Sustainability Awareness Starts With Us: Inspired By “A Plastic Bag”

In the early morning, the sun shines through the treetops, and there is a bustling sound from the vegetable market, and merchants successively set up shelves and put up goods. The owner of “I” also opened the store door, ready to welcome her customers. “I” saw a girl came to the front of the shop and called to my owner, “Hello, I want some oranges, could you please give me a bag by the way.” “Sure,” my host replied.

“Ouch! It hurts,” I screamed in a hurry. “I” saw the host separated me from my friends, and soon a few oranges were packed into my stomach. “I” was handed over to the girl.

“Oh, although it hurts a bit, she looks very kind, and I think she will be a good host,” I muttered silently in my heart.

“I” left with the new owner. She walked to the stool by the park and picked up the little orange in my belly in her hand.

She ate one orange and then a second one. She ate all the oranges in “my” stomach. And then, she got up, turned, and left.

“Wait! Wait a minute! You forget to take me.” “I” yelled behind her. Unfortunately, she could not hear “my” shouting.

A strong wind blew, and “I” was blown to the side of the road. People passed by in a hurry, cars sped by, and no one noticed me.

I don’t know how long it took, a pair of small hands picked up “me”. When I was about to be overjoyed, I might have a new owner. He threw me into a big black bucket.

“I” was abandoned again.

At night, the whole city fell into silence. A garbage truck drove over, and he put “me” on it. The car went out of the city and came to the outskirts. “I” saw a big factory in front of me.

My heart trembled, and “I” escaped in fear. “I” climbed the hillside, crossed streams, and avoided the bites of the animals. “I” stopped my footsteps. The escape this way was really exhausting. “I” didn’t know where I belonged.

In the morning, the spongy soil covered “me”. “I” was tired and slowly closed my eyes and began to fall asleep.

“I” understand that the host doesn’t like me, and people don’t like me either. They called me “white pollution”. My family and friends were thrown away in every corner. We rushed around in every corner of the world: cities, forests, oceans, and even small animals’ bellies have our traces.

Humans began to hate our existence because we caused much ecological damage and broke the sustainable development. Gradually they began to reduce the production of “us”, and a large number of biodegradable materials took the place of “us”.

Instead of taking disposable plastic bags, people began to use handbags when they went to the market to buy goods. I thought it might be a good idea. “My friends” and I would not have to face the horrors things of being discarded, buried, or burned.

If “plastic bags” could talk, they do not hope that they will cause damage and harm to the earth’s environment. Although “it” cannot choose its own existence, humans can choose to change their behaviour.

People are familiar with the term sustainability, and I am no exception. But where should we start to participate in sustainable development activities? All of us will have an awareness of sustainability, but we have not realised how to turn the awareness of sustainability into reality in our actions. Here are some tips for us to consider:

1. Choose to take public transportation. Green travel: Bicycles, buses, or subways are all good travel options.

There are many shared bicycles in the city, and you can rent bikes for half an hour for free by simply taking out your mobile phone and scanning the QR code.

Both buses and trams are very convenient to travel options. In addition, the subway avoids the trouble of traffic jams and reduces the possibility of people getting stuck on the road when they go to work and school.

2. Reduce the use of disposable plastic products. Use more environmentally friendly products, such as water bottles, shopping bags, or use beeswax wrap to store food.

I would choose to bring the water bottles to school. Under my suggestion, my friends began to get used to bringing their own water bottles to campus.

There is an interesting kitchen item called beeswax wrap, which can store meat, fruits and vegetables. It can be washed and reused after each use.

If you must use disposable products, it is recommended to choose more environmentally friendly materials, such as plastic bags made of corn starch.

3. You can go to the second-hand market or the old goods market to choose the items you want.

4. The clothes you don’t need can be donated to people in need.

5. Turn waste into treasure. Unwanted items can be turned into more interesting items through manual DIY.

For example, in Xiamen, China, the “Wild Strawberry Free-Market” event is held every year. Many handmade products are sold at the market, most of which are handmade crafts and made of low-carbon and environmentally friendly materials, such as wood, cotton and linen.

This is a small wooden ornament I bought. I think it looks adorable, like a cat. It is made of a combination of leftover materials from some large wooden products.

6. Don’t be environmentally friendly for the sake of environmental protection. It is easy to cause waste. We will try our best to use the products we have bought back.

7. Rational consumption. Don’t choose to consume impulsively because you are greedy for temporary happiness. Choose the goods we really need. Waste is also an environmentally unfriendly behaviour.