WHAT a dish! And what a legacy this man is going to leave, he's a champion and much loved. I'm talking about 93-year-old David Attenborough, one of my heroes and, if the recent Glastonbury is anything to go by, a hero to thousands of young people too.
When he applauded them from the stage for being aware of single-use plastic he said: "Now this great festival has gone plastic-free, that is more than a million bottles of water have not been drunk by you in plastic – thank you, thank you."
Sadly, the aftermath doesn't quite reflect this as the cleaning up is still going on with volunteers retrieving the debris left scattered in the fields, despite 15,000 bins, and sadly a huge amount of that rubbish includes plastic bottles.
But, let's face it, plastic is useful and you only have to make one trip to the supermarket to realise just how important it is to packers and wholesalers. Don't blame the shops, although they can put pressure on their suppliers: if the bags we use for food waste in the kitchen caddies are biodegradable, why not use this material instead?
A 'big' shop last week resulted in 12 rolls toilet paper 'tube card widely recycled. wrap plastic not currently recycled.' 'Not currently recycled' is the motto on most bags and the plastic film covering, including a round lettuce, sliced ham with plastic tray, cartons of grapes, apricots, tomatoes, onion bag, trays of mushrooms, bag of pears. And so it goes on.
A mail-order blouse came in a plastic bag and the item was in another plastic bag inside. Fashion magazines seem to arrive by the dozen all contained within a plastic bag, although one animal charity has it cracked and their outer sleeve is recyclable. Why can't this be the norm?
Our recycling score is higher than the UK average with a rate of over 48 per cent so we should easily reach the European statutory 'waste from households' recycling target of 50 per cent by 2020. That will only happen when people like those lining the roads for the Twelfth processions wise up and take their waste home: the Lisburn Road was a disgrace.
Currently, £23 million has been allocated by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs 'to make recycling easier and improve the quality of recycled material in Northern Ireland', but please, don't make the shopper feel guilty – the majority of us are aware of the dangers and are responsible citizens.
Some people even make a habit of taking a bag and a pair of disposable gloves with them to lift discarded plastic containers as they go. If we all do that over the holiday, especially at beaches, it would make a difference. At least it would channel a lot of rubbish into one household bin – what happens after that is anyone's guess!
:: EXTRA, EXTRA
THERE seems to be a growing number of people who tell me they were part of Game of Thrones or Line of Duty and, most recently, the new Game of Thrones prequel Blood Moon. It's great for impressing friends, but is it really such a memorable experience?
According to one extra I talked to – I'll call him 'Joe' – being on the sidelines isn't all it's cracked up to be. He was accepted on Game of Thrones for nine days and reckoned on getting paid about £1,000 towards a new car, yet only stuck it out for just one day: "Standing around from 6am to 6pm, then walking to a hedge 20 times isn't fun – but I met some nice people!"
He feigned ill health and escaped, declaring: "Life's too short!".
Another extra told me he got paid £155 for 14 hours: "To get the best food and the sky-high wage, you have to be a star. We just got a polystyrene box of something inedible. I lived on muffins!"
Of course, there are others who love the experience. Although it didn't pay her, one woman travelled every day from Derry to be on set and, for young aspiring actors, it's good for the CV. Indeed, 'Joe' had a second shot at becoming an actor in Blood Moon.
"Although it's free to sign on with the local agency, you've got to realise that, once you're working, there's 15 per cent commission to be paid on every day's wage, and an annual registration fee as well as tax.
"You are recommended to have an annual Access NI certificate costing £26, or a Basic Disclosure certificate when working with children. No photos are allowed, I had a sticky put on the camera lens of my phone and I knew I'd be kicked off the set if I disobeyed."
He added: "The word you hate most is 'reset' which means 'do it over again', maybe 25 times. One day, I was on set for 12 hours and 10 of those hours was just sitting waiting to be called for a scene.
"When I worked it out I was getting about £10 an hour."
The message is: DO YOUR RESEARCH.
Game of Thrones has come and gone and there are local actors who have made a fortune, but sadly not the extras, the majority of whom do it for love. Now, Blood Moon is giving the public another chance to be part of what is expected to be a new television sensation; for extras involved in crowd scenes however, there's little chance of becoming a star, though there are many other opportunities for seven to 27-year-olds to take part in smaller productions or in commercials, where you're more likely to have a specific role to play and a better chance of having a special experience.
Agencies must to be careful to match the person with the character and certainly, with something like 20,000 people here signing on, they have a fine choice.
If you feel like having a go, our leading agency is The Extra Department at Theextrasdept.com
