I have a fav bay on Koh Tao, Thailand. Whenever the route allows to visit it I go there. I know it for more than 12 years and have seen how it changes...I have friends there. It's a small island with no industry. Their major income comes from tourism. There is more and more garbage and plastics that is washed up there compared to past years. I almost cried.... I listened to a tourist's conversation with a local....the tourist noticed of all the waste that has been washed up one night. He said:" You have to tidy the beach, it's ugly. AND: YOU have to show more responsibility for the nature!!!" I slightly shook my head and smiled...I thought: " What a pinhead. As if the locals would throw in plastics and it comes back next day. It's from ships that dump it, from people who are far away because it gets by huge rivers in there....from 'foreigners' / tourists like HIM. From people who buy all the stuff packed in tons of plastics, from people who go to supermarkets and get everyday new plastic bags....from people who have access to a such huge product variety that they have lost awareness on their packing, anything fresh wrapped with plastics...throwing it away getting new ones all the time."
@Yen: It's both sad and funny at the same time. Most people regard the packaging of something as part of the value of the product. If you use too little packaging, these same people complain about feeling cheated, or not getting their money's worth. It's called "perceived value", and is taught in just about every Marketing course.
I imagined how the local must have felt when the tourist said that he should show more responsibility for nature while the local has to recognize that his paradise here gets wasted by plastics that is washed up more and more. Double impact so to say. The Island is a good example how they handle garbage. They separate all the waste..glass, cans, plastic. They have a working infrastructure for recycling, every tourist can notice about.. There are separated bins everywhere. Perceived value..unveils its real value the day it comes back as waste, washed up when you are in a paradise like place. No joke, what's taught in every Marketing course is how can I sell an illusion. Far more the joke is that they believe themselves what they teach. Well, humankind suffers from a sick perception. It is too easy and hard at the same time. But instead of to examine the own 'perception' people and politics start endless debates about how to save the oceans... As long as people believe that they can re-new their own self-value by buying new 'perceived values' any attempt to resolve the issue will fail. Our Marketing dorks will keep it going...they have no interest in a change. The cynical thing is the fact that renewing own self value never works keeps it alive..maybe it works at next purchase..who knows, lol....
I have just reread my own post. I didn't want to say that every purchase is made/attempted to re-new the own self-value. Frequently we just buy things we need to live... like food. It's about the correlation of consume behavior and pollution. And the illusion that we have to consume to be somebody.
Here in the U.S. it's just about impossible to buy anything without some kind of plastic packaging around it. That includes the fresh veggies my grocer provides with plastic baggies to contain within the shopping cart
To buy groceries without getting plastic is a challenge. Fresh veggies are usually not packed (here). You have to weigh them and after that people pick up a little plastic bag to carry each separated. Whether plastic is actually a problem or not depends also on the local recycling infrastructure. In Germany you can leave all the package of your bought items in the supermarket if you want. I try to avoid plastic where I can. I do not buy meat / veggies which are wrapped in plastic. I've just found: One week without plastic experiment: https://myplasticfreelife.com/2015/08/one-week-without-plastic-trash-in-germany/
Even some cardboard boxes are shrink wrapped in plastic. Escaping plastic is futile... you will be assimilated
I cheat ! I get paper bags and other types of bags with me or steal them from bakery departments (mushrooms etc. thank me for it )... as much as I can, of course...
I mostly go by car. I buy foods only short term...I have a collapsible plastic box in my trunk I use all the time to carry my stuff (in a cart if available)... I actually need no bags.
I try to reuse plastic containers as much as possible. I'll buy a gallon of milk which comes in a plastic jug. Once the milk is finished, I wash out the container and use it for filtered water or iced tea. I know it's not much, but it's one less plastic container in some landfill.
My water comes out of the tap, therefore i jus drink it, 400 cows drink the same water, all comes straight out of the ground, no filters to had anywhere, town water i drink with coffee, Buy water, never, it comes in a plastic bottle, yuck, there is a old steel pipe coming out of the side of a hill 500 meters up, water from there is like heaven divine,
REPORT: Nearly All Of U.S. Drinking Water Contaminated With Cancer Causing Chemicals http://www.activistpost.com/2017/07...er-contaminated-cancer-causing-chemicals.html
Some people said I was crazy, but this is why I bought the filter system I have. I'm sorry, but humans are disgusting pigs. They ruin everything they touch, and leave any place they live in filthy, polluted, and toxic. An extraterrestrial race should come here and force us to clean up this world before we're allowed to travel to other places in the universe. When you're young and you feel that way, you'll be treated as if you have an anti-social disorder (and medicated). When you're approaching middle age, you'll be called cynical and bitter (and possibly medicated). Regardless, the truth is the truth.
U guys my want to see this video very disturbing u think all top brand bottle water is safe...think again
You do realize they generally take pipe water and supposedly filter it, which is what you can do in your home !
Im sure but the fact that so many brands of water are contaminated and they advertise it as super clean and healthy is alarming... in some places u can pay up to 1.50 for a bottle of water thinking is safe and the reality is your paying to drink poison u think they dont check the water after is filter to see how clean it is....they know the water is contaminated and they still push out their for mass consumption....i think that is a crime...u can even end up with cancer drinking water u assume its safe.
The only way you can be fairly safe is to take steps to protect yourself. Just remember: Plastics outgas which means that they release possibly toxic chemicals (mold release agents) into the liquid being held by the container. If these containers are in a warm environment, the reaction takes place more quickly. So don't leave bottled water in the trunk of your car. The heat can make the water toxic.
A few interesting articles... http://billmoyers.com/story/nestle-...vania-town-fights-predatory-water-extraction/ http://www.pressherald.com/2013/09/...tle-waters-conflict-by-the-gallon_2013-09-01/