October 2016 meeting: Zero Waste

October: 6th October 2016: Zero Waste

We watched the film Bag It which outlines the massive impact that plastic is having on our environment and health. For anyone that missed it Sustainable Frome can lend you the DVD. Some shocking facts include:
Plastic fragments in the sea are found to outnumber plankton 60-to-1, and contributes to around 100,000 marine animal deaths, including birds, every year
Plastics contain chemicals such as phthalates that can carry adverse effects to newborn babies, including decreased anogenital distance. There are also potential links with the rising rates of male infertility and other such as diabetes, obesity and attention deficit disorder

It also highlighted that although plastic recycling seems like a good thing, given the lack of local processing facilities and low price of oil much of it currently ends up in factories in Asia which often have poor working conditions. In the longer term Protomax may provide a potential solution for Frome – more to follow on this… The main message was to avoid plastic where you can, re-use where you can’t and to campaign for supermarkets and others to reduce their plastic use…