It has been over two weeks since I attended the ‘Bag It’ documentary screening in Sydney and met Tim Silverwood.  As promised, (yes Nevyn I know I promised you) here is the run down on the evening and a little of what I learnt.

Bag It documentary showing at Sydney - raising money for Tim Silverwood

Ten minutes before the ‘Bag It’ documentary was about to commence, I twitted  “I just met Tim Silverwood at the Sydney, ‘Bag It’ documentry showing. There is a great vibe in the picture theatre. Heaps of people here!”

Then Tim addressed the theatre goers, sharing his passion for raising awareness for the craziness of our society’s dependence on ‘single use plastic’ (I will explain later what is single use plastic).

Tim Silverwood speaking at the 'Bag It' documentary showing in Sydney

Let me share now, some of what I discovered?

  •  Plastic is made from petroleum i.e. fossil fuels (which is non renewable).
  • The term ‘single use plastics’ refers to shopping bags, product containers that we only use once, then discard.
  • Between the years of 2010 – 2011 there was more plastic created than in all of last century.
  • The Great Pacific Garbage Patch can not really be cleaned up now.  We simply can not just ‘scoop it up’ as sun light is braking it down into small particles that marine life mistakes for food.
  • Marine life now consumes 40x more plastic than food (there is also 40x less food for them to consume as well).
  • One third of all plastic made is single life.
  • Of the chemicals used in plastic, very few have been tested for their health effects on the environment and on humans.
  • BPA which is in some plastics, has been tested and it has shown to change humans hormones and personality.

Ways to make a difference? 

  • Do not accept single use plastic bags.
  • Bring your own bag.  For inspiration check out Envirosax who have the coolest range of reusable bags (they were one of the event sponsors for Tim Silverwood.
  • Don’t buy bottled water.  Bring your own BPA free water bottle.
  • Consume less stuff.
  • The stuff you do buy, purchase it with less packaging.
  • Buy already made.

Find out more? 

Follow Tim Silverwood’s journey across the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  From 26 June to 20 August 2011, Tim will be overseas participating in his Great Pacific Shame project. This includes the 3-week crossing of the North Pacific from Hawai’i to Vancouver (July 7 – 28 approx) and filming in Hawaii, Canada and North America.  Tim’s blog has the details of how you can follow him.

Safe Trip Tim – Bon Voyage

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