Today
is World Environment Day. The host Country is our neighbor India, and not one
newspaper told us that. The theme “beat
plastic pollution” So what better way to bow our heads in shame, and take a
decision to ban the production and sale of water in single use plastic bottles.
I
know it is hard on the producers, but
depending on their reported turnover for last year, the Govt can give them a
one off subsidy to into the business of multi use bottles, the large 25liter
ones or to install dispensers where people get used to getting a refill of
water into their personal containers.
It
is over 15 years since I lived in the USA, and even there, THEN there were
dispensers mainly outside supermarkets, where there were refills for drinking
water. You put a dollar bill and you get a certain amount of water, and you
have your container with you to collect it. I know that supermarkets are not in
rural areas, but in any case I know that many areas have common drinking water
stations where people go with their containers and purchase water at 25c a
liter. So that practice exists anyway, and due to the CKDU scare, people have
got used to having containers to collect the water.
I
know many people say you should not have water in plastic containers for too
long as a chemical reaction could take place, leaving the water carcinogenic,
so there is all the more reason to have a personal water bottle, like we used
to have many years ago, to keep your drinking water supplies.
The
next step would be how we can reduce the use of sodas in Plastic as well and to
that end a discussion and debate can take place with a time period to eliminate
that too. There are too many vested interests that prevent this from happening,
but as we have not been able to discipline our population to return all plastic
containers to a central point for recycling purposes, so we have to adopt drastic
measures so the people really do understand why.
Again,
due to procrastination and poor prioritizing of livelihood enhancements by the
leadership and the media we are left, merely to rue this day, for missing out
of a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to make a statement to the world, that we took the
initiative for the rest of the world to follow.
As
always we blow every chance given to us, and this is just an example of the
impotence and lack of foresight of our leaders, and their followers, (US as in us)
to do something about it! Oh Sri Lanka, why does moral courage pass us by?
50 Nations have pledged see below
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44359614
50 Nations have pledged see below
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44359614
8 comments:
For a Country as small as us, we are one of the biggest plastic polluters of the Oceans. Our beaches are ruined. Surely if we do something like this we can make a dent at least immediately.
Our children will praise us for a stand like this.
Now they will ask us, why didn't we do it earlier? What is our answer then?
Answer is simple, forgive us for not being able to imprison all 10,000 elected representatives whose job it is to represent the interests of the population, but have forgotten that, and are merely representing there personal interests, and so they have committed a cardinal sin, for which the sentence is life in prison, other wise the next lot will never learn.
Just look at the rubbish that went down the Kelani during the recent floods. We allow this rubbish to go this way every year. At least with no plastic water bottles it will make some dent. See how many plastic water bottles were supplied to the drought affected. We should have given them reusable bottles and told to fill up at central dispensing stations instead.
All it takes is someone in charge to say, lets ban and ask around at Cabinet - Any Objections? who would dare object? We just don't have that kind of leader, that's why. Instead unimportant matters are discussed for political one-upmanship, the media is complicit as well in this.
Sri Lanka's contribution has been to ban styrofoam - a drop in the bucket of shit in the ocean, to be honest
Just think what the international PR will do if we banned. It will help our tourism brand no end. Sadly, no one in Sri Lanka knows how to grow tourism brand, only to despoil it daily further and further, for a few short term bucks of screwing tourists in every aspect.
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