The name of this blog, Rainbow Juice, is intentional.
The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.
Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.

Wednesday 30 August 2017

A Young Person's Take on Plastic Pollution (Guest Blog)

Billie Denman
I am honoured to be posting this blog today.  The writer of this speech was 12 years old when she wrote it.  Billie Denman is the daughter of a friend of mine and lives in Sawtell (NSW, Australia).  The speech was written, and read, as part of a school public speaking project.  Billie’s teacher graded this speech 30/30 and told Billie’s mother “I have never given a perfect mark before.”  This grade serves to underscore the passion that Billie brings to environmental concerns.  Following on from last week’s blog, this speech is another example of how inspiring young people are, and that we adults need to stop and listen, or in this case, read.  Enjoy it, and as Billie says, take action.

Plastic Pollution

“They never breakdown, they break up into smaller toxic bits of themselves, that spreads into our oceans, our land, our wildlife, and into the air that we breathe.  Plastic bags contribute to climate change and are polluting this planet severely.

Statistics show that instead of being recycled, plastic bags are thrown in the rubbish because the cost of recycling them outweighs their value.  The Pacific Ocean holds 6 times more plastic than plankton.  Imagine how many whale sharks mistake plastic for plankton.  The great Pacific garbage patch is twice the size of Texas and the plastic in it outnumbers sea-life 6 to 1.

Plastic bags are made from petroleum, gas, and other harmful chemicals.  12 million barrels of oil are used in the production of plastic bags in the United States alone.  The average time a plastic bag is used is 12 minutes.  To go to the effort of producing plastic bags from a fossil fuel just to throw away after 12 minutes is outrageous.

Plastic bags cause death to marine animals.  For example, in 2008 a Sperm Whale was found washed up dead – more than 22 kilograms of plastic was found in it’s stomach.  Land animals suffer from the pollution of plastic as well.  Humans breathe in the toxic fumes caused by the production of plastic bags too.

160,000 plastic bags are used worldwide every second.  What good is it that doing to the earth?  Ireland has a tax on plastic bags – that tax has decreased the use of plastic bags by 90%.  Other cities, states, and countries around the world have done so too.  It’s time for Australia to become a better country and ban plastic bags.

What you can do is encourage others to use reusable bags; and why not make a petition for the Council or Government to ban or put a tax on plastic bags.

I use reusable bags and it feels good to know that you’re doing the environment a favour.  The benefits of using reusable bags are that they come in all different shapes, sizes, colours, and patterns which makes shopping fun.  You can make your own and get them made for you.  They carry much more groceries than plastic bags.  Reusable bags are fantastically priced at 99 cents to $3.

You may think that you won’t make any impact on this issue, but using one reusable bag means you save 700 plastic bags in one year or 22,000 over a lifetime.  As an individual you need to use reusable bags.

Do the earth a favour: pick reusable bags on your next trip tot he grocery store."


Thank you Billie.  She outlines the issue well and ends on positive calls to action.  Do the earth a favour and listen to her and other young people like her.

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