RE: EARTH DAY - Why Should We Pay Attention?
I think a big part of the discussion that isn't addressed is waste management. 60% of the ocean plastic waste is from discarded fishing equipment but yet in many western nations, who have a near-zero impact on improper disposal, banning straws at McDonalds is somehow going to save the world. Single-use plastics being phased out where they can be is a good idea, but sometimes we actually need these products. I think for many countries these items are actually handled well and recycled but over here where I live the plastic waste is just all over the place and wouldn't be if there was better waste management in place.
We are not going to eliminate the use of plastics but reducing them is certainly a good idea. However, when we look at poorer populations, they are on the top of the list of offenders (China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines) and I think that if the global community was truly interested in making a real impact on plastics this would be a good place to start instead of Starbucks having a "hey! look at us!" campaign eliminating straws and plastic cup tops with a sippy cup thingy that actually contains more plastic than the original plastic top and straw combo did :O
I don't want it to look like I am saying we should do nothing. I don't believe that... I don't know what the west could do to improve the waste-management of other countries, but I hope that is addressed soon because it is a much bigger issue than the USA banning plastic bags. It all seems like showboating to me and I can all but guarantee that the big shops actually rallied to make this happen.... think about how much money Wal Mart can save by never giving a plastic bag.
You have very valid points. I had a tangent started about the waste management. There is a way to reduce a lot going into the landfills. Again it's cost. I saw a documentary a few years ago, one of the issues was reducing landfill wasted and process more recycling. The facility started by a wash to break down the first part and it went through the stages to at the end there was a group that did the finalized sorting, the glass that didn't break, larger plastics that made it through and so forth. In the end as @wolfhart mentioned and we here in the west know, unless it makes a profit it is not worth it.
I am not sure what else we can do except have open communications about it. I do wonder in this day and age how much is fabricated since we know our news is no longer informative, it's entertainment. We know from what we see when we're out and about. In general, from this little spot in Colorado, a lot of people just don't care. It's an inconvenience to them. They think all forms of recycling should be free. Of course that's another story of the 'entitled gimme gimme' group.
The funny part with the plastic bags in the grocery store, those actually will end up breaking down. It takes a crazy amount of time. There is a way for the bags to be made that they are biodegradable without a large expense. Then the bags they sell for reuse..... those are the worst thing ever, just like you mentioned with Starbucks the reusable bags are made from 'recycled' plastic bags. Those however, don't break down.
if you live in Colorado, I think you guys are already doing very well as far as recycling and waste management is concerned. However, I think that the "act locally, think globally" mentality is good but people need to understand that Colorado is not at the root of the problem. The problems in the ocean at least, is largely an Asian thing for now and if we truly want to reduce this we need to focus on where the problem actually is.....because it isn't in Boulder... it's in Bangkok and Beijing.
Boulder is probably the example. Most people at least in Western Colorado think of Boulder as its own country. 'Too many hippies. Too many Californians' and so forth. This particular little slice of heaven is a conundrum. It is highly conservative. While Mesa County allows 'limited' marijuana sales. The only places in Mesa County to buy legally is DeBeque and Parachute. The City of Grand Junction refuses to allow the sale inside city limits. The biggest downside is no benefit from the State from allowing the sale. We have schools that are being used that still have asbestos and are falling into disrepair. If they would allow the sale the would have money to fix or rebuild the schools in question.
Mesa County had become a sanctuary city for various things. What that has done, has attracted a huge influx of homeless, drug addicts and the like. Most cities if you are drunk and disorderly that put you in the drunk tank have you sleep it off or what not. Not here, they give you a ticket, call a cab and leave. The have limits on weed control and abatement, but your if your house is unlivable nothing is done.
I think at this point it is a matter of each community to work on their space. I know the world holds the US responsible for so many things, but we have also taken the initiative to work on cleaning our space up. We have seen what we can do when attention is brought to any issue. As I mentioned about air quality.
Maybe some year the state won't have to close down Hanging Lake to undo the damage that is done there. It's one of the most beautiful waterfalls I think in the world. The water is pristine (usually). A true mountain meadow. There are signs to not touch the water to not litter or deface things, yet it's still done. Bottle, cans plastic bags and such on the trail, in the water and surroundings. Who would hike a 1/4 mile which is a rise of 1000 ft in elevation to destroy something?
Does there need to be a global responsibility? Yes, but in countries where the citizens don't have a say change will be hard.
I went to Boulder to visit a friend not long ago (I may have mentioned that, I am commenting a day later) and I liked it but was kind of shocked at the amount of homelessness and the beggars are literally everywhere, listening in on your conversations and following you until you give them a buck or two to go away.
I am surprised to hear that Coloradians are dirtying up nature trails... That's a pity for sure. I was impressed with the amount of bike trails when I was visiting. As a bike riding enthusiast, that is always a welcome addition for me.
I don't know what the west could to to help South East Asia have a more responsible disposal system because waste management is just terrible even at the collection level where the norm is to leave your plastic trash bags on the curb where it is almost immediately ripped open by stray dogs. These countries are also ripe with corruption so any sort of cash donation would almost certainly be squandered and any materials would be stolen (this happened when the international community installed mooring lines to help protect the reefs and all of them disappeared in a few months)
It is a complicated problem for sure and the only thing I could think of that might work would be to privatize the system and have the payment withdrawn if certain standards were not met. Of course that would probably just get riddled with corruption as well.
Also, the international community would have to accept the fact that these areas are not going to stop with their very high level of plastic use until there is a viable (financially speaking) alternative. It's nice and all to read this articles about coconut husks being used to make bags but then if you read the fine print and see that production cost is 20x that of a plastic bag you can forget about anyone ever using them - especially poorer countries.
The only thing we can really hope for over here (I'm in Thailand by the way) is that an system of energy-producing incinerators can be constructed the likes of which they already use in Singapore. I know it isn't the most desirable thing, but if we are expecting SE Asia to start behaving like Norway in terms of responsible environmentalism, everyone is going to end up disappointed because the population here is too poor to care.