So, good green eco-citizens that we are, we stop using plastic bags, cups and straws, recycle our plastic waste, etc - and thus feel proud of ourselves and probably quite a bit holier than thou.
“Hey, look at my snazzy refillable coffee cup, I’ve done my bit to stop polluting the oceans with micro plastics!”
Errrrr... sadly, no. Trouble is, 95% of all plastic waste in the oceans come from just 10 rivers, 8 of which are in Asia - and even so, basically it all comes down to just ONE river, the Yangtze which passes through three huge Chinese cities ( Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing, combined population 53 million) before it flows out to sea at Shanghai, home to another 25 million.
The Yangtze is responsible for almost as much plastic pollution as the other nine rivers put together. Another 4 of the rivers are also in China: Yellow, Pearl, Hai He and Mekong.
So.... if, in fact, we want to solve the ocean plastic problem we need to do ONE thing, above all: stop buying Chinese goods until strict anti-pollution regulations are enforced.
Sad, but true.
“Hey, look at my snazzy refillable coffee cup, I’ve done my bit to stop polluting the oceans with micro plastics!”
Errrrr... sadly, no. Trouble is, 95% of all plastic waste in the oceans come from just 10 rivers, 8 of which are in Asia - and even so, basically it all comes down to just ONE river, the Yangtze which passes through three huge Chinese cities ( Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing, combined population 53 million) before it flows out to sea at Shanghai, home to another 25 million.
The Yangtze is responsible for almost as much plastic pollution as the other nine rivers put together. Another 4 of the rivers are also in China: Yellow, Pearl, Hai He and Mekong.
So.... if, in fact, we want to solve the ocean plastic problem we need to do ONE thing, above all: stop buying Chinese goods until strict anti-pollution regulations are enforced.
Sad, but true.
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