Plastic is everywhere

So it is.  

 Footage of albatross feeding plastic waste to their young and photographs of vast areas of ocean littered in plastic are very distressing.  The recent news that disposable cardboard cups are lined with tricky-to-recycle plastic is dispiriting. And, as a prolific consumer of the things, the news that even tea-bags contain plastic stops me in my tracks.

 What to do?

 Not all plastic is bad, and some is clearly essential, but I am ignorant about the issue. I vaguely understand the terms 'recyclable' and 'one-use', but I am not confident about exactly what comprises what... and I am sure I can reduce my use.

 So, I am starting this blog to record my progress answering three areas of question:

 1. What exactly am I buying/using under the heading of plastics?

 2. Can what I buy and use be recycled... and is it?

 3. Are there alternatives, primarily for the stuff that can't be recycled.
There is a letter in today's Sunday Times, which suggests burning plastic waste?  How superficially easy that would be... but it surely can't be the answer. 

 A quick google brings up all sorts of objections: local air pollution, the creation of noxious chemicals in the burning process, disposal and risk of seepage of toxins into ground water are mentioned for starters.

 So, this blog starts with the sense that there will be no quick-fix answers.  I will set myself a series of challenges - they will be fun and interesting to pursue, I will inform and educate myself in the process... and hopefully make better choices for the environment as a result.

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