HOW do we save this threatened planet of ours? One cup at a time!
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I’m being facetious of course, because it’s going to take a lot more than reducing our use of disposable coffee cups. But there’s an element of truth in it, in that if people are to be involved in environmental campaigns, they need to start somewhere.
And often, that’s as simple as looking at some ordinary aspect of their lives in a new light.
Staffing our stall at the Farmers Markets in recent months, we began to really tune in to the number of disposable coffee cups in people’s hands as they browsed the produce. And then, as the day wore on, the piles of cups tossed into the big wheelie bins. As those who’ve watched the ABC TV show War on Waste will know, these cups are generally not recyclable and end up in landfill.
We’ve been setting up our stall at the markets for years, chatting to passers-by, sipping from our own throw-away cups. Suddenly it seemed no longer okay.
So, taking receipt of a couple of tubs of donated china cups, we started handing them out to people who looked like they might be heading for the coffee van. They took their cups, had them filled, and wandered around as usual, cups in hand. Then they handed them back for us to wash in hot sudsy water, dry with a tea towel, and return to their tubs. We covered just a small percentage of coffee-drinkers, but it was a good start.
We in the environmental movement are used to arguments about big, complex issues. But cup-washing on a sunny spring morning at the Farmers Markets was a simple, small, practical thing that caused nothing but good vibes.
Meanwhile the Lions Club, which hosts the markets, is slowly working to reduce plastic at the markets. A plastic-free Farmers Markets suddenly seems eminently possible rather than a thing languishing in the “nice idea but too hard” basket.
Yes, we need to tackle the big issues. But sometimes it helps to focus on the smaller picture, taking tiny steps that, combined, add up to significant change.
BCCAN meeting
THE Bathurst Community Climate Action Network Annual General Meeting will be held at 5.30pm at Rahamim, 34 Busby Street, on Tuesday October 16.
The guest speaker will be environmental author and academic Dr Ariel Salleh, speaking on the topic: “Climate change. What’s water got to do with it?” All welcome.