23/04/2026
World Earth Day. We are a day late but I wanted to post something, but where do you even start? While it's part of a much bigger conversation, let's start with something I know a bit about & that's the candle industry in this country. The green washing that goes on is insane. I noted loads of candle businesses here that had stuff up about Earth Day and then mentioned their environmental policies (or the complete lack of them). One common issue I have with many of them is the use of plastic, more importantly; their choice to introduce products in the last few years that use plastic e.g. wax melt packaging, room spray bottles, shower gel bottles, hand wash etc. I have a fundamental belief that as humans we do not have the right to single use plastics. Something that is so cheap but has such a devastating impact on our world is a danger. Businesses that elect to bring plastic into their product ranges can try and green wash their decisions all they want to but it's clear they care nothing of the environment. While it's almost impossible to not use plastic - we need to stop bringing more products to market that are made from plastic. There are alternatives - we have to invest in them. Especially when many of these companies are filling them with substances like room sprays which make them nearly impossible to recycle (enter the chat about how much of our plastic is actually recycled).
Living so close to the sea and spending so much time outside, I see the realities of our addiction to plastic. I've been to remote beaches in Donegal where the sand is coloured by the volume of micro plastics in the soil. I swim beside crabs trying to eat plastic bags. I've found loads of dead fish tangled in old fishing line or plastic bags. I've swam in remote mountain river pools & lifted out vapes, synthetic (plastic) clothing & all manner of rubbish.
Companies that invest in wild life charities and environmental charities are great but it cannot be a shield to the fact they ignore the massive environmental harm they are doing. Considering many plastics can take up to 1000 years to break down - imagine one bottle taking 1000 years to break down!