The Innsight StudentMagazineattheDepartmentofTranslationStudies UniversityofInnsbruck,March-June2015 Plastic?Nothanks! bySoultanaAlexoudi Everyoneknowsthesituationof lingthousandsofbirdsandani- mightalsobefewerleftovers,as theworldorifitwouldbebetter returning home after shopping, malseveryyear.Thismeansthat you do not have to buy more forthemandfortheenvironment youunpackeverythingandthere toxic waste is also introduced thanyouactuallyneed.Fortuna- tobuythingsfromlocalfarmer it is: a lot of plastic bags and intothefoodchain.Itisalsosaid telythereisgoingtobeastore markets or from plastic-free plastic packaging. Sometimes, that some of the rubbish has likethatinInnsbrucksoon,which shops. thingsareevenpackedinthree beenthereforover50yearsand iscalled“Liebe&Lose”.Theshop layersofplastic.Isitnotpossible simply does not biodegrade. offersabout650productssuch Trickstoavoidplasticindailylife toreduceplasticinpackagingor That is the reason why re - asflour,rice,pasta,nuts,salads, to avoid it at all? It is difficult searchershavefounditemslike teaandcoffee,oil,bread,wine Evenifthereisnoshopthatsells when80percentofstocksoldin toothbrushes and cigarette andbear,veganproducts,meat, unpacked products in every supermarketsiswrappedinplas- lightersinthestomachsoffish fish,makeupandsoon. town,everyonecanfollowsome tic, but it definitely is possible. andseabirds.Furthermoreitis steps to reduce their “plastic- Andwheredoesallthatplastic believedthat90percentofthe Although drafts like footprint”. go? Some of it is shipped so - rubbish floating around in the “Liebe&Lose” cannot measure 1.Alwayscarryareusableshop- mewheretoberecycled.Butstill ocean consists of plastic. In against the big players in the ping bag with you and do not mostofitendsupasplasticpol- ordertoprotecttheanimalsand foodindustry,thefounderswant onlyuseitforgroceriesbutforall lution.Asaresulttherearehuge theenvironmentweshouldstart toshowthatthereisamoreeco- yourpurchases,forexamplefor rubbishpatchesfloatingaround thinkingaboutmakingourpur - friendlywaytosellfood. clothing. intheoceans.Sowhatcaneach chaseselsewhere. 2. Make your purchases at a ofusdotoreduceplasticpollu- Plastichasbecomethispopular local farmers market and buy tion?Whataretheconsequen - Plastic-freeshops aspackagingmaterial,because freshandlocalproductswithout ces for the nature and the ithasproventobethebestop- plastic,aslongasyouremember animalsandwhichstepscanwe Averycreativeideaistomake tionwhenitcomestodelivering to bring your own container or followtoreduceplasticwaste? yourpurchasesinshopswhere asafefoodsupply.Asthedis - bag. everything is sold without any tancesbetweenthefoodprodu- 3.Checklabelsofpersonalcare Plasticintheoceans packaging.Thatmeansthatyou cer and the consumer always products such as peelings and canbringyourownboxeswith grow,plastichelpstokeepthe other products, because they Thelargestmassofrubbishin youandonlybuytheamountyou foodfreshanditpreventsleaks mightcontaintinyplasticingre - theworldwasdiscoveredbya reallyneed.Thereforethereare andspillsduringtransportation. dients. sailor,CharlesMoore,in1997. twopositiveeffects:youreduce Butconsumersshouldaskthem- 4. Try to colour your hair with Thismassisestimatedtobe100 your plastic waste by bringing selvesiftheyreallyneedthese hennaproductspurchasedwit - milliontonsofrubbishandiskil- your own container and there productsfromtheothersideof houtplasticpackaging. Page1 Politics&Environment 5.Thesedaysclothesaremade Conclusion Thisarticleisnotmeanttomake Iamnotsayingthateveryone fromsyntheticmaterials,inother everyonebanishanyplasticma - hastofollowallthestepsmen - words:fromplasticmaterials. Ofcoursetherearehundredsof terialfromtheirlife,itisrather tionedabove,butIthinkitwould Lookfororganiccottonwhen thesetricksandstepsonecan meanttostatethefactthat begreatforfloraandfaunaifwe buyingnewclothes. followtoreduceplasticpollution, today’scommunityisproducing couldreducetheconsumptionof butsometimespeopletendto toomuchplasticrubbish,where plastic. lookmoreafterthemselvesthan itactuallywouldbereallyeasyto afterourenvironment–evenifit avoidplasticinsomepointsin wouldnotmeansuchabigeffort. ourlives. Eatingfishwithouthavingconcerns? byMarinaHöfler Thereisnodenyingthattoo habitants.Onemainreasonfor balanceoflifeintheoceans, reasonitisnowonderthatthere manyfisharecaughtandconse - overfishingisthatfishingisallo - overfishingalsoaffectsthesocial aremanyspeciesoverfished. quentlyoverfishingasaproblem wedin90%oftheseMPAs.No andeconomiclifeofcoastal showsallitsimpacts.Moreover, orfewpropertyrightsarealsoa communities,especiallyinAsia, Notonlythecatchingoftoo wearelivinginatimewherea mainreasonforoverfishing.Fis - WestandNorthAfrica.According muchfishisaproblem,butalso well-balanceddietisgetting hermenhaveaccesswithoutli - toAchimSteiner,directorofthe howthefishareharvested.The moreandmoreimportantand mitstocatchfish.However,there UnitedNationsEnvironmentPro - methodsofcatchingfishinflu - fishisbecomingamainpartof areregulationsandrulestolimit gram,fishingisthemainliveli - encethebasicfunctionofthe suchadiet.Forthisreasonwe fishingcapacity,buttheyaretoo hoodfor2.6billionpeople marineecosystemsinanegative arecaughtinadilemma:Isit weak.Thisisespeciallyapro - aroundtheworld.Furthermore, way.Forinstance,marinespe - reasonabletostilleatfishorshall bleminthehighseas.Thereare morethan10millionlocalfishers cieswhicharecaughtunintentio - wegiveupconsumingfishatall? onlyfewinternationalfishingre - losttheirjobsandtheirbasisof nallyarecalledbycatch. gulationsthatareoftennoteven life,becausetheyhadnolonger Thereforealotmorespeciesare Whyisoverfishingharmful? implementedorenforced.Alsoil - beenabletocompetewiththe caughtthanintendedto.There legalfishing,whichincludesun - bigfishindustries. arealsothosemarinespecies Theterm“overfishing”canbe regulatedandunreported whicharereturnedtothesea definedasthecatchingoftoo fishing,causesoverfishing,be - Overfishingisnotjustaproblem aftercapture,wheretheynor - muchadultfish.Overfishingisa causeittakesplaceinsmallto ofmoderntimes.Intheearly mallydie.Becauseoftheirthro - formofoverexploitation,be - largeindustrialisedoperations. 1800sthefirstoverfishingtook wingbacktotheseathesefish causefishspeciesarenolonger place,whenhumansweresear - arecalleddiscards. abletoreplacethemselvesnatu - Accordingtotheorganisation chingandharvestingwhalesto rally.Humansharvesttwoto WWF(WorldWildFundforNa - usetheblubberofthewhalesfor Whatcanbedonetostopover - threetimesmorefishthanwhat ture)targetedfishingoftoppre - theiroillamps.Asaresultofthis fishing? theoceancansupport.Overfis - dators(likesharksandtuna) searching,theyreducedthe hingappearsinallkindsofwater destroysmarinecommunities, whalepopulationdramatically. Duetothefactthatoverfishing bodies,forexamplerivers,lakes becausetheamountofthose Fromthattimeon,overfishing hassomanynegativeimpacts andoceans;andtherearediffe - smallerfishwhichareatthebot - hasbecomeaproblemwhich ontheenvironment,differentor - rentreasonsforcatchingtoo tomofthefoodchainincreases. existsuntiltoday. ganisationsallaroundtheworld, muchfish. Thisalsoaffectstherestofthe suchasGreenpeaceandWWF, marinesystem,forinstancethe Ascientificreportof2003esti - aretryingtostopoverfishing. Only1.6%oftheworld’soceans increasedgrowthofalgae.Ithas matedthattheamountoffish WWFhasbeenworkingforover aremarineprotectedareas alsobeenreportedthatmany hadbeenloweredtojusttenper - tenyearstosaveandhelpreco - (MPAs),inwhichhumanactivity speciesareevenextinct.Beside centofthepre-industrialpopula - verAtlanticBluefintunainthe isrestrictedinordertoprotect thesefatalconsequencesforthe tionbyindustrialfishing.Forthis Mediterranean.TheInternational Page2 Politics&Environment CommissionfortheConserva - speciescanbefoundonthe riesinsteadoffishfromtheother tryalsohasitsownecolabels. tionofAtlanticTunas(ICCAT)is webpageofGreenpeace.Accor - sideoftheworld.IntheUK,local thebodywhichregulatesthefis - dingtothislist,customers fishersareusingordeveloping Overfishingisnotjustaminor heriesandmostofitsdecisions shouldthereforetrytoavoidfor sustainablefishingmethods. problem,butitaffectsthewhole havebeeninfluencedbyWWF. exampleplaice,sole,European Concerningclimatechange,the marinesystemaswellasanum - hake,tunaincludingAlbacore, transportofseafoodisalsoa berofpeopleintheworld.Many Notonlybigcompaniescanhelp Yellowtail,BigeyeandBluefin. problemandpoorercommuni - internationalorganisationsreali - tostopoverfishing,butalsoindi - Neverthelesstherearethose tiesmayneedthissortoffishfor sedoverfishingasaproblem vidualsareabletokeepsome sortsoftunawhichcanbecho - theirlivelihood.Moreover,eco andhavestartedtoact.Itisim - factsinmind,whenitcomesto senwithoutconcerns.Hereare labelsarehelpfulforcustomers portanttofacethefactthatover - buyingfishorseafood.Accor - twotipscustomersshouldkeep todistinguishbetweenfish fishinghasmanynegative dingtoarankingrealisedby inmind,whenitcomestobuying whichcanbeeatenwithoutcon - impactsandthereforeeveryone GreenpeaceinJanuary2014, tuna: cerns,andfishwhichneedtobe shouldraiseconsciousness.As customerscanonlybuycarps avoided. customers,wehavetheabilityto withoutanyconcerns.Herring •Chooseskipjackoryellowfin dofew,buteffectivethingsto andAfricancatfishcanalsobe tuna. Theonlyinternationallyused supportstoppingoverfishing.If bought,butcustomershaveto •Theyshouldbecaughtbyrod- ecolabelforfishandshellfishis weonlybuythosekindsoffish, havealook,wherethesefish and-line. theMarineStewardshipCouncil whicharenotharmed,itisstill werecaught.Greenpeacepu - (MSC)standard,whichwas reasonabletoenjoyeatingfish blishedaredlist,onwhichthe Itisalsorecommendableto