REUSABLE
STRAWS, ANYONE?
“Since
when did you begin to use reusable straws?” asked my friend. “When I saw that
video of that poor turtle.” I was referring to the video in 2015 that went
viral thanks to Christine Figgener (A&M University, Texas). A video of an olive
ridley turtle. It was excruciating and bloody. I could feel the pain as the
straw was slowly extracted from its nostril. On March 16 2019 researches pulled
nearly 90 pounds of plastic waste out of the stomach of a young curvier beaked
whale that died in the Davo Gulf of the Philippines (National Geographic March
18 2019). Terence Corcoran wrote; Instead of responding to turtle videos, it
would be more useful to zero in on the real sources of floating waste
{Financial Post: How green activists manipulated us into a pointless war on
plastic (April 25 2018)}.
Whatever
it is, there are hundreds of videos and articles highlighting plastic
pollution. How did we get here? The ocean floors are 200 million years old. In
total the oceans account for approximately 97% of water on Earth. 18 billion
pounds of plastic waste flows into the oceans every year. Half of the world’s
plastic are made in Asia- the lion’s share of that 29% is made in China. Don’t
get me wrong, I’m not an environmentalist or animal lover. Besides, by the time
our planet chokes and turns into plastic I’ll be dead and gone.
Plastic
is an incredible and an amazing invention. It’s wonderful and ubiquitous. We
all need, and use it. However, in 2018 a survey by the Global Oceanic
Environmental Survey (GOES) Foundation found that the ecosystem in the seas and
oceans may collapse in the next 25 years potentially causing failure of
terrestrial ecosystem and “very possible the end of life on Earth as we know
it”. I believe it to be true because every day as I go about my business,
plastic is everywhere. Whether it’s pointless to respond to turtle videos or
being manipulated by activists it’s a fact and it might be too late to reverse
the impact of plastic pollution. After all, plastic has been around for more
than a century, and revolutionized the way live.
It’s
only a dream, but humanity is quite resilient and determined. Some scientist
might come up with an idea of an eco-friendly material to replace plastic. For
now, it’s up to the mighty governments, corporations and worlds’ population to
handle the situation.
