How to reduce plastic consumption - Seminar by The Isbjorn Collective for Jessica Bataille The Lifestyle Company
"We have much to do". Is how Jessica Bataille addressed her team at the environmental educational seminar, together with the non-profit organisation The Isbjorn Collective and collaboration with Doctor Miguel Rodilla, professor at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. With a focus on reducing plastic consumption, this inspiring session takes us a step closer to creating “those synergies that will help us share wisdom and support projects like the Isbjorn Collective”. This NGO that brings together professionals committed to the sustainability of the marine environment organizes beach cleaning at Portitxol for example and also awareness through their social networks. They are small gestures and changes to our day-to-day routine. Jessica herself recognised that since she signed up for the beach cleaning days, she no longer buys cotton buds, unfortunately they are something that appear in abundance on our shores. There are many non-biodegradable objects that we use daily and that we could avoid or replace. Did you know, for example, that 40% of the plastic we use is packaging and is only used to package the product?
Sometimes, like with this training, we need an external vision that gives us another point of view. Sento Hernández is one of the creators of The Isbjorn Collective, who helped us broaden our horizons, inspiring us from the first moment. He told us, for example, that the idea of the project was conceived one day while they were sailing through the Mediterranean, on his sailboat called “The Isbjorn”, which means polar bear in Swedish. "Years ago, we saw turtles, flying fish and even dolphins or sunfish in front of the bow, but now we only find floating plastics like pieces of polyexpan, fragments of asphalt, fishing nets that end up on our beaches”. That is why they decided to dedicate their retirement (time, resources and money) to promoting a group willing to change everything, called The Isbjorn Collective. "We owe it to the sea, to the planet, to future generations."
Doctor Miguel Rodilla, from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, who focused the session around the reduction of plastics and its effects on the marine environment, encouraged the attendees with a clear and forceful message: "The plastic islands that we ourselves have created in the oceans are just the tip of an iceberg of which we see only the surface, but the real problem goes unnoticed". A lot of plastic is sinking, others are fragmenting and we no longer notice it. That plastic ends up in our fish and obviously harms our health. We are the end of a chain that we ourselves are feeding. “Of all the plastic we generate, we are able to recycle only a small amount. Did you know that of the waste that we find in the sea, just over 70% comes from the mainland?”.
Plastics are everywhere, beyond the obvious (you just have to look around us or go to a supermarket to understand it), we also use microplastics that are present in a multitude of cosmetic and personal hygiene products such as whitening toothpastes or scrubs. "If we did not generate the demand for plastic, we would not be producing so much," reflected Dr. Rodilla. The first steps for change? "In the first place, be aware of this reality and second, think about how we could reduce our plastic consumption ... and do it." It is alarming, plastic has been found at up to 11,000 meters deep in the Mariana Trench, in the middle of the western Pacific Ocean or even in the Arctic ice. And we do not have to go that far because in our own region, in the neighboring Columbretes Islands (Castellón) or on the beaches of Javea everything from clothes pegs to hotel and nightclub bracelets from Ibiza are frequently found, labeled plastic containers from Greece, Turkey or Tunisia also found passing through. There is a large part of the responsibility that falls to the administration/government, but we, as citizens, also have to act. Why buy a plastic container when we can buy glass?
Since the 1950s, the mass production of plastic has become widespread. In fact, several engineers who participated in that boom wrote a book during that period in which they warned of the dangers that plastics could pose. The damage that plastics are doing to our environment is evident, but it is not only something scenic, they also have a great impact on our health. There is already plastic in drinking water and even in the air we breathe. "There is a clear relationship between the presence of microplastics and health, since they affect us at the cellular and genetic level." In fact, there is evidence of the presence of carcinogenic substances such as styrene in food containers, bisphenol A or phthalates (PET) and some are even endocrine disruptors that are related to fertility problems.
In the session, several ideas arose, such as the application of specific taxes on plastic containers, financially rewarding their return as an incentive to encourage recycling, or creating a catalogue of good practices so that citizens can make positive changes.
"We should think about what we buy and consume to minimize the use of plastic, think about how we can replace it and improve our waste management, because not everything can be recycled." With this final reflection, Miguel Rodilla warns us and encourages us to change our habits, for the planet and for ourselves... Before it is too late.
