Plastic Pollution In Oceans

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.

Give 'Em Green, Hell!

“This marks the initial posting of my new blog, dedicated to The Sustainable Economy, being the antithesis of our current socio-economic model and which I have dubbed The Permagrowth Economy.

I believe the next few decades will see a sharply rising conflict between these two paradigms. We and our children shall witness the ebb and flow of creative destruction, the clash of ideas, the rise and fall of new and obsolete industries - all happening at the rail crossing where the ever speedier Sustainability Express smacks against the Permagrowth donkey cart.

The purpose of this blog is to examine how to best get us all off the cornpoke growth donkey and aboard the shiny new sustainable silver bullet - safely, comfortably and profitably”


The text above was written almost 10 years ago, before Elon Musk had even dreamt of Tesla, before Tata bought Volvo and announced that soon it will produce only electric cars, before major economies experienced days of 100% renewable electricity generation, etc etc.

The world is undoubtedly moving towards a greener economic paradigm. Is it doing so as rapidly as necessary?  Certainly not - just think of Donald Trump’s rejection of global warming and of the Paris accord.  But it IS moving.

I will try to record news, observations and thoughts on this subject in this blog. If it attracts readers who care to interact, exchange ideas and comments so much the better!