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| Photo: Sandra Krautwaschl |
It takes hundreds of years for plastic to break down. Have you ever thought about it might be like to live in a "plastic-free"zone? This Austrian family has done just that. Sandra Krautwaschl has written a book about the challenges of living in a world without plastic.
The Krautwaschl-Rabensteiners decided to try and live a normal life without plastic, for a short period of time, to see if it could be done. Only what started as a month-long experiment eventually turned into a way of life. The first thing they did was try to eliminate all plastic objects from their home, in Eisbach. The front cover of Sandra’s book is a photo of her family surrounded by all their plastic possessions in front of their house. It says a lot about how important a role plastic has in our everyday lives. Next, they had to find alternatives, starting with wooden-handle toothbrushes, metal milk canisters, and food packaged in metal, paper or glass.
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Hm, he said, slowly and doubtfully.
ReplyDeleteProblem is, all those bottles and cans will have plastic seals or coatings. Their house is painted with plastics. And what are their electric cables insulated with. What's the shower tray made out of? And the wate pipes... What's underground, delivering their drinking water? Most utilities these days use MDPE (medium density poly-ethylene)... Or HDPE.
If they ride bicycles, they're riding on plastic tyres, (most bike tyres are synthetic rubber).
I applaud their attempt though, and wish I had the willpower to take such a stance. I'm too lazy.
Also, I actually believe plastics are often the best solution.
The article states: "The Krautwaschl-Rabensteiners soon realized they couldn’t really live a life completely without plastic, because even the stuff made of metal and glass often has a bit of plastic in it, but they just learned to limit their use of the petroleum-made material to a minimum. They still use electronics and necessities like bike helmets, but share a car with another family, and try to buy second-hand products whenever they need something made with plastic."
ReplyDeleteI try to use less plastic and despise plastic bags and water bottles but didn't even think about the plastic uses you've pointed out. Thank you.