I recently went to a favorite nature park, only to find garbage littering the shore. 
Worldwide, the snack foods market is expected to exceed $630 billion in revenue by 2020.
Food is the only product class typically consumed 3 times per day by every person. Consequently, food packaging accounts for almost two-thirds of total packaging waste by volume. Moreover, food packaging is approximately 50% (by weight) of total packaging sales.
Right now, the burden of proper disposal is on the consumer. This needs to change. Consumers need to advocate for sustainable packaging, and multinational corporations need to produce it.
If you want to do something locally, there are waterways and forests around the globe littered with garbage. A few good souls with some trash bags, rubber gloves, water shoes, and free time are sorely needed.
The long term solution to our garbage problem is twofold:
- Sustainable & biodegradable packaging becoming the standard for all new packaging manufactured.
- Development of automated robotic systems to find and recycle existing waste.
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Until those two solutions are implemented, we can all chip in to help make the world a cleaner and more enjoyable place for everyone. After my visit to the park, I organized a clean up day. In the course of a week, I was able to find over a dozen volunteers to help me with the effort. We were able to clear a portion of the park, and will return regularly to continue the work.
True activism requires actions. If we want to change the world for the better, we must organize and do the dirty work ourselves.
I hope this post can move people to action. We need to clean up the trash that already litters our world. Doing it by hand is slightly effective. Developing automated robotic systems to do it for us and forcing manufacturing companies to use biodegradable and sustainable materials will bring about the real change.
We can make this planet a magnificent place for generations to come. Let's do it!