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It was easy back in Kaikoura where I could nip ten minutes down the road to stock up on shampoo bars, and fill up my reusable bottle with clean tap water. I hung out with friends who were also passionate about living an eco friendly life and lived in a happy little bubble surrounded by like minded people.
Still, I naively thought I'd find traveling a breeze with my water bottle, bags and beauty bars. I imagined myself writing an #inspirationalblog post about going plastic free 'on the road' and would arrive home all pleased with myself and ready to lecture everyone who didn't ask about my 'journey'. Just kidding - but you get the picture.
Well it's time to eat a big ol' slice of humble cheesecake because so far its been one challenging ride.
Here are some examples from my first two weeks the Philippines:
- I ask for a bamboo straw (that I can see behind the bar) instead of a plastic one for my iced coffee . The bartender says no and plonks a plastic one in before I can say no straw. I'm still confused by this.
- I ask for no straw in another cafe. The girl nods and smiles then brings my smoothie over with the biggest plastic straw I've ever seen poking out the top.
- At one point I can't find anywhere that will fill up my water bottle (tap water isn't drinkable here and our hotel water fountain said 'no bottle refills') so have to buy a big plastic bottle of water.
- We order coffees to drink at a café and they arrive in plastic takeaway cups. When I get a second coffee it takes a good minute or so to explain I want it in a glass. The bartender is extremely confused and still tries to give me a straw.
- A hostel we stayed at in Coron has a laundry service so I give them our laundry in a big material bag. They return it in my bag covered in a plastic bag.
It's enough to drive you crazy! It's certainly made me feel guilty over the past few weeks and I know there were times when I definitely didn't try hard enough to make myself understood. The few times our drinks did arrive in a glass with no straw/a bamboo straw were cause for a LOT of excitement let me tell ya.
Last week Nick and I went on a 3 day, 2 night island hopping boat cruise from Coron to El Nido. These tours stop off at various beaches and snorkeling spots and each night you stay at a different Basecamp - usually sleeping in huts along the beach. It sounds absolutely dreamy right?! We thought so too.
Well although we had one amazing day exploring a beautiful reef and picture perfect beaches and an evening gazing at shooting stars and fireflies, overall it wasn't that dreamy, for a few reasons.
I won't bore you with parts of the trip that annoyed us because it's BORING but our frustrations essentially came down to the other passengers, the crew and the general lack of organisation.
I will tell you that during the second night, I was awoken by something biting my stomach *vom* and turned my torch on to discover our mosquito net had rudely let in two big cockroaches that were chilling about 30cm from my face.
I have been woken up in the night by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and I can confirm that for me THIS was a worse way to wake up. I'd honestly take the earthquake again. Nick obviously wasn't fazed at all. I spent the rest of the night wrapped tightly in my sheet, sweating, waking up every time something crawled over my arm (which happened a lot) and planning the quickest route back to England.
Sorry about that tangent but I need someone to sympathise with me. I'm sure there are lots of people who wouldn't care, it's all part of the package etc. I am not one of those people.
Ok so back to plastic. I was sad but not at all surprised to discover that a lot of these unbelievably beautiful beaches were covered in plastic waste. We were properly in the middle of nowhere, yet we lost count of the amount of bits of plastic we found. Balloons, toothbrushes, packaging and mainly BOTTLES. Soooo many bottles.
The Philippines is one of many countries that doesn't have safe drinkable tap water which is another issue altogether, so for a lot of people who live here, buying countless bottles of water is unfortunately the norm.
However. *Preachy part warning* All of us that live in Western countries like the UK, NZ and Europe have absolutely no excuse when it comes to water. None of us should be buying water when it comes free and clean from the tap. There are too many people who don't have this privilege and our oceans and our planet are suffering as a result.
We need to stop being part of a problem that's already out of control. Did you know most fish that we buy and eat contain micro plastics now? That means we are actually ingesting plastic into our bodies. A study on this was done recently and every fish eating participant was found to have micro plastics in their poop. Yum.
Ok time to get real. I know that it is near on impossible to avoid plastic completely. It's pretty much everywhere. I know when I get home I won't be able to live a totally plastic free life. It's just unrealistic. But I can drastically reduce the amount of plastic I consume, re-use what I can and recycle the rest. In that order! Recycling isn't the answer unfortunately. Every piece of plastic manufactured will still be on the planet for thousands of years even if it's recycled. Reduce. Then re-use. Then recycle.
There's so much else we can do. Organise or get involved in a beach clean if you live near the sea. If you're on holiday, don't ignore the waste on the beaches you visit, make a pledge to pick up five pieces of plastic every time you head back to your hotel. Buy a reusable bottle. Buy a water filter jug if you don't like the taste of tap water. My parents have one and the water tastes delicious after it's been through it! I think we're all pretty good at using reusable bags now but if you forget one at the supermarket, I can guarantee that the shop will have a box you can use.
Nick and I picked up all the plastic we found on the beaches during our cruise and along with the boat crew managed to take it back on board to recycle back on the mainland. Whilst a couple of the other passengers helped us, most just ignored us/stared/took selifes *EYE ROLL*
I just want to give ten thousand awesome points to Nick too - on one beach we visited we gathered a load of rubbish to take back only to find the kayak had already gone back to the boat. We left the pile at the shore and swam back. The skipper wanted to leave but Nick convinced him to wait while he kayaked back to the beach on his own and brought the rubbish back to the boat. A lot of people on board just stared at him and said nothing but me and the boat chef cheered him back on and the chef looked out to the beach in thought and said "He is saving the world." It made me laugh but he was right! Everything we do makes a difference.
Sadly just the next day, our boat stopped at a little beach where sea turtles are often found. Sure enough the crew spotted one and everyone immediately surrounded it, chasing the poor thing with Go Pros until it eventually swam off. We swam in the other direction and when everyone got back they were all gushing about how much they loooved the turtle. Not even five minutes later, two balloons that one of the girls brought onto the boat for her friend's birthday flew off the back of the boat. They all found this absolutely hilarious. I don't need to bother explaining why this made us seethe.
I think a huge problem is that so many people don't think what they do 'counts', that it's other people causing the issues. These girls had been disgusted at the waste on the beaches yet found it funny when their balloons floated back to the bay that their sea turtle friend lived in.
No one likes to be preachy but the more we talk about this, the more we can influence others to live mindfully. I realise I'm preaching to the choir as most of my friends are already doing these things. I just really want it to become a big part of our conversations.
I'm on Malapascua Island at the moment. Nick lived here 8 years ago and it's been great meeting his friends and seeing where he spent his time. I spent the last few days learning to dive which has been on my bucket list for ages, and I've discovered a whole new underwater wonderland that I'm excited to explore more.
My amazing dive guide Mariella not only kept an eye on me to make sure I wasn't doing anything mental, she also picked up every bit of plastic she saw down there. Her project Go Green Malapascua is responsible for getting rid of all plastic straws on this island over the past 2 years too. What a Queen! It's so awesome meeting people like her who are so passionate about their planet, and are taking action too! It really keeps me inspired and on the right track.
I also know that it's all way easier said than done. My life is FAR from waste free - it will take a long time for me to get to that point. I mess up all the time, get lazy and get overwhelmed by it all. But with every small change I make I feel like a tiny difference has been made. And let's face it - that feels pretty awesome!
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| Mojito with a bamboo straw is the best kind of Mojito |
Last week Nick and I went on a 3 day, 2 night island hopping boat cruise from Coron to El Nido. These tours stop off at various beaches and snorkeling spots and each night you stay at a different Basecamp - usually sleeping in huts along the beach. It sounds absolutely dreamy right?! We thought so too.
Well although we had one amazing day exploring a beautiful reef and picture perfect beaches and an evening gazing at shooting stars and fireflies, overall it wasn't that dreamy, for a few reasons.
 |
| Ok some of it was dreamy |
I won't bore you with parts of the trip that annoyed us because it's BORING but our frustrations essentially came down to the other passengers, the crew and the general lack of organisation.
I will tell you that during the second night, I was awoken by something biting my stomach *vom* and turned my torch on to discover our mosquito net had rudely let in two big cockroaches that were chilling about 30cm from my face.
I have been woken up in the night by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and I can confirm that for me THIS was a worse way to wake up. I'd honestly take the earthquake again. Nick obviously wasn't fazed at all. I spent the rest of the night wrapped tightly in my sheet, sweating, waking up every time something crawled over my arm (which happened a lot) and planning the quickest route back to England.
Sorry about that tangent but I need someone to sympathise with me. I'm sure there are lots of people who wouldn't care, it's all part of the package etc. I am not one of those people.
 |
| Cockroach Cottage |
Ok so back to plastic. I was sad but not at all surprised to discover that a lot of these unbelievably beautiful beaches were covered in plastic waste. We were properly in the middle of nowhere, yet we lost count of the amount of bits of plastic we found. Balloons, toothbrushes, packaging and mainly BOTTLES. Soooo many bottles.
 |
| This was from the first beach. We ended up picking up about 5 times this amount. |
The Philippines is one of many countries that doesn't have safe drinkable tap water which is another issue altogether, so for a lot of people who live here, buying countless bottles of water is unfortunately the norm.
However. *Preachy part warning* All of us that live in Western countries like the UK, NZ and Europe have absolutely no excuse when it comes to water. None of us should be buying water when it comes free and clean from the tap. There are too many people who don't have this privilege and our oceans and our planet are suffering as a result.
We need to stop being part of a problem that's already out of control. Did you know most fish that we buy and eat contain micro plastics now? That means we are actually ingesting plastic into our bodies. A study on this was done recently and every fish eating participant was found to have micro plastics in their poop. Yum.
Ok time to get real. I know that it is near on impossible to avoid plastic completely. It's pretty much everywhere. I know when I get home I won't be able to live a totally plastic free life. It's just unrealistic. But I can drastically reduce the amount of plastic I consume, re-use what I can and recycle the rest. In that order! Recycling isn't the answer unfortunately. Every piece of plastic manufactured will still be on the planet for thousands of years even if it's recycled. Reduce. Then re-use. Then recycle.
There's so much else we can do. Organise or get involved in a beach clean if you live near the sea. If you're on holiday, don't ignore the waste on the beaches you visit, make a pledge to pick up five pieces of plastic every time you head back to your hotel. Buy a reusable bottle. Buy a water filter jug if you don't like the taste of tap water. My parents have one and the water tastes delicious after it's been through it! I think we're all pretty good at using reusable bags now but if you forget one at the supermarket, I can guarantee that the shop will have a box you can use.
Nick and I picked up all the plastic we found on the beaches during our cruise and along with the boat crew managed to take it back on board to recycle back on the mainland. Whilst a couple of the other passengers helped us, most just ignored us/stared/took selifes *EYE ROLL*
I just want to give ten thousand awesome points to Nick too - on one beach we visited we gathered a load of rubbish to take back only to find the kayak had already gone back to the boat. We left the pile at the shore and swam back. The skipper wanted to leave but Nick convinced him to wait while he kayaked back to the beach on his own and brought the rubbish back to the boat. A lot of people on board just stared at him and said nothing but me and the boat chef cheered him back on and the chef looked out to the beach in thought and said "He is saving the world." It made me laugh but he was right! Everything we do makes a difference.
Sadly just the next day, our boat stopped at a little beach where sea turtles are often found. Sure enough the crew spotted one and everyone immediately surrounded it, chasing the poor thing with Go Pros until it eventually swam off. We swam in the other direction and when everyone got back they were all gushing about how much they loooved the turtle. Not even five minutes later, two balloons that one of the girls brought onto the boat for her friend's birthday flew off the back of the boat. They all found this absolutely hilarious. I don't need to bother explaining why this made us seethe.
I think a huge problem is that so many people don't think what they do 'counts', that it's other people causing the issues. These girls had been disgusted at the waste on the beaches yet found it funny when their balloons floated back to the bay that their sea turtle friend lived in.
No one likes to be preachy but the more we talk about this, the more we can influence others to live mindfully. I realise I'm preaching to the choir as most of my friends are already doing these things. I just really want it to become a big part of our conversations.
I'm on Malapascua Island at the moment. Nick lived here 8 years ago and it's been great meeting his friends and seeing where he spent his time. I spent the last few days learning to dive which has been on my bucket list for ages, and I've discovered a whole new underwater wonderland that I'm excited to explore more.
My amazing dive guide Mariella not only kept an eye on me to make sure I wasn't doing anything mental, she also picked up every bit of plastic she saw down there. Her project Go Green Malapascua is responsible for getting rid of all plastic straws on this island over the past 2 years too. What a Queen! It's so awesome meeting people like her who are so passionate about their planet, and are taking action too! It really keeps me inspired and on the right track.
I also know that it's all way easier said than done. My life is FAR from waste free - it will take a long time for me to get to that point. I mess up all the time, get lazy and get overwhelmed by it all. But with every small change I make I feel like a tiny difference has been made. And let's face it - that feels pretty awesome!
