may end up doing just that out of personal financial issues.

On of the methods employed by local government in the UK is that in some areas you are fined if there is plastic in your waste bin rather than your recycling bin, the most obvious problem here is that with larger families, usually the recycling box can be over filled on festive holidays. If we then had to keep that garbage and slowly integrate it to avoid being fined we will all end up with our own landfill site, behind our garden sheds and behind out conifers. Furthermore, this method will not help Nairobi as they do not have garbage collection and such a financially draining option is not open to them.

A second proposal that the UK government has tried to employ within itself is the idea of changing packaging to that of a more recyclable quality as Nairobi has proposed. However, we will still be left with a high amount of rubbish that still needs to be recycled. What would be better is to reduce the packaging of products and this is what the companies in Nairobi have strongly resisted, although they are far removed from our community it seems likely that the same would happen here. Either way all the proposals made have their downside, a compensatory factor but then again if we do refuse the negatives then we may end up in the same situation as Nairobi, a community full of waste with our most natural resources suffering because of it.
--
Be a part of the solution, not the problem - Switch from using non bio degradable plastic bags to eco-friendly tote bags today!