With so much talk of climate change and carbon dioxide emissions nowadays, most people are familiar with a carbon footprint. But what about a plastic footprint?  

An initiative in Hong Kong called The Plastic Disclosure Project plans to send out questionnaires to companies and institutions around the world asking them to assess, monitor and report their use of plastic. The aim is to get them to cut their plastic consumption as well as try to change the awareness and behavior of big users of plastic.  

Environmentalists have long complained that plastic pollution has become a major threat to the world’s water bodies and the environment. If the plastic footprint becomes as widespread as its carbon counterpart,  the project may just lead to a real clean up.