And we are off to start our second leg of PLASTIC:Unwrapped!
We have slept, rested, recuperated and now are so ready to be back on the road again! We have a lot of fun and exciting initiatives lined up in Australia, Asia and then back in Europe too. We are excited to be piecing together more of the creative solutions that individuals like you and I, have come up with.
Our first destination is Australia; a country that has recently received a lot of media coverage on the bush fire situation. While we will try to limit ourselves to safe areas, it must be acknowledged that we as a society, have actually played a significant part in the enormity, extraordinarily and magnitude of these fires. You might feel very physically removed from this huge country, thousands of miles away, and yet we are all very much connected.
3 simple words: global climate change.
However, it is important to mention that firstly, bush fires are a natural phenomenon and they are a natural part of the weather and climate cycle. They aren't new. What is new is that global climate change is contributing to an increased intensity and enormity of the fires due to the hotter and drier climate and vegetation, thus fuelling the blazes. The warming climate is prolonging periods of intense heat which exacerbates the conditions and increases the vulnerability of burning.
While this is not directly involved with plastic, this whole situation is still in-keeping with one of our key aims. Identifying, highlighting and then hopefully mobilising individual action. If you as an individual contribute to emissions, regardless of the quantity, then you as an individual have the capacity to reflect and then act on how small changes in your daily routine could reduce the emissions that have your name to it. It may not be a lot, but it is still something.
So while we are hoping that the fires in Victoria and New South Wales mellow, we hope that the fire in our hearts intensifies and motivates us more to consider how we can make a difference in our own lives. Let each photograph, each newspaper article, each shared post on social media showing the Australian bush fire situation help us consider our own impact.
And with that, I will leave you- stay tuned for our next blog post from Down Under!