March 25, 2019
On becoming producers
Here I was, trying (somewhat imperfectly) to make all the right choices, carrying my own shopping bags, water-bottle, eco cup, reusable cutlery and straw, shaving with my metal refillable razor and cleaning my teeth with my bamboo toothbrush and still feeling overwhelmed. How are we ever going to get on top of the plastic problem that we have created?
Then, when listening to some comments about how fast food producers just love the individual responsibility argument in the obesity debate, I made the link. Who is making all this stuff in the first place and what about their responsibility? If we really want to tackle this issue then it is not just about consumers, producers really need to stand up and find other ways of presenting their product.
So how do you pressure the producers? Apart from voting with your wallet as an individual the most powerful way to initiate change is to model it. We (it’s too hard to do this stuff alone) decided that, to change the game we needed to be in the game.
The seed was sown, to set up a business that makes an everyday product using a plastic free design solution and show mainstream producers that people want to buy this stuff! Make it as good -no better, than what is already available and thus make it easy for people to make the shift away from plastic.
Of course one small business isn’t going to solve this problem alone, just like one individual making choices won’t, but it is starting to feel like a wave is gathering and I am most definitely feeling more empowered.
Then, when listening to some comments about how fast food producers just love the individual responsibility argument in the obesity debate, I made the link. Who is making all this stuff in the first place and what about their responsibility? If we really want to tackle this issue then it is not just about consumers, producers really need to stand up and find other ways of presenting their product.
So how do you pressure the producers? Apart from voting with your wallet as an individual the most powerful way to initiate change is to model it. We (it’s too hard to do this stuff alone) decided that, to change the game we needed to be in the game.
The seed was sown, to set up a business that makes an everyday product using a plastic free design solution and show mainstream producers that people want to buy this stuff! Make it as good -no better, than what is already available and thus make it easy for people to make the shift away from plastic.
Of course one small business isn’t going to solve this problem alone, just like one individual making choices won’t, but it is starting to feel like a wave is gathering and I am most definitely feeling more empowered.