Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

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Lisbeth
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Re: Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

Post by Lisbeth »

I haven't! I even brought my own shopping bag when I went to South Africa, as I have written earlier on this topic; the staff members always looked at me as if I had come from another planet ;-)

The stork has already been posted here :yes:


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Re: Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

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Tanzania president buys fish with basket amid total plastics ban

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Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban 05/06 - 17:48

Tanzania president John Pombe Magufuli earlier this week made time to go fish shopping. He was pictured at a busy market in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

His attendance at the market also allowed him to act by a recent total ban on plastics in the East African nation.

The BBC reports that the president said his visit was to “prove that the fishmongers and buyers no longer need to use plastic bags.” All his purchases were subsequently carried in a reed basket. Magufuli holds one handle of his basket whiles an aide holds the other.

"In a few years time the country will be safe from the effects of plastic bags."

Photos and videos shared on social media showed the president interacting with fish sellers as he walks through the stalls in the market. At a point, people are heard chanting praises for his presence.

The president is quoted to have said: “In a few years time the country will be safe from the effects of plastic bags.” He also praised nationals for embracing the ban.

“If you can remember that you want to buy fish then why don’t you remember to carry your bag from home.”

Reports indicate that plastic bags have long been the main option for selling fish and the effect of the ban was sure to impact trading but fishmongers are quickly adopting alternative carriers like paper, nylon bags etc.

Tanzania became the latest African country to enforce a full ban on plastics – starting over the weekend, June 1. The country joins over 30 other African states in a measure aimed at ending the environmental impact of plastics.

The mid-May statement announcing the ban read in part: “The Government of Tanzania wishes to make an official note to travelers planning to travel to Tanzania that from 1st June 2019 all plastic carrier bags, regardless of their thickness will be prohibited from being imported, exported, manufactured, sold, stored, supplied and used in mainland Tanzania.”


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Re: Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

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^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^ It's the only way \O


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Re: Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

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Canada will ban single-use plastics from 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday, declaring it a "global challenge" to phase out the bottles, straws and plastic bags clogging the world's oceans.

"I am very pleased to announce that as early as 2021 Canada will ban harmful, single-use plastics from coast to coast," Trudeau said, arguing Canada has a unique chance to lead to fight against plastic pollution as the country with the world's longest coastline.

Trudeau said that in Canada less than 10 percent of plastics are currently recycled.

Each year a million birds and more than 100 000 marine mammals worldwide suffer injury or death by becoming entangled in plastic or ingesting it through the food chain.

"You've all heard the stories and seen the photos. And to be honest as a dad it is tough trying to explain to my kids," Trudeau said.

"How do you explain dead whales washing up on beaches across the world, their stomachs jam packed with plastic bags? How do I tell them that against all odds, you will find plastic at the very deepest point of the Pacific Ocean."

Straws, plastic bags, cutlery, plates and stir sticks would be among the items banned, a government statement said.

https://www.news24.com/Green/News/watch ... u-20190610


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Re: Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

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You may be eating a credit card’s worth of plastic each week – study

By Reuters• 12 June 2019

GENEVA, June 12 (Reuters) - Plastic pollution is so widespread in the environment that you may be ingesting five grams a week, the equivalent of eating a credit card, a study commissioned by the environmental charity WWF International said on Wednesday.

The study by Australia’s University of Newcastle said the largest source of plastic ingestion was drinking water, but another major source was shellfish, which tended to be eaten whole so the plastic in their digestive system was consumed too.

“Since 2000, the world has produced as much plastic as all the preceding years combined, a third of which is leaked into nature,” the report said.

The average person could be consuming 1,769 particles of plastic every week from water alone, it said.

The amount of plastic pollution varies by location, but nowhere is untouched, said the report, which was based on the conclusions of 52 other studies.

In the United States, 94.4% of tap water samples contained plastic fibres, with an average of 9.6 fibres per litre. European water was less polluted, with fibres showing up in only 72.2% of water samples, and only 3.8 fibres per litre. (Reporting by Tom Miles Editing by Peter Graff)


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Bay pupils join anti-plastic drive

Say no to plastic and stop polluting our oceans, were the messages from Nelson Mandela Bay pupils who paraded along Beach Road on Sunday to do their bit to raise awareness for marine life.

https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2019- ... tic-drive/


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Turtle found dead after eating plastic

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Dead baby turtles found washed up on Cape beaches were most likely killed by plastic. These are the findings of marine scientists that dissected loggerhead hatchlings found along the Overstrand coastline last week.

This was the tragic scene when an endangered sea turtle was found dead after reportedly defecating plastic bags.

Arnel Emplamado, from Poblacion village in the Philippines, found the dead green sea turtle while walking along the coast.

Poblacion village official Bill Kratzer said the turtle had no visible signs of injury but had excreted plastic bags.

“It looked a bit damaged, especially the tail part,” he said.

Environmental officials at the nearby town of Valladolid advised residents to bury the turtle, which they did later that day.

Sea turtles are under threat from plastic pollution, which has become one of the world's biggest environmental concerns, and green sea turtles are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

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Sea turtle. (PHOTO: Getty/Gallo Images)

According to scientists, the creatures mistake the plastic bags for jellyfish and end up eating them.

An Australian study in September last year recorded turtles that had swallowed hundreds of pieces of plastic. As few as 14 fragments of plastic can significantly increase their risk of death.

A UN Environment Programme report last year listed the Philippines as one of the five countries that produce about half of the world’s plastic waste that end up in the ocean.


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9 deer at famed Japan park die after eating plastic bags

2019-07-12 05:41 | AP

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Deer in a famed Japanese park are dying after swallowing plastic bags.

Masses of tangles plastic litter and packets of snacks were retrieved from their stomachs.

Volunteers participated in a cleanup campaign in the park.


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Re: Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

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O/ O/


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Re: Plastic and other Environmental Dangerous Waste

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Littered cigarette butts are the most widespread man-made pollutant and they harm plant growth, according to study

Ellen Cranley , Business Insider US
Jul 21, 2019, 11:54 AM


Cigarette butts left in grass and soil can harm nearby plant growth, according to a new study.

The study led by Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England found that a cigarette butt can cut down the germination, or development, of plants, adding to concerns about discarded cigarette remnants as an under-acknowledged, but widespread, pollutant.

Cigarette butts cut down the germination success of grass by 10% and clover by 27%, and the shoot length by 13% and 28%, respectively, according to the study, which was published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.

Though plastic straws have dominated conversations for those looking to cut down on pollutants, cigarette butts are the most pervasive man-made contaminant.

The BBC reports that the study says an estimated 4.5 trillion butts are littered globally each year. Though it's difficult to determine the amount of discarded cigarettes, estimates come from the 5.6 trillion cigarettes that are manufactured worldwide each year, most of which are "dumped irresponsibly," according to NBC News.

The common ingredient in filters that spells danger for the environment comes in the form of cellulose acetate, a kind of plastic that takes at least a decade to decompose. /p>

Researchers reportedly took samples within the city of Cambridge, including some locations that had as many as 128 discarded cigarette butts per square meter. The study reportedly found no difference between harm caused by smoked cigarettes and unsmoked cigarettes.

Due to the cigarette's inherent harm to the environment that is in addition to any smoke it gives off, some environmental activists have pushed for cigarette filters to be banned all together.

Since the filters on cigarettes don't provide any health benefit and act exclusively as a "marketing tool," they should be banned to cut down on harm to the environment, Thomas Novotny, a professor of public health at San Diego State University told NBC News in 2018 about the push.

However, a proposal for such a ban failed after being introduced by a California assemblyman and increasingly strict laws on cigarette littering have struggled to make a mark on pollution in recent years.


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