Trudeau is wrong to be timid on plastics crisis measures

Great Britain has joined Scotland, Taiwan and other jurisdictions that have banned single-use drinking straws.

And Justin Trudeau? He said he and other G7 leaders plan to discuss the plastics crisis at upcoming meetings. Talk about a tepid response.

Two Australian scientists collected trash on U.S. coastlines over a five-year period. They found that there are about 7.5 million straws. Extrapolating from that, there could be up to 8.3 billion straws on coastlines around the world.

For all that, the truth is that banning plastic straws sounds more dramatic than it is. Estimates are that 300 million tonnes of plastics are produced annually around the world, and little of that is straws.

Still, Britain and other jurisdictions deserve credit for doing something specific and concrete. It’s not game-changing, but it’s something.

The truth is the plastics crisis is bigger than straws. Much bigger. Since they became ubiquitous, humans have produced 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics, and most of that is now waste. In our oceans. In landfills. Littering the countryside around the globe.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve heard about the impact of plastics pollution on wildlife. Whales, birds, fish — you name it and it’s probably at increased risk from eating, getting caught in or absorbing plastics or molecules.

A recent study found that nearly every oyster tested in British Columbia contained plastics. There are no shortage of horrible pictures and video. And recently plastics residue has been found in humans.

There is more than 150 million tonnes of plastic waste in the ocean worldwide and it is estimated that plastic will outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050, says the federal government.

Maybe that’s what has finally elevated the crisis in the minds of average Canadians. After all, we’ve been warned about this for a decade or longer. Maybe now, with visceral evidence of the damage being done showing up more and more, we’re finally motivated to act.

Many Toronto restaurants are reducing or eliminating single-use straws and plastic stirrers. Bars and restaurants in PEI have banned straws.

It’s not fair to say the federal government is completely on the sidelines here. On Earth Day (Sunday) Environment Minister Catherine McKenna announced a large-scale online public consultation to ask Canadians for their views on plastic waste and reduction.

Environmentalists welcomed the news, but quickly pointed out more needs to be done. Yes, of course. What how much more? When and how?

The scale of this challenge is epic. Not using straws and stir sticks is the easy part. Consider the amount of plastics in your life. How many purchases do you make that don’t involve plastics, either in the product or the packaging? Can you picture yourself reducing plastics in your life, dramatically? Even leaving plastic package behind at point-of-purchase doesn’t help much.

Climate campaigner Peter McCartney said in a recent Torstar interview: “We would like to see a ban on non-biodegradable single-use plastics nationwide.” That would be progress. But to date it doesn’t appear Canada’s leadership has the stomach for the sort of political and economic debate that would come with that sort of measure. We will, however, have excellent discussions at upcoming meetings.

They found that there are about 7.5 million straws (on U.S. coastlines). Extrapolating from that, there could be up to 8.3 billion straws on coastlines around the world.