https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluting-our-oceans-comes-from-just-10-rivers/
We hear increasing amounts of concern for the plastic that ends up the the oceans. We also hear a lot of effort being put into using that concern to force Americans to change their behavior.
Yet, science tells us, that 88-95% of plastic waste transported by bodies of water comes from the following 10 rivers.
Niger
Nile
Indus
Ganges
Mekong
Pearl
Yangtze
Yellow
Hai He
Amur
What is the common denominator of this scourge? It's concentrated in Africa and Asia, not Europe, North or South America.
8 comments:
Well twist my neck and call me "Screwy"! Hooda thunk it?
Hey, as long as they can make us suffer for the actions of others, they'll be happy and feel warm and fuzzy.
Much like slavery, it's hard to pop over to China and start a protest over crap in their rivers. That's dangerous, it's much easier to do in the US.
Well certainly it's cool to want to deal with what drifts over to us, as well as to clean up what the American slobs have left all over. But to pretend we're a major reason for it, or that we must alter our lives as if only our kind doing it will make any difference is just stupidity writ large.
I would add, however, that even if the entire world was on board with a goal of eliminating litter, it's not truly an achievable goal. Poop happens and there will always be some and a need to tidy the place up.
I have no problem with cleaning it up, it only makes sense. Where I have a problem is with the idiots who insist that the US and Europe are the problem and that we must make huge sacrifices in order to "fix" the problems caused by China, India, Africa and the like.
I was surprised the Amazon wasn't on the list.
Yes, waste will always be there.
What is a problem, at least in Haiti, is actually dealing with waste. In the 8 mile drive from the "airport" to the compound, the roadside is littered with derelict cars and other trash. A walk to the beach reveals a delightful Caribbean beach, covered with trash. It seems stupid, but one of the biggest needs in Haiti is simply waste collection and management. I suspect other third world countries have similar problems. Which is too bad because picking up trash is a pretty easy thing to organize.
I would suspect the biggest problem with waste collection and management on an island is find a place to put it all.
Obviously that is a theoretical problem, although Haiti has plenty of unoccupied land to accommodate waste disposal. Or they could incinerate it. The bigger problem is their land law which is bizarre to say the least.
It never ceases to astound me the tolerance for filth. One can't avoid all possible causes of why crap ends up where it does. I see stuff blowing off the backs of trucks which appear to have been covered in an attempt to prevent that from happening. But then I see blatant examples of people littering and such. Years ago, when cars had ash trays, I saw one broad dump hers on the street while waiting for the stop light to turn green. A FULL ASHTRAY! I'm not gonna say I've never flicked a butt out the window while driving now and then, but A FULL ASHTRAY?? Then there's the many instances of rusted cars, mattresses and appliances in full display in the FRONT yards of some people. WHAT. THE. HELL??! I leave a restaurant with a toothpick, I put the wrapper in my pocket until I come to a proper trash receptacle! The toothpick itself is just wood, and a bird might take it to build a nest, but I throw them in the trashcans, too! IT AIN'T HARD!!
The worst part is, while the lazy and uncaring might not suffer directly by their behavior, they don't seem to mind walking around or living in a filthy world!
While at work on one occasion, hacked at some policy handed down due to one contractor, a co-worker through his soft drink cup from McDonald's at a trailer of the contractor in question. I asked him if he was just going to leave there on the ground and he said, "What's the difference? Look at all the other crap on the ground!". I replied, "The difference is it's now one more cup worse than it was before you threw it there like a slob." He didn't pick it up. Kind of the broken windows policy in reverse.
"Through" instead of "threw"??? Jeez!
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