You are never going to believe it, it is still raining. Ugh! I hope it dries up before tomorrow because we are out with our walking group.
I had to post this photo of drinking straws because our supermarkets are taking plastic straws off the shelves to reduce the sale of plastics. It is going to be the end of the world as we know it, ha ha.
Apparently they are cutting down on lots of plastics including plastic wraps for fruit and veg and also plastic bags. I agree with that, but one thing they are suggesting is stopping selling cotton buds because of the plastic in them too. Can't help feeling that it is a step too far.
I will have to hang on to these straws, one day they may be worth a fortune on eBay when you can no longer buy them in the shops. They could become a family heirloom.
Simply but very effective Babs, as for limiting plastics use, we did alright before in the black and white days, we will have to be more creative with paper OMG its are made from trees, glass then its only sand after all:)
Love the colours and perspective.
One day they will be a part of history! The sad thing is that at the moment, no matter how much the west tries to cut down on plastic, countries like China will keep on using more and more (seeing how much they use here is honestly shocking) so it may not have as much effect as we'd hope for
I agree with the fact that we must cut down on our use of plastic but only yesterday I read something written by my niece Ruth about the number of disabled children/people who really need the plastic straws. The paper straws can be chewed and they can choke on them. The bamboo ones can also be chewed with the same result. I know Ruth has problems with our darling Molly in getting her to drink and a plastic straw is the best alternative as it is flexible. As she says someone is bound to jump on the “special needs” bandwagon and start charging high prices for plastic straws for those who desperately need them if they are banned. Sorry it hit me yesterday as I hadn’t given disabled children a thought as I am sure many of the anti plastic protesters haven’t.
I love your photo and I remember now I have a couple of boxes tucked away for photos!
@pamknowler I worked with intellectually disabled adults and we used plastic straws for the reasons you mentioned. Paper can be chewed and causes choking and also the paper straws used to flatten and the person using them wasn't able to use them efficiently. Sal mentioned that there are stainless steel straws @hermann and I agree, but when you are working with 50 or more disabled people stainless steel isn't viable because of the cost and also sometimes the clients could get rather violent when frustrated and they could injure themselves or others with stainless steel straws. It is a curly subject, but maybe just limiting the use of plastic straws rather than banning them altogether may be the way to go. I have been injured with a stainless steel fork and we had to change to plastic knives and forks to reduce injuries to both clients and carers.
It's actually all a little OTT methinks. Yes, plastic can be a problem but it can also, for reasons such as you and Pam mention above, be a real godsend and shouldn't be discarded. Baby and bathwater comes to mind.......
Beautiful composition. A positive explosion of gorgeous colours
Beautiful capture and pov. They will make the straws from some different material, don't worry. I agree with the removal of plastic items especially with people disposing of them on the beach where the finally finish up in the sea with great harm to marine life.
Once again- government regulations do not really serve the people or environment. Whatever happened to recycling? There are so many great uses for recycled plastics- like making those pellets they use on playgrounds for children. I bet you there is some sort of money exchange going on between whatever substitute they will force on you like there was when they pulled incandescent light bulbs off our shelves. Honestly i don't see that many straws littered by the roadside- the garbage is made of all kinds of materials! Oh well, too much ranting here! Good shot- and yes hold on to them- they may end up in a museum!
@olivetreeann Sorry to be a contrarian, but plastic straws are causing all sorts of problems for marine life Ann. There's a very highly circulated (and brilliant) photo of a sea-horse with its tail wrapped around a floating cotton bud. I strongly support the removal of single-use plastic bags from supermarkets and always take my own reusable bags. As for straws and cotton buds, both used to be made with waxed paper, why not again? If you don't like that, you can buy multi-use stainless steel straws, complete with cleaning brush. There's a strong grass-roots movement here to dramatically reduce the use of single-use plastics. Recycling? A big yes, the problem here right now is that China has stopped taking our plastic waste and we don't have the facilities here to recycle much of it so the whole system is grinding to a halt.
@golftragic I forget that we've had recycling since the 70's. Most communities here have some sort of program in place. I purposely avoid buying products made in China- not only for their disregard for taking care of the environment, but also for the inhumane way they treat most of their factory workers and human life in general.
@olivetreeann Absolutely right about CCC, Cheap Chinese C--p. Unfortunately, Australia is awash with the stuff. Very hard to get even a tee-shirt made in Oz nowadays. I totally agree with your sentiments on that subject. I went to buy some frozen fish the other day and homed in those that said NZ fish (none from Oz in that lot). Closer inspection revealed that almost all were packed in, guess where?? Yep, you got it. Apart from anything, that strongly suggests the fish were caught by those awful take-everything trawlers, another thing I abhor. I didn't buy any!! The recycling thing here is very serious currently. There are mountains of paper and plastic and glass, the former two being major fire hazards. We had no notice about closure of our markets for it in China and all the authorities were caught on the hop. Lots of running round in circles happening now while all we dedicated recyclers keep hopefully putting stuff into the recycling bin. One thing that will definitely happen is that all the local authorities will be jacking up the council rates by a fair lump to cover the new costs.
A lovely photo. I will mis straws too. But my wife and I have already tried to cut out using them. The oceans are awash in plastic and we must try to stem the tide wherever we can. But I shall miss such photos as this.
Very creative. Your joke about eBay may come true. A brand of shampoo which my son always used was discontinued. Then he found that bottles which originally retailed for £1 were offered on eBay for £10. We didn’t buy any!
@golftragic@olivetreeann If you read my reply to Pam Marnie you will see that sometimes we do need plastics. I used to work with intellectually disabled adults in group centres and plastic straws and cotton buds were a godsend. Wax papered straws and cotton buds aren't a good idea when working with disabled people because they can choke on the paper straws and the wax paper cotton buds are too flexible. Stainless straws aren't viable either because of the cost and also people with all sorts of disabilities can get quite violent on occasion and can injure either themselves or their carers with stainless steel objects. I was once injured by a disabled person with a stainless steel fork before the introduction of plastic utensils. We were quite regularly injured in some way or other and reducing the chances of injury by reducing the 'weapons' is a good idea to me.
I agree with removing plastic bags from stores and also plastic wrapping from goods sold in stores, but sometimes as Casablanca said @casablanca sometimes we can go ever so slightly OTT. It is people that cause the problems not only plastics. I have recycled for years and am a responsible adult. With over 7 billion people on the earth it isn't only waste plastics that cause problems.
@onewing I am totally aware of that aspect of care-giving. My father had Parkinson's Disease and could not drink out of a cup without a straw. We had to get the flexible plastic ones so that he could bend them towards his mouth. I tend to agree with Casablanca as monitoring the situation goes. Personally the plastic bags at the store are better for me because the clerks don't over stuff them and with the arthritis in my hands that's a big issue. But I recycle them too so that they don't end up in a land-fill or the ocean. Sorry we took off on a tangent under your picture- but it was a great discussion you sparked here!
@annied@pcoulson@blueace@louannwarren@merrelyn@kathiecb@taffy@happysnaps@quietpurplehaze@sangwann@gilbertwood@gaylewood@jodies Thanks. I seem to have stirred up a hornets nest with this photo. If you read above you will see comments both for and against. I agree that we should reduce plastics but to get rid of them all together because a section of the population can't be responsible is going a bit too far for me. Yes plastic (and not only plastics) are dumped in the oceans, but who dumps the waste, could it be people.
@onewing My apologies Babs if you thought I was having a go at you, I was really making a more general point. I totally agree with your two key points: people are the key problem, and that we can't, and shouldn't try to eliminate all plastics. I'm sorry if I offended you, didn't mean to. I found what you were saying about working with disabled adults and being injured very relevant, and gave me new insights. What is needed is to educate/penalise people to 'do the right thing', and secondly for the pollies to stop faffing round and do something to establish decent recycling industries here. Again, sorry if you were offended or hurt.
@onewing if they are going to ban the straws they should ban McDonalds also - their rubbish is strewn all over the streets - oh yes that's people doing that too - we are a very lazy and thoughtless society
@golftragic Of course I didn't think you were having a go at me. You had a valid argument for getting rid of plastics, but sometimes when you see the other side of the argument life isn't as simple as it sounds. Plastic utensils and crockery are essential when working with disabled people and unless you work in that field you wouldn't realize that.
I was born in Yorkshire and they make us tough there so I wasn't offended at all. I will still remember you in my Will and leave you my stamp collection, ha ha.
I love using straws and can see both sides. The government and businesses tend to overcorrect without thinking things through. Plastic is a real problem for our oceans and environment because it is not disposed of properly. I have tried paper, stainless steel and silicone straws as the plastic ones are banned. It is something that we will need to find alternatives for I guess. Pretty colorful capture...stock up while you still can.
June 9th, 2018
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One day they will be a part of history! The sad thing is that at the moment, no matter how much the west tries to cut down on plastic, countries like China will keep on using more and more (seeing how much they use here is honestly shocking) so it may not have as much effect as we'd hope for
I love your photo and I remember now I have a couple of boxes tucked away for photos!
Beautiful composition. A positive explosion of gorgeous colours
I agree with removing plastic bags from stores and also plastic wrapping from goods sold in stores, but sometimes as Casablanca said @casablanca sometimes we can go ever so slightly OTT. It is people that cause the problems not only plastics. I have recycled for years and am a responsible adult. With over 7 billion people on the earth it isn't only waste plastics that cause problems.
I was born in Yorkshire and they make us tough there so I wasn't offended at all. I will still remember you in my Will and leave you my stamp collection, ha ha.