4th of July Celebrate and Recycle

Canada Day which is on the 1^st of July and 4^th of July for the United States celebrate the existence of the political entity called country and celebrations involve food and drink.  How about recycling?  Do we leave all the empty cans and plastic knives in the park?

Saving the environment from single use plastic bags and water bottles starts with one family.  Sounds ridiculous?  Not really.  It involves planning about what food and drinks to buy.

·         Paper plates.  Family members can bring real plates, forks and spoons that can be washed afterwards.  A teenager can be responsible for coordinating such an effort. 

·         Plastic water bottles.  Family members should be asked not to buy water.  They should fill their water bottles at home and bring them to the picnic table.  A teenager should be given the task of explaining the no plastic water bottles’ Canada Day or 4^th of July policy to aunts, uncles and grandparents.

·        Bring your own cup.  Everybody at home has a special cup, even baby Alicia.  They should bring them to the picnic table and cousin Zuki will fill cups with soda from a 2-litre bottle.  A teenager should be given this task. Unfortunately, it is plastic, and nothing can be done about that.  However, it is much better that 36 half-used plastic bottles rolling on the ground at the end of the day.

·        History lesson.  Europeans loved Canada and the U.S. when they landed because it was all nature, no coke bottles and plastic bags polluting rivers.  History called it primitive, but we know better.  Four kids in the family should do the research about how indigenous people respected the environment for thousands of years and present it at the family gathering.  Saving the environment is a pipe dream if kids are clueless about it.

·         Clean-up squad.  Unfortunately, this involves plastic garbage bags.  The teenage coordinator will organize fewer bags, if all of the above is observed.

Celebrate responsibly.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.