The recent confirmation that global temperatures in 2024 exceeded the pre-industrial average by more than the 1.5 degree C target set in the Paris Climate Agreement - decades ahead of schedule - will have dismayed many people. The New Year floods in parts of this country showed just what this means for us in practice.
Although there remain many who are sceptical about climate change, or at least our capacity to curb it rather than simply finding ways to live with it, there are others who will lament the unwillingness of some to tackle the problem head-on, especially as the second Trump administration takes office.
Mr Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Accord in his first term and while Joe Biden restored this commitment as president, Mr Trump is expected to repeat his previous deed. Moreover, as Edie.net has noted, Wall Street has responded to the imminent change in the presidency by withdrawing funds from climate initiatives.
Can Postal Boxes Help Fight Back?
Faced with such gloomy news, some may ask just what could be achieved by small, everyday measures like changing packaging and sending eco friendly postal boxes.
Individuals can indeed do far less than the world’s most powerful man, but it is also worth considering the difference a collective effort can make. If the public and companies providing goods and services to them redouble their own efforts, then intransigence and denial in high places can be countered.
A key issue with packaging is in part how it is produced, but also what happens to it afterwards. The more plastic is in it, the more carbon-intensive its production. But what happens afterward is crucial.
You don’t have to have seen footage of a turtle having a plastic straw painfully pulled out of its nose to appreciate the harm that can be done when such items get dumped in the environment.
Even in landfills, plastic will take centuries to break down. But for every bit that gets disposed of in a bin, something else will end up loose and at risk of getting into a watercourse.
This is the process by which plastic ends up being washed into rivers and, eventually, the sea, where it can do loads of harm to aquatic life and eventually gets back into the food chain - including the things we eat.
The Role Of Sustainable Materials And Forests
The alternative is to use eco friendly materials, such as cardboard packaging and shredded paper as a protective layer inside. Not only do these come from organic sources, but if they are truly green it will be because they come from sustainable forests, with a new tree being planted for every one that is cut down, or better still, recycled wood and paper.
Maintaining forests in this way is vital for our planet. The first thing to consider about this is the fact trees absorb carbon dioxide, so the more the forests are protected the better it is. True, a country like Britain has a small fraction of the tree cover of vast forests like the Amazon that have been significantly depleted in recent decades.
However, while we cannot control what countries like Brazil do (or don’t do) to protect these forests and the animal habitats that come with them, all the world’s trees, whether here or in South America, play a role in balancing the environment.
Moreover, the more the practices of sustainability and recycling are used in packaging by consumers and companies, the more it will become the norm and be used as standard, helping to reduce both the carbon footprint and pollution levels of existing packaging.
Fighting For The Future
Of course, there will still be some instances where something like bubble wrap will be appropriate, providing the protection it does for very fragile items. After all, there is nothing green about using energy to make a product only for it to have to be replaced because it got broken in transit.
Even so, sustainable packaging can still be used more than it is at present. It is not a panacea, but it is a practical and positive way to make a contribution in the right direction.
In addition, most folk would surely say it is a far more effective step and more likely to generate positive responses than stunts such as Just Stop Oil protesters spray painting the grave of Charles Darwin or gluing themselves to roads.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House and even the attitude of some politicians here might dent optimism. But recycled packaging shows that it is possible to fight back for a greener world, one parcel at a time.
