A Lonely Protest

By Eilene Lyon

About a year ago, we were in London just before returning home from a three-week vacation, mostly in northeastern France and Belgium. We went from our hotel via subway to the Westminster stop, because we had a trip on the Thames to Kew Gardens arranged.

We admired the Parliament building, Westminster Cathedral, and Big Ben (all from the exterior). There are also a number of memorial statues near the cathedral of historic figures from British history and around the world.

As we headed toward the river, I spied this protestor across the street, standing on a corner near Parliament. Crossing over, I decided to chat with the man (whose name I did not get), and get his photo, with his permission.

It is really mind-boggling how dependent humans have become on plastic. Such a pollution problem of our time.

I asked the protestor a few questions about his effort. He said he comes to the corner nearly every day, and has for many years. Did he think it made much difference? Not really, he candidly admitted. But he is compelled to have his say in a visible manner. I wished him well.

Though he is a lone man on a busy street corner in the government district, he has many like-minded compatriots around the world. People are doing their best to buy and use less plastic, reuse the plastic they have, and clean up the plastic (and other) trash they see.

I am making my own effort, though I know it falls short. We have a local business, run by a friend of mine, called We Fill. They sell many bulk liquid products and will refill containers customers bring in. I buy hand lotion, white vinegar, and soap this way. She also sells many reusable and biodegradable products intended to reduce our reliance on plastic.

Much of what I buy on a regular basis—food, beverages, personal care products—tends to involve plastic. When I can, I get paper, cardboard, aluminum packaging instead. I bring my own bags when shopping. We reuse plastic ziploc bags, seemingly forever. But I still seem to have too much plastic, some of which can’t go in the recycling bin.

Then there is this notion of recycling. I’m not so naïve that I believe everything I take to the recycling center actually gets recycled. Sadly, plastic really doesn’t recycle all that well. Some industries find ways to repurpose it into other products, including fleece clothing. But it never goes away.

Pill and vitamin bottles. Cottage cheese and yogurt containers. Milk bottles. These items seem to be the hardest to avoid. I should probably quit eating the kind of over-processed snack foods that come in plastic, both for my health and to avoid the packaging winding up in the trash.

If you have any other good suggestions on dealing with this ubiquitous problem, please share!