There’s no denying, the last few years has seen a lot of the progress that was made in mainstreaming ‘zero-waste’, unravel before our very eyes.
Reusables cups were shelved, plastic bag recycling was paused, and ‘single use’ played the hygiene card, to effectively worm its way back into the everyday.
Almost overnight, plastic seemed to become as ubiquitous as it ever was - perhaps even more so! From perspex till screens… to those little white LTFs, the hallmarks of this ‘so be it’ period in plastic’s long, pernicious reign, are all around, for everyone to see!
As if the mandated wastefulness of the last few years wasn’t bad enough, we now have the increasing currency of convenience to contend with, as busyness and normal life thankfully and finally resume.
Add to this the rising cost of living, and it’s no wonder that the refill stores, in particular, are suffering.
We’re not sure what the answer is - or even if there is one - particularly as long-termism continues to be over-shadowed by a sheer sense of ‘survival mode,’ for want of a better word.
That said, there does still remain SOME small scope for sustainability practices, even within the re-appraised priority framework of 2022!
Mostly, this depends on unpicking the genuine cost-saving sacrifices - born out of the current climes - from the convenience ones fallen into out of habit.
Forgetting the shopping bags.
Forgetting the reusable water bottle.
Forgetting to make lunch.
These lapses in ‘green cred’ are easy and low-cost to reinstate, and represent the ‘something’ in our control, that is infinitely better than the ‘nothing’ that isn’t, especially as we try to personal finance our way through an unprecedented demise in disposable income.