Turn Garbage into Gold
Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? If not, then now is the perfect time for you to find out.
Did you know that there are millions of tons of plastic garbage, just floating around in the Pacific Ocean? Actually, it's in every ocean. If you were waiting for proof that we truly are connected, now you have it.
They have found computer monitors, bottles, cups, bits and pieces of every kind of plastic from all over the world on tiny island called the Midway Atoll. See, plastics are great at creating durable items, because they exist FOREVER!
I scrolled down to the end of the article reference above, and what was striking to me is that one of the very first posts hit the heart of the solution for me; if we can show people how to make money by re-using and re-cycling plastics, we've got a win-win situation.
Since we cannot go back and un-create plastic, how about we urge companies to cease creating new plastic, and re-engineer their processes to support the re-manufacture of plastic? There is one major issue with this. This means manufacturers will have to invest millions of dollars into changing their current processes, and invest in innovative R&D. If doing this upsets shareholder satisfaction, it's the first thing on the agenda to be axed.
I say let's all start to be educated consumers. Let's start requesting products to be available for us with less packaging and waste. How about us letting manufacturers know via Twitter and Facebook (since they love to be cool and hip) that unless they provide us with that new, cool gadget with biodegradable packaging (yes, it does exist!), we won't buy it?
This is just one of the ways we can all learn how to vote with our dollars, and purchase products that benefit us and the planet. The garbage we've created isn't going anywhere until we collectively say so...
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