It lasts for little more than one minute, but it packs some hard punches.And the subject it covers?
Yes, you've guessed . . . it's plastic.
As we learned last week, micro-plastic particles have somehow managed to spread to the remote, snowy wastes of the Arctic. Plastic, it seems, has permeated every corner of our planet.
How did it achieve such a feat? To give you one alarming example, whenever plastics are dumped in landfills, the hazardous chemicals seep underground when it rains, infiltrating into the aquifers and water table and indirectly affecting groundwater quality. It's a sobering thought.
And that isn't all. Did you know, at this moment, you and I are inhaling particles of plastic?Recent comprehensive tests, undertaken in both urban and rural areas, have shown conclusively that plastic particles are to be found in the atmosphere. What's more, they're now known to have infiltrated the food we eat.
And things get worse. Plastic, which was originally made from cellulose found in plants and trees, is now almost entirely made from oil, natural gas, coal and minerals.
It could well be said that, in excavating for the source of plastic, we are making a major contribution to climate change.
However, it's a complex situation because there are other important factors.
Did you know that here, in the UK, we produce over one and a half million tonnes of plastic raw materials annually?
Not only that, with the UK's plastic processors consuming over three million tonnes, the UK is one of the five top processors of plastic in the EU.
I'm typing this letter to you on a plastic keyboard, I've just been speaking on my plastic telephone . . . plastic is big business.
Yet, whilst accepting that plastic is now an inevitable component of modern life, with a factor to play in our economy, surely we should be attempting to remove the large percentage of unwanted plastic that our thoughtlessness has allowed to escape into the environment?
If, as it would appear, we are all of us breathing, eating and drinking invisible particles of plastic on a daily basis, isn't it time to take action?Surely we should be doing everything we can to extract it from the air, the water and the soil?
With which thought in mind, let's return to the video I mentioned at the start of this letter.
I'm sure you'll agree that it needs to be seen, it needs to trigger our anxieties and activate our future actions . . . so, please click here.
LATER
Thank you so much, Marion, for your immediate response, and for telling me of the tiny nation which is waging war on plastic - there's still room for hope.
Let me share this encouraging development . . . click here.
