In eight Caribbean countries, they began the ban on the use of plastic and polystyrene
Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas, Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominica, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago are the nations that implemented the measure that seeks to reduce pollution of the seas and the volume of waste generated.
Have you ever stopped to think about recycling? Have you done it? Do you know how many years the plastic lasts under the sea to disintegrate?
There are many questions of which you may not know, because you might not give it any importance, without knowing that those wastes that you throw away eat the fish, contaminating the entire sea, damaging both marine life and ourselves.
It is estimated that between 15% and 40% the plastic produced in the world ends every year in the seas. Currently figure this amount in more than 8 million tons of plastic that end up at sea every year. For this short summary we want to give you excellent news for the Caribbean, a process that has arrived in 2019 to spread through the other countries of the Caribbean with the sole purpose of helping the environment, marine life, because helping them, We help ourselves.
As of last Tuesday, January 1, Eight Caribbean countries prohibit the importation and use of single-use plastics and polystyrene. These are Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas, Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominica, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.
According to reports from the Jamaican Government, cited by the Cuban agency Prensa Latina, in this island the plastics and polystyrene foam containers & #8220; form seven of the ten main elements discarded on the coasts & #8221; and they represent more than 50 percent of the total weight of the garbage.
Fight against environmental degradation and plastic pollution
January 1, 2019 represents an important date in Jamaica's fight against environmental degradation and against the scourge of plastic pollution which affects not only Jamaica, but also the world & #8221 ;, said Jamaican Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Daryl Vaz, on the eve.
According to data from the United Nations Organization (UN), the world consumes five billion plastic bags a year, mainly made of polyethylene, a simple and economical polymer derived from petroleum and that takes 400 years to degrade.
On the other hand, polystyrene foam (another derivative of black gold used in thermal food containers) It takes 500 years to get rid under optimal conditions, but most items never break down, the entity warned.
If the current pattern of use and production continues, the UN expects that by 2030, the world will produce 619 million tons of plastic annually.
For the Caribbean, the situation becomes a little more complex, since the region is made up of islands and important tourist destinations, experts from the global organization warned.
After a brief summary, we want to ask you two simple questions that we would like you to tell us: Do you know how much cubic meters the sea loses each year? Do you know how many marine species become extinct each year?
