"Where there's a will, there's a way," my mother always said. The question is,"Does that will exist?"
These two videos offer a glimmer of hope:
UPDATE: If you crave even more good news about a ban that, if enacted, will improve the health of coral reefs, click here.
It is good news, and Costa Rica's on the right track with energy policies as well. But I can't shake the feeling that straws are a red herring. They're just a drop in the bucket of the plastic that surrounds everything. You can't buy a wrench without a blister pack protecting it from... what? ... from contamination? from theft? Mainly it's protecting the plastic corporations from losing profits. So I'm a little heartened, but just a little.
ReplyDeleteI have often thought of how ubiquitous plastics are, Marie, and the blister packs are a good example. However, any ban, even small, is a good start. I just wish that Trudeau would show some fortitude and leadership here, but my understanding is that he is only calling for further 'study' of the problem.
DeleteIt can be done but it starts with countries like Canada no longer offshoring our recycling. Some Third World destinations cull that stuff and discard a lot of it straight into the oceans.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when I would ride my motorcycle down to the southern end of the Baja. The peninsula road followed the Pacific for the first or top half. Then you crossed the Sonora desert to reach the Sea of Cortez for the second or bottom half, the touristy half. In the upper half a lot of fences consisted of sticks and baling wire. It was disheartening to see these fences, mile upon mile, draped in discarded plastic shopping bags, the shoulders of the road littered with plastic bottles and single use containers. It was truly gross. Once you got down to the Sea of Cortez side, however, that plastic nightmare was gone. Either they were restricting the use of disposable plastics or they were diligent at cleaning it up. I figured it must have had something to do with protecting their tourist trade. Whatever the explanation, it seemed what they were doing worked.
I envy your visit to the Sea of Cortez, Mound. (So much I have missed out on in this life.) Although I am ashamed I have never read it, given that I revere
DeleteJohn Steinbeck, the author wrote The Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research, which involved him and Ed Ricketts, a marine biologist, visiting and studying the Sea. You might want to check it out.