Life in plastic, not fantastic
Throwaway plastic bottles are a plague on the world, and your holiday is partially to blame.
Snorkelling through the coral rich waters of Thailand’s Similan Islands in 2013 I was transfixed by the colours: greens, pinks, oranges, deep blues – how did such a rainbow array of plastic bottles and wrappers make their way to an island chain in the Andaman Sea away from the dirty crowds of Phuket and Bangkok?
Despite the cathartic fin-waving of turtles and reef life swaying with the tides, I was incensed that locals would disrespect their natural environment so much despite all its riches.
In my best imperially condescending tone, I lectured fellow visitors that where I was from we would never degrade such a pristine natural asset with waste! Thankfully, I never have to come into contact with these tourists again and politely withdraw my argument.
One million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. Every minute. With that rate of consumption, it’s no wonder the seemingly secluded Similans were teeming with trash.
The United Nations Environment Programme estimates 4.8 million tonnes of solid waste is produced by tourists each year.Most of the plastic water bottles produced in the world are made of recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (usually marked with the familiar 1 and 2 recyclable logos at the base), but the sheer demand for drinks in throwaway plastic – or use-twicethen-lose plastic – means recycling efforts are failing to keep up with the mountains of waste created. And that’s in places that have recycling efforts to begin with.
After momentarily hydrating humans, most plastic bottles end up in landfills or in the ocean. Bali has become a poster child for rubbishstrewn beaches and in 2017 The Telegraph confirmed local hotel staff were being told to dig holes in the sand and bury plastic waste washed up or left by tourists.
Is the industry doing enough, rubbish burying notwithstanding? The hotels and cruise liners pleading with guests to think of the environment when deciding if their towels need to be changed each day have their credibility seriously undermined when they are giving away plastic bottle after plastic bottle, from mini-bar to gym to concierge desk.
You might not get many freebies during your hotel stay, but you can bet a couple of use-once water bottles will be included – especially if you’re staying in a developing country. If these powerful industry players wanted to be taken seriously for their green credentials, installing a water filtration device instead of spending millions on bottled water each year seems like an easy win.
Educating guests that tap water is drinkable is another. But of course, having your hotel gym stocked with mini water bottles in a special fridge makes your brand look generous and a bit posh – to take them away would look stingy.
So, greenwashing aside, it largely falls to the consumer to adjust the demand side of the equation. A somewhat crazy idea could be for us to revert to tourist habits of more than 30 years ago and simply not use an array of plastic bottles throughout your stay.