I watched the BBC Nature program last night about Hawaii (called message in the waves BBC ) and found it really disturbing.
Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific and works like a net to catch all of the crap chucked into the ocean on the Pacific Rim. This means that the leeward side of the islands are covered in plastic - it looks like a landfill.
Worse is the effect this has on the wildlife, in particular the Albatross are really struggling - they pick up what floats on the ocean assuming it is food but it is plastic. They then feed this to their chicks. The chicks die and as they decompose the plastic they have eaten is exposed - plastic lighters, toys, toothbrushes, golf balls etc. Dolphins, seals and turtles are also dying because they get tangled in or try to eat plastic bags.
It is blatantly obvious that our consumer society is unsustainable. We have such a chuck away attitude to everything and it needs to change before it is too late.
You're probably all wondering where this is leading. Well, I have a challenge for those of you with enough of a sense of social and global responsibility to care. The challenge is to not use or accept a plastic bag for a month. When you go shopping take a reusable bag, leave the plastic bags in the shop and make a real difference to your environment.
For those of you who are brave enough I have a further challenge, the Rebecca Hosking Challenge: campaign to get plastic bags banned in your area/town/village. I am working up the nerve to do this where I live and shall update you on any progress that I make. Thanks for taking the time to read this and lets change the world today.