Ocean Plastic Is Not Only the Fault of the Global South

This article was originally published on Phys.org 

“Our oceans are littered with plastics. Indeed, we are regularly exposed to images and stories of whales and sea turtles choking to death on plastic trash. Ocean plastic is clearly a problem but what is the solution?

On the surface, it seems clear, plastic must be reduced or eliminated at its source. Here’s why: Ninety per cent of ocean plastics come from 10 rivers, eight of which are in Asia. And the five most plastic polluting countries are China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

This agrees with our experience along Vietnam’s coast, where there are piles of plastic on the beaches, and where we research the impact of marine plastic debris on coastal livelihoods.

However, when you look below the surface, you see that these arguments blame the plastic tide on consumers in the global south—without mention of those living in the global north. It is as if they have no responsibility for the crisis.

If we understand waste, not as something produced by the actions of a group of individuals, but rather a product of socioeconomic systems that contribute to making waste and encourages wasting, problems with these dominant explanations arise. We start to see that Western consumers are part of the problem and cannot be absolved of their responsibility…”

Read on at: Phys.org