Is the Dalai Lama a plastics hater?

The Dalai Lama, spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, made "an appeal not to use plastic" to a gathering of devotees and Buddhist monks today, according to this story from The Times of India. It clearly wasn't just an anti-plastics speech. The Dalai Lama "expressed his concern over environment degeneration and said that the uncontrolled material development and exploitation of nature was causing tremendous harm to the environment, particularly the Himalayan environment," the story says, quoting the Dalai Lama: "If things remain the same, the ancients rivers will go dry in near future." The Dalai Lama -- who is frequently described wearing saffron robes and plastic sandals, although I can't confirm the material -- frequently speaks out on environmental issues. In fact, there's a whole section of his Web site devoted to environmental-related messages and speeches. They're worth reading. I see criticism of plastics in print every day -- it has become so common that 95 percent of the stories aren't worth sharing in the blog. Even when celebrities speak out, I'm rarely surprised. But every once in a while, I see something noteworthy (like when Laura Bush spoke out very strongly against plastic marine debris). I think the Dalai Lama falls into the same category.