Please. Dig a Little Deeper, Rob Stokes
[7 September 2014 Update:
Since I wrote the following post in May, NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes has called for a national ban on microbeads in toiletries. He is setting up an industry working group to help rid the state, and possibly even the nation, of microbeads by 2016.
Back in May, with Netherlands Princess Laurentien breathing down his neck, Stokes had called for companies to improve their product range. No talk of legislative change. I argued that bans were the only way to make any real environmental change. I doubted that his government would implement such bans: "I would so love to be proven wrong", I wrote.
So, am I now gobbling up my words?
Well, not just yet.
While I'm delighted that Stokes has highlighted the issue, particularly in light of a recent report on just how much damage these things are doing, I'll watch and wait, words on the plate.
Who will be invited to join this industry working group? Representatives of the cosmetics industry? The plastics and chemistry industries? Will we also see - in equal or greater numbers - marine scientists and environmentalists on the team? Or is this just another case of Dracula heading up the blood bank?
And if this industry working group doesn't manage to water down the bill, will powerful lobbies mange to do it at legislative stage, as is happening in the US - in Illinois and possibly California and federally. There, industry has lobbied hard to argue that bioplastic - PLA - Is a perfectly acceptable substitute. But we know very little about this stuff. As Marcus Eriksen of 5 Gyres says:
I kind of don't mind this guy. He's young, he surfs, he lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches. I'm pretty sure he's a cleakskin in the corruption stakes compared to so many of his colleagues on both sides of the chamber (but what do I know?).
Still, I'll watch and wait.
(And I still don't know why they planted that tree).
The NSW Government spin doctors must have been tapping their Coke-sponsored pens on their Schweppes notepads when they got the news.
"Hmmmm," gazing out over the billion-dollar views of Sydney Harbour afforded by Macquarie Tower, they searched for a good PR idea.
"Who is she again, the Queen of Sweden?"
"Ah, she's Netherlands Princess Laurentien. She's an heir to Royal Dutch Shell, you know. We've gotta look after her."
"What's she out here for? Getting rid of ... face scrubs or something?!"
"Well, she's campaigning against these um (looks up briefing notes) microbeads."
"What are they?'
"Apparently, these tiny bits of plastic in face scrubs. Got some greenies up in arms."
"Greenies. Great. We'll put her in the Botanic Gardens. She can plant a tree." (Stabs notepad with pen triumphantly).
"Get the Gardens on the phone, Delvene, and tell them we'll need a do down there."
The NSW Government press release photo looks good, if a little strained. Three smiling faces. Green. A sunny day. Mission accomplished.
But what exactly is the NSW Government doing about this? Fauna and Flora International (FFI), which is Netherlands Princess Laurentien's baby, has developed this phone app to track microbeads. Well, I thought that Beat the Microbead was already doing that, but anyway. Apparently it doesn't apply to Australia... yet.
Princess Laurentien may be an heir to Royal Dutch Shell, which has visited some almighty eco-horrors on our planet in the past (Drilling the Arctic? For real? Yes. On hold for now). But good on her for bringing a public face to this issue which many people still don't seem to be aware of.
The Royal Botanic Gardens is a statutory body with no real power beyond what the government deigns. So how they are going to "protect" our oceans from microplastic pollution, as the press release so boldly declares, remains somewhat of a mystery. By teaming up with FFI? How?
And the minister himself? What has he done? On the day, he said to ABC Radio,
There's a couple of businesses based in Australia that are working with FFI to identify how they can improve their product ranges to be more conscious of these, particularly microbeads, which are these tiny, tiny little particles of plastics that when they go into a marine environment, they're very, very porous and they can attract toxic chemicals.
Then they end up, because they're quite heavy compared to the density of water, they go to the bottom where they are eaten or ingested by molluscs and other sea creatures and then end up being part of the food chain and that can cause real problems to the environment and also ultimately to human health."
Since I wrote the following post in May, NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes has called for a national ban on microbeads in toiletries. He is setting up an industry working group to help rid the state, and possibly even the nation, of microbeads by 2016.
Back in May, with Netherlands Princess Laurentien breathing down his neck, Stokes had called for companies to improve their product range. No talk of legislative change. I argued that bans were the only way to make any real environmental change. I doubted that his government would implement such bans: "I would so love to be proven wrong", I wrote.
So, am I now gobbling up my words?
Well, not just yet.
While I'm delighted that Stokes has highlighted the issue, particularly in light of a recent report on just how much damage these things are doing, I'll watch and wait, words on the plate.
Who will be invited to join this industry working group? Representatives of the cosmetics industry? The plastics and chemistry industries? Will we also see - in equal or greater numbers - marine scientists and environmentalists on the team? Or is this just another case of Dracula heading up the blood bank?
And if this industry working group doesn't manage to water down the bill, will powerful lobbies mange to do it at legislative stage, as is happening in the US - in Illinois and possibly California and federally. There, industry has lobbied hard to argue that bioplastic - PLA - Is a perfectly acceptable substitute. But we know very little about this stuff. As Marcus Eriksen of 5 Gyres says:
- "Chemically speaking it’s the same stuff, with the same problems, and doesn’t move us away from the status quo. California policymakers are sold bad information by the cosmetics lobby about naturally derived plastics, but without the facts about the environmental harm they cause."
I kind of don't mind this guy. He's young, he surfs, he lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches. I'm pretty sure he's a cleakskin in the corruption stakes compared to so many of his colleagues on both sides of the chamber (but what do I know?).
Still, I'll watch and wait.
(And I still don't know why they planted that tree).
* * *
The NSW Government spin doctors must have been tapping their Coke-sponsored pens on their Schweppes notepads when they got the news.
"Hmmmm," gazing out over the billion-dollar views of Sydney Harbour afforded by Macquarie Tower, they searched for a good PR idea.
"Who is she again, the Queen of Sweden?"
"Ah, she's Netherlands Princess Laurentien. She's an heir to Royal Dutch Shell, you know. We've gotta look after her."
"What's she out here for? Getting rid of ... face scrubs or something?!"
"Well, she's campaigning against these um (looks up briefing notes) microbeads."
"What are they?'
"Apparently, these tiny bits of plastic in face scrubs. Got some greenies up in arms."
"Greenies. Great. We'll put her in the Botanic Gardens. She can plant a tree." (Stabs notepad with pen triumphantly).
"Get the Gardens on the phone, Delvene, and tell them we'll need a do down there."
The NSW Government press release photo looks good, if a little strained. Three smiling faces. Green. A sunny day. Mission accomplished.
But what exactly is the NSW Government doing about this? Fauna and Flora International (FFI), which is Netherlands Princess Laurentien's baby, has developed this phone app to track microbeads. Well, I thought that Beat the Microbead was already doing that, but anyway. Apparently it doesn't apply to Australia... yet.
Princess Laurentien may be an heir to Royal Dutch Shell, which has visited some almighty eco-horrors on our planet in the past (Drilling the Arctic? For real? Yes. On hold for now). But good on her for bringing a public face to this issue which many people still don't seem to be aware of.
The Royal Botanic Gardens is a statutory body with no real power beyond what the government deigns. So how they are going to "protect" our oceans from microplastic pollution, as the press release so boldly declares, remains somewhat of a mystery. By teaming up with FFI? How?
And the minister himself? What has he done? On the day, he said to ABC Radio,
There's a couple of businesses based in Australia that are working with FFI to identify how they can improve their product ranges to be more conscious of these, particularly microbeads, which are these tiny, tiny little particles of plastics that when they go into a marine environment, they're very, very porous and they can attract toxic chemicals.
Then they end up, because they're quite heavy compared to the density of water, they go to the bottom where they are eaten or ingested by molluscs and other sea creatures and then end up being part of the food chain and that can cause real problems to the environment and also ultimately to human health."
OK. So he knows what they are. But does he plan to do anything as heroic as New York and California, who've banned these vile little things? Of course not.
That would be stifling business. Will this new environment minister (and indeed, our new Premier) stand up to Big Soda and even implement a container deposit scheme in this state?
I would so love to be proven wrong on this one. Believe me. But this government, and the party which runs this government is so beholden to the philosophy of the "invisible hand of the market", which is somehow able to right all the wrongs of society without government intervention, and beyond that, to the mantra of individual responsibility (hence the classical use of their name, the "Liberal" Party), that I fear, yet again, they will do nothing and leave it up to business and consumers. Which means consumers.
Rob Stokes, this is an environmental emergency. We cannot wait for "a couple of businesses" to work with FFI. This is so much bigger than this. Please. We need government legislation on this.
Rob Stokes, this is an environmental emergency. We cannot wait for "a couple of businesses" to work with FFI. This is so much bigger than this. Please. We need government legislation on this.
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