Rethinking waste and plastic thrash in Bali
I read Bali in the headline, so I had to read it. I am traveling to Bali in late November, it has always been one of the many places I have wanted to visit. The beaches of Bali are pristine, as I imagined but the current news posted a waste land of garbage on one of its beaches. During the rainy season, from November to March, tons of trash is washed ashore, leaving an unsightly mess. It is called 'garbage season' in Bali. It makes me not want to go. This garbage strewn site is a result of increasing tourism, lack of infrastructure and an unofficial plan on how to dispose and recycle garbage. Countries ranked as poorly managing plastic are: China (#1), Bali (#2) and the U.S. (#20).
The news reports that only half of the waste is properly managed both in recycling and landfills, the other half ends up in the ocean, so when the water rises in the rainy season, all this garbage washes up on shore. Now the Bali government had banned plastic straws, plastic bags, and polystyrene (s synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer to make car parts, instrument panels, used in food service industry for food trays, containers, disposable eating utensils, and foamed cups, plates and bowls).
Hi Michelle, this is a good post, I like to add that plastic bags, and polystyrene disposal is a big challenge in my country Nigeria, driving through the streets and major road all you will see is not but piles of plastic bags, I can imagine how much environmental health toxins released from such.
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