> Currently, afaik, this problem is primarily driven by Asia, so I think the effort that would have the most impact is figuring out how to convince Asian countries to stop throwing plastic in to rivers.
The west could start by not exporting a huge portion of its plastic waste to said Asian countries.
> I think this is overblown. The earth is already 'full' of... toxic things.
The earth was certainly not "full" of macro-, micro-, and nano-plastics 50 years ago.
Americans ingest and inhale tens to hundreds of thousands of microplastic particles per year[0]. Microplastics likely impair cognition in hermit crabs[1]. Nanoplastics accumulate in plants[2]. It's not just waterways.
Nobody really understands how this might affect human health. We're all participants in a planet-sized experiment to find out.
> The west could start by not exporting a huge portion of its plastic waste to said Asian countries.
That's not how it works. Worst-case scenario that winds up in landfills instead of being recycled.
The problem in Asia is 100% domestic, with citizens and households and apartment buildings dumping their local plastic trash on the side of the road, burning it in backyards, dumping it in the river.
> That's not how it works. Worst-case scenario that winds up in landfills instead of being recycled.
It's a problem even if it ends up in landfills. Plastics can leach chemicals into groundwater. My point is that the "Asian countries are responsible for most of the world's pollution" narrative is simplistic and unhelpful. Most of the plastic in the oceans is indeed from Asian countries. But plastic concentrations are 4-20x higher on land than in the oceans. The United States has the highest tapwater contamination rate in the world (94%).
> The problem in Asia is 100% domestic, with citizens and households and apartment buildings dumping their local plastic trash on the side of the road, burning it in backyards, dumping it in the river.
You're of course correct to point out that this happens, but calling the problem 100% domestic is disingenuous.
The west could start by not exporting a huge portion of its plastic waste to said Asian countries.
> I think this is overblown. The earth is already 'full' of... toxic things.
The earth was certainly not "full" of macro-, micro-, and nano-plastics 50 years ago.
Americans ingest and inhale tens to hundreds of thousands of microplastic particles per year[0]. Microplastics likely impair cognition in hermit crabs[1]. Nanoplastics accumulate in plants[2]. It's not just waterways.
Nobody really understands how this might affect human health. We're all participants in a planet-sized experiment to find out.
[0]: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0030
[1]: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b01517
[2]: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-020-0707-4