Let it be
the last straw for us, Malaysians
Published:
LETTER
| This is an open letter to all our fellow Malaysians and the fast food outlets
in the country, especially McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc.
The
world is dying and even our children are aware of this reality. We are doing
very little to help save the planet and our beloved nation. Our air is
constantly polluted and this worsens from year to year.
Equally
important is the damage to our environment, our food and water sources.
A
major concern is the plastic that is in our food sources, especially seafood
sources. Much of the plastic comes from our heavy use and abuse of plastics
with careless disposal, often ending up in the sea. Most of us are currently
consuming plastic in our foods.
There are many sources of plastic waste, from our
fascination with disposable water bottles to plastic bags to 'tapau' food and
drinks. One serious source of plastic is the plastic straw.
We use millions and millions of plastic straws every
year. A conservative estimate is that we use more than 20,000,000 plastic
straws a week.
For example, if one-third of Malaysians eat out twice
a week and order one drink each time with a plastic straw, we would be using
more than 20 million straws a week, more than one billion straws a year.
As mentioned, these are conservative estimates. The
reality is much, much worse. Our pollution of the environment with plastics is
of a much larger magnitude. Our real usage in Malaysia is possibly more like
5-10 million plastic straws a day.
On the whole, our recycling is poor. The Malaysian
society as a whole has a limited ecological awareness and saving our
environment is not on the mind of the average person. We need to recognise that
every small bit counts.
While we wait for the average Malaysian to change, we
appeal to all our fast food outlets and regular food outlets (corner
coffeeshops, mamak shops, pasar malam stalls, etc), to stop dispensing straws
routinely for any cold or hot drink and make them only available to customers
who request them.
We should offer straws to people who need them,
perhaps some people with motor dysfunction or other disability. The general
public doesn't need a straw to drink, it is just an excess.
Let’s have a “straws on request” policy. Remember it
saves money as well and makes your food outlet more competitive and
eco-friendly.
We also appeal to all Malaysians to request that their
drinks come without straws. We all need to play our part and acknowledge the
damage to the environment and educate our fellow Malaysians to avoid using
straws as far as possible.
Make the plastic straw you used yesterday the last one
you'll ever use.
Five important facts on plastic and plastic straws:
1. 80 to 90 percent of all marine
debris originates from plastics;
2. Straws are too small to be easily
recycled, so they are disposed as trash and often end up in the ocean;
3. Straws are very harmful to animals,
especially marine life. Most are ingested or entrap them;
4. Plastics take 400 to 500 years to
degrade; and
5. Some studies have shown that
one-third of all fish that we eat have ingested plastics.
One review of plastic waste into the oceans puts
Malaysia as a moderate plastic polluter. Asian countries are among the largest
of polluters.
So, the next time you go out for a meal or drink (that
will be today or tomorrow) remember to say - "give me that drink without a
straw, please".
Fast food outlets and makan shops/stalls, remember
that you are a major polluter of our oceans and damaging the health of our
people. Stop the routine use of straws. Move to a “straws on request” policy.
If we want our children and grandchildren to have a
meaningful future, we have to act today to reduce our plastic wastes.
Tomorrow may be one straw too late.
So, stop buying those plastic water bottles. Re-use
them, please, or bring your own water bottle.
.
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