Ignorance about plastic recycling has tricked us into guilt-free consumption \u2013 decision makers have to give us sustainable options<\/p>\n
Growing up my school lunches were covered in plastic wrapping, like those of many of my schoolmates. I was taught from a young age to pick up my rubbish and recycle, and I trusted the recycling systems in place especially because New Zealand streets were so clean. Years later, I saw a video on Facebook of a turtle with a straw in its nose, but I knew Kiwis weren\u2019t to blame, our rubbish systems were too sturdy. Ignorance is bliss, and ignorance is the cause of the world\u2019s plastic pollution crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n The illusion was shattered for me when I watched For The Blue<\/a>, a documentary by Project Blue, a group of young ocean enthusiasts from Aotearoa, who travelled across the globe to investigate the world\u2019s plastic-waste crisis \u2013 only to find themselves back in clean, green New Zealand experiencing the effects of the global plastic epidemic in their own back yard. During their visit to a once pristine area in the South Island, they found plastic trash strewn across the land<\/a>, after the Fox river breached a closed landfill on its banks.<\/p>\n