Step up the game on Single-use Plastics.

I went fruit and vegetable shopping at my local grocery shop Lidl after a long time away from home. It struck me how much plastic I picked up from one trip to the store, there was just a lack of loose fruits and vegetables selection. 

Contrast this with my last few shoppings done while in Kenya. There is no sign of plastic anywhere and all fruits and vegetables are sold loose. Customers are provided with net packaging for their fruits and vegetables.

Surely we can do better in the U.K. All this talk about being a world leader, a developing nation, is just talk if it cannot be backed by tangible actions that will effect change. 

The fine for being caught with single use plastic bags in Kenya is $39,000 or imprisonment of up to four years. Compare that with the U.K. where for as low as 5p, you can still get plastic bags; and this is not even including all the plastic bags produce is pre-packaged in. Don’t even let me get started about the USA where plastic bags are still being given out for free.

Our ‘developed nations’, surely you can do better. On this one, take a cue from Kenya and step up your game.

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A People Get the Leader they Deserve

Aleppo has finally being taken by the Syrian army, and the defeated rebel fighters and the civilians caught in the war have been forced to evacuate the town and flee from their homes. The air is filled with sounds of victory from Assad and his supporters, they do not care what this victory has cost - lives caught short, homes destroyed, heritage sites demolished and people made to flee from the only home they have ever known.

In the Philippines, the new president is waging a war on drugs. He's freely killing all suspected drug users, dealers, funders and sympathizers. CNN reports that among the president is very popular among the people which suggests that they must support of his activities and his methods. Over  400,000 people have been allegedly indiscriminately killed in the war so far.

Russian president is famous for his dictatorial mannerisms. Recent US intelligence reports show that Russia hacked the US elections. Of course Russia is asking the US to provide proof of their claims while some countries previously under the former Soviet Union have come out to say this is nothing new as Russia is famous for interfering in all their affairs. Again Putin's popularity is at its highest ever. His people approve of the way he has managed the Ukraine situation as well as the part Russia has played in the war in Syria.

To say that the world was shocked when Trump emerged as the president of the United States would be an understatement. For the most part, people could not fathom how someone deemed so unsuitable could become the chosen one. Latest reports show that he won both the electoral and the popular votes, perhaps with a little help from Russia. Be that as it may, when he won his party's ticket, this put him at a vantage position to go ahead and win the general elections.

Theses are all 'democratically' elected presidents which tells me that so long as a people have the opportunity to make a choice, whoever emerges is the leader they deserve.

So we must learn how to use our choices wisely, and after we have used them, we must live with the consequences of our choice. At this point it would be foolhardy to 'cry over spilt milk'. We would just need to practice 'As you have made your bed, so you must lie on it'.

God bless us all.

(Culled from the archives of A diary of a catholic girl).

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