Plastic Fantastic

Wow, I wish this article would be followed by a blog. It will be interesting to see how anyone is able to give up all types of plastic for one month. My first thought was that in Ghana it ought to be easy, a lot of our things are fresh, bought straight from the market which can be put into cloth bags rather than plastic bags.

For many, water is where a lot of plastic is wasted. Water sachets, water bottles, bags of ice, etc. Virgo has taken a small (tiny, I know) step towards reducing his plastic consumption by buying the standing drinking container:

Instead of adding to the already huge stash of water bottles.


Christine Jeavans may find difficulty living without plastic in England with all its pre-packed food and other products, but doing the same in Ghana means you'll meet all kinds of scepticism and manage to offend people. Every time I decline a 'robba' (plastic bag) in shops, I'm met by a frown. Instead of being happy that I'm saving them 2 or 3 pesewas, the shop assistant is rather offended that I don't want her bag, in the same way she would be if I rejected food in her home. Mentioning that we must save the environment is sometimes met by puzzled looks, as if saying, we have so many things to worry about, you want to start talking about the environment???

But we must do something now, before it's too late. Already, even I am noticing climate changes in Ghana, which tells me we have less time than expected to sort out the mess we have created. Where to start? Does anyone want to test the life without plastic experiment for a month? I don't think I am in a place yet where I will successfully complete the experiment, but I would be extremely happy to hear anyone else try it. For now, I'll do my best to reduce my already relatively low plastic consumption.