Plastic crap is invading my house….

I opened an overhead cupboard in the kitchen at home the other day to take out something and I was showered with rubbish. All sorts of plastic crap fell out on top of me, including empty plastic containers, some with lids and some without, plastic bottles, plastic cups and plates.

This is becoming a regular feature in my place when I go looking for something and it’s driving me nuts.

It seems to me that every inch of space is taken up with clutter and when I go to move one thing, then five or six more bits and pieces fall out onto the floor. When I reach up to get a box of cereal, I must duck to avoid an avalanche of plastic junk and I end up on my hands and knees wasting more time picking it all back up.

It’s all stuff that I don’t want or don’t need yet, there it is, ready to assault me every time I open a door.

It always seems to be plastic and the lids always seem to outnumber the containers. When I ask why we are keeping the stuff, I’m told that it’s because you never know when they might be needed.

When I complain to my wife about it, she tells me that she needs more cupboard space. No she DOES’NT! If she gets twenty more cupboards she’ll manage to fill them to overflowing with more crap. There is something in her programming that tells her that space is bad.

Free space is dangerous so if there is an inch of space somewhere in the house she has to find it and fill it with something. If it’s big enough then she’ll put a lamp on it but a smaller spot might get a photograph or she’ll find a piece of glass to fit it or maybe another piece of plastic.

I have a shed that I can’t get into and an attic that will soon have to be reinforced to hold the weight of junk that is stored there. We have a walk in wardrobe or, I should say, my wife has one. My little section has been reduced over the years and I am now the proud owner of enough room to hang a shirt and a pants, the rest is hers. She added more shelving recently and somehow my little corner has managed to get even smaller.

I can say with absolute certainty that she has clothes in there that haven’t seen the light of day for over twenty years. They have served their purpose and they are doomed to spend the rest of their days gathering dust in the back of the wardrobe, squeezing me out. But they will never leave.

There is obviously some rule or superstition or something that I’m not aware of that prevents women from discarding old clothes. Maybe it’s a throwback to the Famine. It’s in their subconscious that they must always be prepared in case those dark days are ever revisited so they never throw anything away in case they need it someday.

Clothes and shoes, I can understand a little but the need to hoard plastic containers is beyond me. As soon as these containers empty their cargo in my house, they are washed and cleaned and then shoved into one of the already crowded cupboards to join their buddies.

There was a time when we weren’t very comfortable throwing plastic into the refuse because of the damage to the environment but now we are all familiar with recycling so it shouldn’t be such an issue to just get rid of these things like we did with bags.

Plastic bags have become a huge environmental nuisance but Ireland did its bit by introducing a tax on plastic bags in 2002. In some cases they’ve been discarded completely and England and some U.S. cities, are considering similar action.

Our tax on plastic bags has resulted in a 95 percent reduction in their use here. Many in Ireland now carry a reusable bag in the back of the car and the plastic bags that once blighted the Irish countryside are now merely an occasional eyesore.

So, it appears that a tax can have a positive impact on reducing plastic bag consumption and changing people’s behaviour and it gets people behaving more responsibly. Hopefully, people will begin to realise that plastic bags come at great cost to the environment and the ‘bag for life’ concept will become the norm.

Plastic is everywhere and we have become dependent on it. We take it for granted and it’s hard to believe that we were ever able to survive without it.  But it has only taken a single generation to develop our reliance on plastics which has created environmental problems such as crowded landfills, groundwater contamination, and ocean debris that future generations will be cleaning up for a long time to come.

Plastic bags are responsible for over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year and nearly 90% of the debris in our oceans is plastic.

Humans have made enough plastic since the Second World War to coat the Earth entirely in Clingfilm, an international study has revealed. Prince Charles is a long- time defender of the environment and he has stated that one of the most troubling environmental trends is the progressive build-up of plastic waste in the oceans. It’s being swallowed by sea birds, whales, dolphins, seals and other creatures.

He said: “I also find it sobering to think that almost all the plastic ever produced is still here somewhere, on the planet in one form or another, and will remain here for centuries to come – possibly thousands of years.”

You’re spot on Charles and you’ll find most of it in my cupboards.