I have to be away from home for a night, so I pack a water bottle, and put a few pieces of fruit in my bag so that I can avoid the plastic packaging of snacks and drinks.   I am staying in the Holiday Inn Express.    The low budget chain has initiated a number of changes to the hotel experience, I am sure that cost control is the primary motive, but if they also reduce plastic waste, then I’m OK with that.   There is only a shower, no bath,   there is also a dispenser in the shower containing shampoo and shower gel,  I’m disappointed for a moment, it means I can’t have that little pleasure of taking the little bottles away with me when I leave, but that is a small price to pay.   The bathroom also has plastic glasses, that are in plastic bags, presumably to show that they are hygienic, and not used.   So Holiday  Inn  you lose all the brownie points you won with the soap dispensers. 

As I look around the room, I notice the bins, more specifically the bin liners, I’ve never thought too much about bin liners before.    The bin in my room has one tea bag in it at the end of my stay.    That plastic bin liner will be collected by the cleaner, put into another bigger plastic bin liner, then sent off to landfill. Surely there must be a better way of dealing with the rubbish?  The Tea bag came in a paper wrapper, and I put that in my bag instead of the bin, for later deposit into a recycling bin.    

This was an eye opener, I use bin liners, I am questioning why, and if I can deal with my rubbish at home without using them, or is this a step too far. Surely there was a time before they were invented, what did people do? I realise the plastic problem goes beyond the shopping bag, and its  going to be really hard for me to reduce a lot of the other plastic that is embedded into  society, the vegetables and bread that come  bagged, the plastic wrapped  magazine in the Sunday newspaper and all the rest.  

Even if I recycle all the plastic bags that come into my home, there is still everything else that I have no control over. It starts to feel overwhelming.

— Sydney Smith

I live and work in London with my partner in an ordinary terrace house in an ordinary street.  I recycle my rubbish, and take my own bags to the shops.   On the whole I feel pretty virtuous; but is it enough?    Some people have told me that as an individual I can have little impact on the amount of carbon that is being released into the atmosphere, that it’s down to big business and governments to make the changes.  Well yes, they are right I suppose, but it doesn’t sit well with me. I have a belief that if enough people made just one small change, then added together it  could add up to a big impact.  But can I do it. I admit that the things I do, are either easy for me to do, or I’m nudged into doing by the powers that be, whether that’s the shops not giving me a bag, or the council not collecting my bins. What is it really like to do more than that?  Can I really give up meat for ever, or is cutting down the only realistic option for me.   And if I make changes and live in a more eco conscious way, will life become too miserable, or will I find new and unexpected new joys.    

This is my chronicle of the attempts I make, and what its like. I welcome suggestions for things to try.  I also want to ask questions. I am not an expert, and I see and read conflicting information.   What is the truth, about my individual actions and their impact on the planet? 

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