The plastification of everything [A letter to a Minster of the Environment]

Thank you for your recent Ottawa Citizen article, “COVID fight shows the way on climate change”. You made some excellent points. You reminded us that our response to COVID-19 shows that we can change drastically, rapidly, and globally when faced with a challenge.

However, another important aspect should be mentioned – the increasing role of single-use plastics, as promoted by the fossil fuel industry. Renewable energies and electrified mechanisms have arrived just in time to promote a reduction in fossil fuel consumption. In response, the fossil fuel industry is now planning to convert more fossil materials to single-use plastics.

This is the industry’s way to maintain profits as they extract more fossil materials from the ground. This will have disastrous effects on our environment. 

In response to this, the government has listed six single-use plastics to be banned in 2021. I hope that you can make the list more robust by adding other important items, such as plastic water bottles. Opposing the trend to “plastify” more things is going to be a major battle as we try to create a more livable planet.

 

Thank you for your efforts in this struggle,

 

The Rebellious Seeker

December 25, 2020