Plastic Packaging Petition

28 March 2009

Given the state of the world I'm about to go off task. Just like with the Victory Bonds for Eco-Recovery, I'm about to recommend that we find a way to petition the US Federal government (and your country as well!) that requires one-off or infrequent use plastics to be made of bio-content materials.

Think about it. We could easily replace these things with corn starch, potato starch, cellulose, sugar cane by-product. These could then be composted easily. If you have an interest in this then contact me at wintergreen at birthingbetter.com.

• picnic supplies
• packaging found on purchases in department stores such as Kmart, Wall-mart, Target, Warehouse
• packaging found around fruit, vegetables, meats and packaged foods in supermarkets
• styrofoam and packaging peanuts
• fast food containers
  

There is no doubt that regulation is a requirement when business does not yet take ethical responsibility to the environment.

In childbirth there is a great deal of emphasis placed on a woman's 'choice'. Do you ever wonder what that means?

The implication is that women will naturally choose a natural birth or one with less medical intervention. Yet in New Zealand where Common Knowledge Trust exists and where we produce The Pink Kit Method For Birthing Better® resources are produced women are choosing elective Caesareans.

Choice is either respected going in any direction or there has to be guidance about the choices being made.

As regards the environment, we must change what we are doing if our children and grandchildren are going to survive on this planet. We don't have a choice any longer to be careless.

We've moved well beyond 'sustainability' and now must respond with ecological recovery. One way to do that is to require all one-off or infrequent use products or packaging to be made of bio-materials that bio-degrade.

Remember 'eco' is in both 'ecology' and 'economics' so those things are compatible. They just need to come together.