When we were in India last year we had one day on a boat. Because we were British they gave us bins to put our rubbish in. Cleaner came in bagged it up and chucked it into the Indian Ocean. Shocking to see and was typical of that countries ambivulence to this world problem.
When we were in India last year we had one day on a boat. Because we were British they gave us bins to put our rubbish in. Cleaner came in bagged it up and chucked it into the Indian Ocean. Shocking to see and was typical of that countries ambivulence to this world problem.
Not really sure it's accurate to blame a country where 95% of the population are so poor they will never eat anything that comes out of a plastic container for the world's plastic problems tbh
Probably more realistic for us to start being a bit more responsible about what WE do with plastic - which still exists largely for the convenience of the supermarkets
It has amazed me what effect charging 5p for a plastic bag has had. I really thought that most people would rather pay 15p extra for 3 bags rather than getting into the habit of bringing reusable bags, but I was wrong. Surely, extending this so that you are encouraged to bring your own containers would work for many products, accepting that some things do probably need to be pre-packaged.
When we were in India last year we had one day on a boat. Because we were British they gave us bins to put our rubbish in. Cleaner came in bagged it up and chucked it into the Indian Ocean. Shocking to see and was typical of that countries ambivulence to this world problem.
Doesn't surprise me one bit tbh. When I was in India 4 years ago the hotel I stayed at gave us a free newspaper every day. The paper was full of stories about people getting fined for illegal fly tipping it really is a major problem in India. Also the smell of burning plastic is everywhere. The Indian authorities are trying to come to terms with this problem but it is going to take years before any noticeable improvement is seen.
When we were in India last year we had one day on a boat. Because we were British they gave us bins to put our rubbish in. Cleaner came in bagged it up and chucked it into the Indian Ocean. Shocking to see and was typical of that countries ambivulence to this world problem.
Not really sure it's accurate to blame a country where 95% of the population are so poor they will never eat anything that comes out of a plastic container for the world's plastic problems tbh
Probably more realistic for us to start being a bit more responsible about what WE do with plastic - which still exists largely for the convenience of the supermarkets
I don’t think he’s blaming India, but I, too found the Indian attitude to litter baffling when I was there. Obviously I understand that they don’t necessarily have the resources and infrastructure to recycle like we do. But what I couldn’t understand was why there were no bins. Anywhere. After talking to a few Indians it became clear that they didn’t see littering as abnormal at all and they weren’t ashamed of throwing their rubbish on the ground/in the river/in the sea. It was just what they did. Yes we need to be more responsible but there are obviously countries who need an education in why you shouldn’t litter before anything else.
Quite amazing how plastic pollution has spread to every corner of the earth.
Absolutely horrified. They went up to the North pole, went 900km in and found plastic bottle rubbish. Then walrus shit had traces of plastic particles.
Governments and supermarkets only make token noises to reduce plastic. Much more extreme measures need to be taken if we are going to take this seriously. The first step would be huge taxes on supply.
Governments and supermarkets only make token noises to reduce plastic. Much more extreme measures need to be taken if we are going to take this seriously. The first step would be huge taxes on supply.
Not sure if you've seen the documentary but the footage of how plastic waste is dealt with in poor countries was pretty horrifying. There is no mechanism for rubbish disposal in a lot of poor countries so stuff is either dumped in the river or put into landfill which gets washed into the river. Even in the West we fail to recycle most of our plastic and a lot of it ends up in landfill.
This is a global problem which requires global cooperation. No country is in a position to take the moral high ground given that they are all contributing.
The program suggests we are near a tipping point - to continue ignoring this is foolish. We need to find an alternative to plastic and a way to clean up the existing pollution. Governments need to make businesses clean their act up but will anything happen?
Comments
I don't see the issues over plastic being addressed.
Probably more realistic for us to start being a bit more responsible about what WE do with plastic - which still exists largely for the convenience of the supermarkets
When I was in India 4 years ago the hotel I stayed at gave us a free newspaper every day.
The paper was full of stories about people getting fined for illegal fly tipping it really is a major problem in India.
Also the smell of burning plastic is everywhere.
The Indian authorities are trying to come to terms with this problem but it is going to take years before any noticeable improvement is seen.
This is a global problem which requires global cooperation. No country is in a position to take the moral high ground given that they are all contributing.
The program suggests we are near a tipping point - to continue ignoring this is foolish. We need to find an alternative to plastic and a way to clean up the existing pollution. Governments need to make businesses clean their act up but will anything happen?