Plastic

You learn a lot whilst traveling, but one of the biggest things is the impact that our actions have an on the environment. The most obvious being the build up of used plastic bottles.

Since the water isn't safe to drink, everyone over here drinks bottled water, which means a lot of empty plastic water bottles. One solution would be to refill old bottles, which we try to do as often as possible, but refill stations are few and far between, so we're also constantly adding to the waste, which builds up at the sides of roads, and is weighed down and dumped in the sea by unscrupulous hotels.

On a similar note, we hate plastic bags! The plastic bag issue was always half on my mind, but I never really thought about it too much until we visited Si in NZ. He works for a company called Wannaka Wastebusters who are trying to encourage people to shun difficult-to-dispose-of plastic bags in favour of environmentally friendly cloth bags, and it makes so much sense. Once you're made aware of the issue, it's incredible to note how often bags are needlessly doled out in shops.
Now, every time we buy something, we decline the plastic bag and drop the item straight into the cloth bag we're usually carrying. Makes sense.

I know I'm preaching a bit, but what we don't see the impact of at home is all too evident over here. It would be great more hostels and restaurants and hotels would allow their customers to refill their water bottles; and if we could encourage people who read our blog to say no to plastic bags. If we all start saying no, and using cloth bags, maybe the supermarkets will catch on and stop doling them out so readily. Here's hoping.

Debs, x