Plastic pollution isn’t a partisan issue; it’s a planetary one.

 

(Written for the Replenish Refillery & Zero Waste Store, Summerland.)Oh - how we wish the problems with single-use plastic were just a political stunt, rather than grounded in, you know… actual science. Wouldn’t that be lovely? If plastic pollution were just a hoax, refillery and zero-waste store owners could toss aside their stubborn ethics and rake in millions by investing in flashy, disposable packaging and convenient throwaway culture. They could sell bottled air. Or individually wrapped toothpicks! Imagine the profits.
Unfortunately for these business owner's bank accounts (and the planet), the science is stubborn. Microplastics are not a fringe theory - they are a documented, measurable crisis. Tiny plastic particles have been found in Arctic ice cores, deep-sea trenches, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. They're in table salt, rainwater, and even in human bloodstreams and placentas. This isn’t alarmist - it’s the result of decades of mass-producing plastic products and packaging designed to be used once and discarded, only to linger for centuries.
The problem isn’t abstract. It’s inescapable. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade; it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, making its way into ecosystems, food chains, and bodies, both animal and human.
Individual choices do matter. Carrying a reusable bag, refusing a plastic straw, shopping at a refillery - all of it counts. Every conscious decision helps shift the culture and sends a message. Thanks to our amazing customers, our store alone has saved over 15,000 plastic bottles from ending up in our local landfill - and that's just the beginning. From bamboo toothbrushes to shampoo bars, reusable food wraps, and plastic-free razors, every sustainable swap adds up.
But let's keep it real - lasting change also requires bold action from governments and corporations. Single-use plastics are being pumped out by a small number of corporations that continue to prioritize profit over planet, flooding the market with disposable products and packaging and passing the clean-up costs on to us.
Politicians and the industries that lobby them need to stop pretending this isn’t real. The science is clear. The data is in. We can’t afford to keep acting like it’s a debate when it’s a crisis. We need policy that reflects reality.

Speak Up on Plastic Pollution

Want to make a difference? Start local. Support businesses that offer plastic-free alternatives. Ask questions about packaging.  Connect with your local government and elected officials, including your city council and provincial MLA. Share the science. Small actions matter - but pushing for bigger change matters too!
 You might also want to reach out to organizations like Oceana Canada and Surfrider Foundation Canada who are campaigning for stricter regulations and policies.

Note about the Author

I'm Denise Whittaker (Howie), a writer who also works alongside Angela, the owner of Replenish Refillery & Zero Waste Store, creating content for our zero-waste community. Usually our content is focused on positivity and solutions but as the conversation about plastic pollution continues to be distorted, especially by those in positions of power, I just had to speak up.
I’ve watched my friend Angela pour her heart into this business, working 60+ hours a week researching products, finding sustainable solutions, and investing every penny to build a store that is helping our community and the planet. I know she’s not alone. Many refillery owners - most of whom are women - are facing the same struggle. They work tirelessly, often against overwhelming odds, to create businesses that put the planet first, while also providing a much-needed service to people who want to make a difference. It’s heartbreaking to see these efforts undermined by politicians as well as the corporations who continue to profit from single-use plastics.
However - in a way I am grateful for recent comments from certain politicians - a little flash of anger may be exactly what’s needed to reignite the fire and shine a brighter light on the truth.
(Photo Credit Stijn Dijkstra.)

Before You Mock Blue Origin, Take a Breath

It’s easy to scroll through social media and join the chorus of criticism – whether it’s about celebrities, space tourism – or both. The recent Blue Origin flight has been no exception. From sneers about the short duration to snarky remarks about celebrity passengers, there’s been a massive backlash. But maybe we should take a breath before launching into our knee-jerk reactions.

In the age of hot takes, it’s worth remembering how quickly we become the modern version of the old women knitting and gossiping beneath the guillotine. We love a spectacle. But the truth is often more nuanced than a tweet or viral meme can convey. For example:

Space Exploration is a Waste of Time

When people question the value of space exploration it calls to mind the scene in The Life of Brian where a rebel asks, “What have the Romans ever done for us?” only to be met with a long and impressive list: sanitation, roads, medicine, aqueducts… You get the idea. Space exploration deserves a similar moment of pause. What has it given us? Satellite communications, GPS, weather forecasting, solar panels, infrared thermometers, water purification systems, memory foam, and even improvements in medical imaging - all thanks to the demands and spin-offs of space tech. And of course – there’s the long-term goal of finding alternative accommodations if we screw-up this planet – but that’s a conversation for another day.

Space Exploration is a Waste of Money

We should have the conversation about cost – but let’s keep things in perspective. People were asking ‘why are we spending so much on this?’ even before the Apollo 11 moon landing. But here’s a fact: in 1969, American women spent more on cosmetics than the entire cost of the Apollo space program. In 2024 the U.S. beauty and personal care products market was estimated at $102.73 billion. (Source: Grand View Research.) 

It was just a Celebrity Joy Ride

Critics ask why anyone would pay to be shot into space for 11 minutes. It’s a frivolous vanity project! But each ticket sold through space tourism helps fund broader research, technology development, and scientific experiments. (On this trip the cost was covered as a space tourism promotional cost.) Yes - the civilians were chosen to bring attention to the flight and space tourism. The women were chosen for the ability to use their platforms to inspire others. These are practical and transparent business decisions.

They Made a Mockery of Real Astronauts

No one claimed this was a replacement for NASA or the ISS. Comparisons to professional astronauts, and the two astronauts recently stranded on the space station are false (but understandable) equivalences.  Blue Origin offers a different kind of access to space - brief, symbolic, and commercial. It’s a milestone, not a competition. And while it wasn't a traditional mission, the flight did carry NASA-supported research payloads and student-led projects. Not exactly nothing. 

These Flights Undermine Serious Scientists

Some argue that the focus on the celebrities undermines the contributions of female scientists - particularly Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist, and Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist who were conducting the experiments on this flight. While they may not trend on X, these women were acknowledged in legitimate reporting and have appeared in numerous interviews.

This flight allowed Nguyen to do her research and become the first Vietnamese woman in space. Bowe became the first person of Bahamian heritage to travel to space, and she was able to carry out research during the flight that looked at being able to produce crops that can withstand harsh environments.

A common complaint I’ve seen is that we should be celebrating the female scientists who paved the way, not the celebrities. But that argument overlooks an important point: many of those scientists’ names were already hidden in the shadows. Ironically, I’ve seen them mentioned more this week than ever before.

The Celebs Oversold Their Impact

Gayle King said she hoped the mission would inspire women and young girls. That comment has been ridiculed. But how could it not be inspiring to see a group of women, suited in blue, boarding a rocket and heading to the edge of space? It’s easy to dismiss the symbolic value of that image if you’ve never had to search for role models who look like you. Every member of the crew has had people reach out to them to thank them for being role models for themselves and/or their children.

They Were Too Dramatic

People poked fun at Gayle King for looking scared or Katy Perry for kissing the ground after landing - but let’s be real. Rockets explode. Flights go wrong. Their reactions were human. I’ve witnessed more extreme reactions from people disembarking from a hair-raising fairground ride.

Why would we seek to question the experience and emotions that the crew members felt? After the flight, film producer Kerianne Flynn gave an emotional interview on the impact of her actions on her son and his friends, as well as how it felt to be in the darkness looking down on the Earth. Yes, it was only for a few minutes – but take the awe that you have felt at looking up at the stars and imagine it in reverse.

Oh – and by the way - instead of referring to Lauren Sanchez as Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, why not remember that she is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, pilot, Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, and the person who curated the all-female crew and brought the mission together?

Final Thoughts….

Humans are innately driven to explore - it’s in our DNA. From the first steps out of Africa to sailing across uncharted oceans, we’ve always pushed boundaries, chasing the unknown. Space is simply the next challenge. That same curiosity, restlessness, and desire to understand our place in the universe makes it inevitable that we will continue reaching for the stars.

There are legitimate questions to ask; about environmental impact, about who gets to decide what we do in space - and who benefits?  There’s a long list. And these are important conversations. But let’s not lose the thread entirely. Mocking the moment, the mission, or the people involved doesn’t help us get to the real answers. 

My Poetry: You

               

You rushed early into this world

eager to see what it was all about

locked your eyes on mine

and didn’t look away.

Then I knew. Knew

That it is possible for a heart to grow,

like cells building new life.

You take your time, assessing,

finding your place. Charming strangers

with your smile. Absorb the world

from my shoulder. Thank me

when I chase away the night-time

monsters. Take little imp as a compliment!

You share, without hesitation,

your treasures  -  your opinion,

and the mysteriously melted chocolate-buttons

smeared across your hands. 

If only time didn’t rush

if only it would be more sharing         

if it would

     trickle

just a little. Not a lot to ask.

(Written in the early 80's)

Amazon Creative Writing Guides

Denise Howie World Famous in B.C. 

My Poetry: This Boy

This Boy 

This boy trains worms;

Chases geese, not seeing the danger;

Shakes his head that we don’t know they are only laughing.

Strides the mountain path, self-peeled stick in hand.

This boy wanders;

Digs in the rocks by the loch  

on his own and wonders what the fuss is about.

Makes dandelion-chains because no one else does.

This boy. This boy;

before he could talk, grasped my hands

and we laughed and couldn’t stop, at something

or nothing.  How can it be that someday this boy…

This boy will be a man?

(Written in the early 80's)

Amazon Creative Writing Guides

Denise Howie World Famous in B.C. 

Prince Dhruva, Aged Five, Sees Eye To Eye with God

He stood in that one place

in the forest, on one leg.

Wild pigs foraged his shadow.

He stood, gown as white

as the chunam of palace walls,

like a painting of the women

who danced for the courtiers,

struck in a pose of the nautch.

As he stood in that place

in a clearing by a brook

and saw slender branches

bend beneath the kingfisher,

the child stilled his chest

until a breath spanned a day.

Through the cramp,

he saw the feeding doe start

as hoopoe dipped curved beaks.

As infant bones set,

he saw the giant Chinar tree

trap snow in outstretched arms.

Through splayed toes green shoots

spread, embracing, winding

tethering - he soared in the wake

of the crows who followed

bears for pickings, saw a beetle grasp its prey,

a tiger groom her young, finite forest on finite land.

Saw the world cupped in the palm of Krsna,

saw his own heart, and looked eye to eye with God.

And the child knew that he was blessed,

for if he followed this austerity

with celibacy, piety,

equanimity and charity, he might

perhaps, atone past-life sin.

And as the child was carried from the forest

he tried not to remember the despair

he had witnessed when he looked

into the eyes of God.

Amazon Creative Writing Guides

Denise Howie World Famous in B.C. 

Nature's reading room

As a child I gravitated to reading outside. I like to think that it was because I was imaginative and adventurous but I suspect that it was more likely related to the fact that I had a plethora of younger siblings.

If you haven't sat under a weeping willow and read your favourite author - go - go do it now. (Take a flashlight if the sun's clocked-off for the day.) Not just any weeping willow mind; the tips of the branches have to sweep to the ground like a Victorian skirt, so that the little beggars (be they siblings, kids or colleagues) can't find you.

As a young teen I graduated to the sturdy upper limbs of elm and oak trees. Fields of wild flowers were good too, as long as I had a rock or a tree trunk to lean against. My friends and I had a library in a forest. We enveloped books in waterproof waxed bread-wrappers and stashed them in the cubbies created by tree roots, and met every day to read, using the mossy rocks as seats and tables. I suspect that a number of books remain hidden on that forest floor all these years later. 

You know how people tend to have their own perspective of their environment depending on their jobs or interests? On a drive through Saskatchewan, for example, an Australian rancher friend pointed out coyotes lurking in ditches, a camouflaged deer in a field and bear cubs clambering up a tree trunk. My regular drive transformed from a pleasant enough journey to a National Geographic Special because my companion was tuned into what interested him. Another buddy worked with power lines; not just poles and wires it turns out. Oh no. Much more than that. Miles and miles and miles of much more than that.  

It's the same with me. Even now the landscape around me is mapped out into reading nooks; that cosy patch of grass by the river bank, the inviting crook of a tree branch, a wooden pier dappled by sunlight.

The weeping willow is still my all-time favourite but the nearest one is three streets away and apparently they "find it a bit weird for a grown woman to camp out on our lawn," so for that particular experience I make do with my comfortable bed. The lamp casts a gentle circle of light, and except for the cat on my shoulder and the dog draped across my feet, it's almost like the real deal. Without the ants.  


Amazon Creative Writing Guides
Denise Howie World Famous in B.C.

A Gem of a Writing Job

(Originally published in 2014. )

Photo by Mary Whittaker 

Back in the 80’s with a handful of magazine stories to my pen-name I dreamed of being a newspaper journalist; not so much a reporter who is generally limited to facts, but a journalist who would cast a light on the lives of local artists and characters who were lost in the shadows of Thatcherism and MTV.

 Looking back, I have realised that dream…minus the British Press Awards… 

 Much of my current writing life is devoted to a local ‘Little Engine that Could’ The One Person Project: A small group in my hometown who harness the goodwill and skills of communities in the region to take realistic steps towards helping a community in Tanzania to become self-sustaining.  In-line with my goals I have also written articles about Okanagan writers, artists and businesses and was thrilled to be asked to provide the web content for Tourism Summerland earlier this year.

 I also had the good fortune of personally and professionally connecting with artist Karen Griggs who fashioned her passion for jewelry and love of community into an innovative award-winning business. Bead Trails is a marketing success-story that promotes Okanagan businesses and communities by providing a fun scavenger hunt where tourists and locals alike explore the Okanagan Valley in search of elegant and funky beads to create a meaningful memory bracelet.

 I look forward to writing the upcoming Bead Trail newsletters and blogs but to be honest, providing web & brochure copy, press releases and articles for Bead Trails has been a tough gig. Imagine having to spend your days visiting Okanagan wineries, galleries and artists, browsing book shops and boutiques and stopping off for a coffee and cupcake.

 But I guess that’s the price you have to pay if you want to do right by your community!