It’s not a card game: How do we get people to understand the plastic problem?

People are just not getting it about plastics. The latest business “thing” in Seychelles is locally printed plastic business cards. This despite wide campaigns by NGOs, and sweeping policy and legislative action by government banning various plastic products. How can we get people to understand that so-called business innovations can only be viewed as such if they are environmentally and socially sustainable?

As I said previously, banning single-use plastics is only a first step https://goo.gl/TNgiwh. We need a whole slew of actions, and obviously mass education is one. New economic thinking is another. Significant economic value is lost after each plastic product use, along with negative impacts to natural systems. How can we turn the challenges of our current plastics economy into a global opportunity resulting in stronger economies and better environmental outcomes? The World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, with McKinsey & Company, have come together to answer this question. Their latest report The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics lays out a blueprint for an economy where plastic never becomes waste. https://lnkd.in/eDhs88h

Author: Dr. Nirmal Shah

Nirmal is a well-known and a passionate personality in the Seychelles environmental and sustainability scene having an encyclopedic knowledge of Seychelles biodiversity as well as a wealth of experience in environment management. He has worked in senior positions in the parastatal, government, private and NGO sectors and consulted for international organizations such as the World Bank, IUCN, UNEP, Sida and UNESCO. He has appeared on CNN, BBC, Radio France, PBS, NBC, ABC, SABC and others View all posts by Dr. Nirmal Shah