Two Things That You Should Never Throw Out – Choose Green Alternatives
Plastic bags and bottles mean nothing but bad news for the environment, but you can help the strain on the Earth by choosing green alternatives from Onya.
We Australians live in a vast, beautiful nation, but sadly, we’re rapidly filling it with landfill. Indeed, a report published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a staggering 19 million tonnes of waste were buried in the land Down Under in 2001.
If you thought that that was heavy, by 2007, this number rose to 21.3 million tonnes. Of course, green alternatives and recycling can help ease the strain on our country’s environment, but there are a myriad of uses things that you should never throw in the bin!
The perils of the plastic bag
The single-use plastic bag, commonly handed out at supermarkets and the like, has almost no redeeming qualities. Throwing them out adds to a problem that is slowly choking the Earth, and you’d be better off not using them at all, especially when you consider that Onya has a broad range of long-lasting, multiple use produce bags as green alternatives that won’t ruin our planet.
Throwing a plastic bag in the bin is bad news. Once they reach landfill, they’ll take anywhere in between 500 to 1,000 years to fully decompose, according to Clean Up Australia. This means that they’ll still be around when your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren are born .If plastic bags had been invented at the time of the Battle of Hastings (back in 1066) they could still have been feasibly floating around today.
Plastic bags and bottles spell nothing but bad news for the environment.Stop the rot
Plastic won’t rot or biodegrade – microorganisms that break down other waste, such as paper and wood, don’t recognise polyethylene as food.
Plastic bags do have one or two useful purposes, however – they can be used to fill old pillowcases, which can make for comfortable bedding for pets.
Tie the pillowcase tightly so that the bags cannot escape, as they can be a choking hazard. Additionally, soft plastic bags can be used as cushioning when packing away fragile, expensive items.
One last use for a plastic bag – they can be used as substitute for gloves when cleaning, painting or decorating your house – but don’t throw them out when you’re done!
The bane of plastic bottles
Plastic bottles are just as bad as their bag counterparts. According to the Bottled Water Alliance, 36 per cent of them also end up in landfill, to lay there for centuries alongside plastic bags.
What’s more, the Australian Conservation Foundation states that for every one litre of bottled water made, between three to five litres of the liquid are required – that’s a lot of wasted water.
What’s more, each bottle also requires 250 millilitres of oil to produce – and the black stuff’s effect on the environment is well known.
Instead of buying bottled water, why not invest in one of Onya’s eco-friendly stainless steel drinks bottle? You’ll be helping to save the planet, one sip of water at a time!
