Posts in the "Waste" category
Sick of Plastic Supermarket Postcard Campaign
Posted on June 30, 2020 by Claudia Tormey
Sick of Plastic had to cancel this year's Shop and Drop - but the action to demand change from supermarkets keeps going!
Shoppers, anti-plastic activists and local Sick of Plastic groups are planning to send their signed Sick of Plastic Postcards to Supermarkets with a personal note asking their local supermarket to make changes and eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging from its produce.
The action is kicking off this week for Plastic Free July!
You can get started by signing a digital postcard here on the action page. Physical postcards will soon be available at hubs across the country, where local Sick of Plastic groups and other plastic free initatives, buisnesses and groups will be distributing postcards so that everyone can sign and send their postcard.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
Catching up on Sick of Plastic
Posted on June 17, 2020 by Claudia Tormey
Through the Break Free From Plastic global network, of which we are members of, we screened the newly released film ‘The Story of Plastic’ in May with our Sick of Plastic partner VOICE Ireland. To build on the conversation and bring the issue closer to home, we hosted awebinar to discuss the plastic free movement in Ireland.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
Watch it back - Story of Plastic Webinar
Posted on May 18, 2020 by Claudia Tormey
If you missed it, don't worry. We're recording all of our webinars so you can watch them in your own time.
Sick of Plastic, our campaign partnered with VOICE Ireland, hosted a webinar on to discuss the new documentary 'The Story of Plastic' and the growing movement in Ireland and worldwide to break free from plastic and fossil fuels.
The Story of Plastic is the story BIG PLASTIC does not want you to see. The film takes a sweeping look at the man-made crisis of plastic pollution, from extraction of fossil fuels to plastic waste replacing fish in our Oceans, and to explore Ireland's role in tackling these issues.
Permanent link | Categories: waste • webinars
Webinar May 14: What the frack has gas got to do with plastic!?
Posted on May 08, 2020 by Meaghan Carmody
What has that plastic bottle polluting your local river got to do with gas?!
Well, a lot as it turns out.
Natural gas is primarily composed of methane, a greenhouse gas which, when released, has over 100 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Gas is used as an energy source the world over.
What is less well known is that gas is also used as a material to make plastics. Ethane is a hydrocarbon also present in gas and a primary raw material for petrochemical (or plastics) manufacturing. Global fossil fuel extraction companies are heavily involved in the production of plastics. They use the ethane accessed via fracking to produce plastics that exist for hundreds of years in the environment.
Permanent link | Categories: energy • waste
Story of Plastic - Webinar on Plastic and Gas
Posted on May 01, 2020 by Claudia Tormey
The Story of Plastic is the story BIG PLASTIC does not want you to see.
Join us for a webinar on May 14th to reflect on the newly released film 'The Story of Plastic' - which takes a sweeping look at the man-made crisis of plastic pollution, from extraction of fossil fuels to plastic waste replacing fish in our Oceans, and to explore Ireland's role in tackling these issues.
The film premiered on Earth Day April 22nd and we're very excited to team up with VOICE Ireland to bring it to our supporters and friends with a 48 hour online film streaming on May 12th and 13th.
Permanent link | Categories: energy • waste
Shop And Drop Drogheda - Guest Blog
Posted on March 05, 2020 by Claudia Tormey
Brid Ni Chionaola is a member of the Drogheda Sick of Plastic local group, who formed in October 2019 and have been active in pressuring their local supermarkets to Break Free From Plastic.
Be inspired, find your local group (or start one) and join the campaign for the next day of action April 25th!
Permanent link | Categories: waste
Plastic Bottle Rally - Let's Demand DRS!
Posted on October 31, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Join us for a Plastic Bottle Rally 1pm November 6th!
Back in January 2018, we 'Ditched Our Plastic at the Dáil' in support of Zero Waste activist Dianne Forsythe's Uplift petition calling on government to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS) for the recycling collection of plastic bottles in Ireland.
It took Minister for the Environment, Richard Bruton, a whole year to respond, and the best he could do was commission a study to see how DRS could operate in Ireland. (Despite existing evidence proving that it works).
Permanent link | Categories: waste • sick of plastic • deposit return scheme •
What's driving the fracking boom? Spoiler: it's plastic!
Posted on October 07, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Last week 4,500 people took the email action to tell our politicians that we don't want to import fracked gas!
Public pressure is working! On Friday we got the debate in the Dail, and now Government must undertake a review of Irish energy security before any further support for the Shannon LNG project can proceed.
We need to keep the pressure on, to make sure the review is independent and Paris Aligned. This fight is only beginning.
If you haven't yet signed our petition to Stop Shannon LNG (the terminal planned to import gas) please take action now and share it widely with your friends.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • waste
What's gas got to do with plastic?
Posted on October 01, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Do you ever wonder about the link between gas and plastics?
Well the first link is that the plastic industry is owned by big oil and gas companies including DowDuPont, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and BP.
The second big link is that plastic is made from oil and gas!
Despite our best efforts to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle, plastic production is set to increase 40% over the next decade.
This is because fracking is on the rise and fracked gas is the raw material that makes plastic.
Want to learn more? Check out this webinar!
The Gastivists Collective are hosting this really great webinar series to dive deeper into the links between gas and plastic, and why we need to #KeepItInTheGround to #BreakFreeFromPlastic!
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • waste • sick of plastic •
On the Road to Plastic Free!
Posted on July 23, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Breaking free from plastic is not just a personal journey, it's a global movement of millions of people pushing for bigger action on plastic production, consumption and waste.
And we have some good news to share!
In May 2019 the EU formally approved a pioneer legislation to curb single-use plastics and earlier this month the EU Single Use Plastic (SUP) Directive was adopted and made law. Member states, including Ireland, now have two years to adopt it into Irish law and ensure we are on track to reach its targets.
This milestone is all thanks to plastic free campaigners who demanded change from industry and government all across Europe.
Permanent link | Categories: waste • sick of plastic
