There are more ways to reduce demand for oil aside from addressing petrol usage. While this is the most obvious culprit of oil demand, and I would really love to buy a hybrid car, I can’t yet afford the $43,000 (NZD) required, so I’m going to look at other methods in the meantime.

Plastic is a major culprit for oil demand and is so incredibly overused in our consumerist culture which rates flashy packaging over quality product. Not to mention the ill-effects of plastic on our environment! So plastic bags are the first perpetrator on my list.

People are already promoting the recycling of plastic bags and specialty shopping bags (hemp etc) in place of the disposable variety you get at the supermarket. In New Zealand I’d like to take that one step further and promote flax bags! It is a very common resource, reusable, biodegradable, gentle on produce and it celebrates the culture of our country – why not?? I have so many ideas on how to go about promoting the use of flax bags in place of plastic bags I just don’t no where to start! Well, I have in that I use them myself :)

I would like to thank Daniel O’Connor for his entries on Stop the Oil Peak and the article he referenced as my inspiration for making this a priority.

Further opinion (please note, not mine!) can be found on the Oil Crash here

My only recommendation on reading these articles is don’t let yourself feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem, find something constructive you can focus on doing, however small. You have no idea how many people and just who you will inspire ;)