With 80% of its oil coming from the Strait of Hormuz and a currency crisis that started long before the Iran war, Korea is feeling the pinch at many levels. Beyond the obvious impact at the gas station, possible shortages in secondary products already loom on the horizon. Recently, panic-buying swept the pay+as+you+throw plastic bags issued by Seoul districts, and that's a good occasion to talk about plastic dependence here.
I mean we've seen decent progress regarding single-use plastics, for instance with reusable shopping bags at the supermarkets or reusable cups in fast food restaurants. But the land remains covered with 'vinyl houses', the East Sea the most polluted by microplastics, and the dreaded black 'vinyl bongtu' pervasive.
Black plastic is the most toxic (don't forget plastics are full of chemicals) and the most difficult to recycle. Why on Earth is this increasingly health-conscious country still hooked to that thing? You see it everywhere, and particularly where you should never see it: wrapped around food.
And of course that black plastic is not even see-through; one of the reasons some people still prefer them to paper bags. The good news is that there are bio-source and bio-degradable alternatives that have become common in Europe, some can break down naturally in non-industrial settings, and leave no harmful waste.
We could also write volumes about the deadly combo of over-packaging and plastics here (how many layers of plastic even in Coupang's renewable 'Fresh Bags'?), but getting rid of these little black bags would be a good step forward.
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| Vinyl houses in Gimjae |
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