Single Use Plastic 

On Irene IV, we have become increasingly disheartened by the overwhelming global “single use plastic problem”. When rivers of plastic waste pass us by in the open ocean or litter defaces glorious shores, we ask, despondently, what can we do? Each day we take great care to minimize our plastic use. That which we do use, is washed and reused, is cleaned and placed in the recycle bin, or is repurposed in some way. We make sure to bring cloth or washed plastic bags for fruit and vegetables to the grocery store with us and refuse offered bags. We bring our own containers to restaurants for take out/away. In country after country, we have discovered that there are no recycling programs. Our attentive protection of the ocean environment seems worthless. We had vowed, at the outset, that we would not send any recycling ashore if there was not a good local recycling infrastructure. We have had to renege on that promise. The boat would be totally filled with recycle material at this point, if we had stuck to that undertaking. We buy glass and metal whenever we can, however the recycling problem is the same. It is profoundly discouraging.

Here in the Galapagos, where the state of the environment is at the forefront of most people’s minds, plastic waste is burned or buried on the Ecuadorian mainland! The Ecuadorian government perhaps feels it cannot afford the prohibitively high cost of recycling. At this moment in time, when polymer prices are at an all-time high, it is potentially more financially viable to install a recycling program and the possibility of a reasonable pay back on the investment seems better than ever before.

During our visit, we have had the good fortune to get to know a few of the longtime residents of Santa Cruz Island. In conversation, we have become aware of the organization “Population Matters”. Their vision is “...of a future in which our population co-exists in harmony with nature and prospers on a healthy planet, to the benefit of all.” David Attenborough, a Population Matters patron, says, “All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people."

Hand in hand with encouraging less consumption, especially in wealthy countries, Population Matters advises starting work to advance “eco-friendly economic systems.” The marvels of nature that we are witnessing in the Galapagos islands need our help to survive. Each sea turtle, iguana, hammer head shark, manta ray, and reef fish depends, for its survival, on our mindful actions.

 We had said that this trip would be an awakening, a learning opportunity, and indeed it is. The global population of almost 8 billion people is straining the resources of the planet as well as our own reserves and supplies. Single use plastic waste might not be such a problem if there were fewer mouths to feed, with less people, poverty could potentially be resolved, and all the attendant problems that exist hand in hand with poverty - crime, violence, and hopelessness.

 In a global economy based on growth, a Santa Cruz friend concludes, populations will continue to increase. Mentalities need to move towards sustainability, simplicity and enough to avoid the worldwide environmental train wreck hurtling ever closer on the horizon.