OPINION: Believe it or not: the future of plastic is doomed...
If you are a media lover you will notice a rotating or recurring theme. And this has nothing to do with your point of interest, religious, political, ideological beliefs. Just a fact.
Like walking down your residential area and noticing a familiar odour. Or seeing, repetitive things.
Three four streets away you might be aware of this group of young males. Always hanging around. You will smell Marijuana.... you will feel revulsion as these young men hobble and stand like a pair of falling, rotting plants. Akin to those bananas that have not seen rain for a long time.
Suffering plants pleading with God and Nature. Please bring the rain. Please ease the sun. Please...please...Tafadhali....Sil’ vous plait, Por favore.
You expect to see underwear, hanging trousers, holding these young men of the future, blowing away at the mind altering substance, while police cars zoom past, nonchalantly, passively, searching for more serious offenders.
Or to the Donald Trump demonstration in West London. And later in the bus you will see other young people, not stoned, not pathetically sluggishly ambling and dragging their heavy feet – because they smoked Weed but they just came back from the anti Trump demo.
Placards scream “Dump Trump” and these are different types of young people.
They are not high or stoned. They are jovial and focussed. Although those where you live will still claim, they are focussed on Bangi and the super weed.
Yes, each time you pass them your skin tightens, your gut make a thin sound, (like a thin fart) and if it is night you will be as alert as a wild dog.
Yes drug takers do not care about stealing and fighting. We are not talking about the Antony Joshua kind of fight. Yes one Mexican friend told me, his country was so jubilant, and that someone was promoting a chocolate called Snickers.
That this American chocolate (from the famous Mars brand) was part of winner, David Ruiz’s, diet. In other words the first world heavyweight champion from Mexico did NOT eat good healthy, ital- food like our defeated Antony Joshua. But that is just an opinion. We could be wrong.
This is the recurring news in sport. There is the world cricket 2019 tournament, the Liverpool against Tottenham (or Chelsea over Arsenal), victory. Nevertheless- not everyone is footie fan.
Try asking many ladies if they are going to watch the ongoing 2019 women FIFA tournament in Paris, they might grunt and roll eyes.
However, it depends where you ask.
In the USA (three times champions since beginning in 1991); of course there is more enthusiasm. Yes, you will see this recurring theme during the following weeks. Something positive.
Not as pathetic as the Ganja smoking young males at a street corner five minutes from your London house. Not that.
The future of youth is it drugs, apathy, soccer and fitness? That is the question lingering in our minds.
What have we noticed lately? What topic kept dancing through media items this week?
What was frequent and endless?
I went through videos forwarded to me via WhatsApp. And kept seeing the word Rambo. If you were around in the 1980s, Rambo was a big, huge film franchise staring Sylvester Stallone.
Hollywood Rambo films. But why we Tanzanians call plastic bags, Rambo, beats me. Imagination can be a sweet- sour, salty drink.
Yes Tanzania has banished the use of plastic bags. The Government promised a 5 plus million fine plus (or with) a two year imprisonment. Small traders protested over the banishment of plastic (aka Rambo) bags.
Their livelihood is an environmental nightmare...the evidence says plastic stay in the soil for 500 years!!!
Meantime....
Flicking through pages and pages of London’s daily Evening Standard – the word plastic rolled on like a hungry caterpillar. And we know how much caterpillars eat.
On the same day that London demos were screaming “Dump Trump” - Royals and the UK leadership met the controversial (biggest- nation- on - earth) boss. Evening Standard had supersonic pages about plastic.
See some repeated phrases and lines: “Future of London- plastic free project”, “My War on Waste- Jaime joins the stars calling an end to plastic pollution”, “Make a Difference- Sign a pledge to reduce pollution”, “The Post plastic economy...”
And so on and so forth.
The message is clear. A silent fire is raging against one of the most annoying human inventions. Although some form of plastic was used many centuries ago, the modern version was officially inaugurated in the 19th century.
It was revolutionary. But like some few other scientific discoveries PLASTIC has become a nightmare for the health of our dear mother planet. It is time to say, bye- bye.
Kwaheri Rambo.
Freddy Macha is a writer and musician based in London. Blog, www.freddymachablogspot.com
