Story of Plastic: Tiza Mafira of Indonesia & the Plastic Bag Diet

The Story Of Stuff project is working on an epic Story of Plastic documentary. Meanwhile they released an awesome mini documentary about the work of Tiza Mafira in Indonesia as well as the stratification of plastic waste along a river there.

The most inspiring bit of this video is Tiza's simple yet effective event - the Plastic Bag Theft, where volunteers of her organization approach people who are using plastic shopping bags in public places and offer to exchange the plastic bag they are using for a cloth bag. Thus by providing the eco-friendly alternative to the plastic shopping bag (a key single-use plastic that contributes greatly to plastic pollution) and by interacting with the members of the public who use this environmentally devastating plastic bag for the sake of convenience, Tiza and her team are changing attitudes one bag and one person at a time!

Participating in the Webinar with Tiza organized by The Story Of Stuff provided more insights and inspiration.

I tweeted about some of my key takeaways from this Webnair:

 Tiza has been working with the Indonesian government and cities and helping shape plastic ban policies as well as organizing PR events such as the Plastic Bag Theft. What started with a petition to ask retailers to stop giving plastic bags for free has resulted in Tiza now helping shape plastic bans in cities. This is a great example of passion shaping profession - as Tiza has moved from corporate lawyering to activism and lobbying to ban the use of plastics.

The use of sachets and the solution of promoting "Bulk Stores" and pre-plastic era practices such as taking your own containers to fill up on FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) are great solution to preventing that use and profusion of multi-layer un-recyclable single-use sachets - so convenient, so ubiquitous and so noxious to the environment! It's essential that corporations that profit out of us buying their products give back and take responsibility by implementing and facilitating such solutions.

By promoting plastic-free and multi-layer-packaging-free products (e.g., Lush's naked beauty products) in markets of developing and developed countries and not blocking plastic bans, FMCG companies can generate good will as well as sell their goods. Short term discomfort and sincere efforts to put in place eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastics and packaging in shops all over can yield long-term good will, satisfied customers and a plastic-free planet.

 But the most important takeaway from all this is that Tiza Mafira is my choice for December 2018's RE.Plastic Change-Maker, so check back with this blog for an interview with Tiza and learn more about the Plastic Bag Diet and her other RE-plastic efforts.