I'm used to being able to run by the police passport offices, fill out a form with my information, take a picture, sign the form and then, a few weeks later, pick up my new passport.
But not anymore. At least not in Gothenburg.

Starting from April 9th, a visit to the police passport office has to go via the Internet. And believe me – you’re going to have to schedule it a long time ahead. When I visited the site on April 9th, the first available time was on May 27th!

This winter I became aware that it was time to renew my passport. Since I'm going on a trip in early June, I went by the police passport office at the end of March. And there was a long queue, let me tell you that.

Once I had managed my way through the crowd and taken a number, I grumpily noticed that there was closer to 200 people before me in line. 
I soon realized that this visit would not take that half hour I’ve grown accustomed to during my last visits when renewing my passport. It was going to take 2-3 hours.

Last week when I made a new attempt, it was the same thing. That’s when I became aware of the fact that from Monday onwards, I was going to have to schedule my visit online.

After talking about this with friends and family, it became clear to me that this has been the case in Stockholm for quite some time, apparently. On the other hand, this I can understand – Stockholm is a major city. But for it to be like this in the rest of the country is really bad, in my opinion. Something has gone very wrong.
It is probably a yet another sign of the police's increased workload and inadequate resources, combined with the growing population.

For my own part, I will not be able to wait for my scheduled appointment. Worst-case scenario would be to arrange for a temporary passport at the airport, but that is very expensive in relation to the single month it is valid.

No, I’m going to make a trip to Uddevalla instead. They still have drop-in.

And after that, the only thing that remains is to accept that everything will be managed via the web in the future.

A truckload of plastic is emptied in the oceans every minute

I enjoy to be at and around the sea, which means that a lot of my free time evolves around boating and vacation homes in the archipelago.
But in recent years, this amazing environment has changed dramatically. The problem spells PLASTIC.
Every spring I see an unbelievable amount of plastic floating around and pouring up on our beaches. And this year it's more than ever.
It's completely insane.

According to the World Wild Fund for Nature, eight million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans every year. That corresponds to a truck load per minute!
Now is the time to do something about it.
Stop discarding waste and especially plastic in our ocean and our nature.

Aside from the fact that it looks awful, it has a huge negative impact on our nature and environment. If we continue down this road, there will be more plastic than fish in our seas by the year of 2050. That’s in about 30 years.

Some marine animals, such as sea turtles, eat plastic bags in the belief that there are jellyfish. Fish get stuck in stray fish nets and are suffocated to death, while birds get stuck in various plastic articles and die. The list goes on and on.

Over time, I am convinced we will establish that people as well are dying as a consequence of all the plastic in our oceans. This is due to two reasons: microplastics and less oxygen production.

Last autumn, I took part of a survey that showed that 83 percent of the world's drinking water is contaminated with microplastics. At the same time, the fish we eat also ingest these small plastic particles. In their hunt for plankton, they are fooled to eat loads of microplastics in the passing. Nobody knows how plastic will affect humans. But what do you think? How could it be a good thing to ingest plastic? What types of diseases could be developed in our bodies?
I am sure that science will answer these questions within a few years. Unfortunately, I do not think the answers will be positive.

In the long run, there is also a risk that the plastic will contribute to the algae in the oceans dying, which would cause even more complications.

I recently came across a publication by Angela Wulff, Professor of Marine Ecology at the Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences with the University of Gothenburg. It was only after reading it that I realised that nearly half of the oxygen in our atmosphere comes from the sea and its algae.
The question is what happens if the algae die and the oxygen production is cut in half?

No, it is time to stop using plastic bags and disposable items as far as possible.
And if you do have to use them, for God's sake - make sure that they do not end up in our waters!