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> This is a cultural problem, not a technological one. Its about poverty. Almost none of the communities that border these rivers will have access to organised

> This is a cultural problem, not a technological one. Its about poverty. Almost none of the communities that border these rivers will have access to organised waste disposal, never mind recycling. So the trash goes into the river. Thats bad, and I suspect that its known to be bad by the people involved, but where are the alternatives? Check out [1] for some pretty horrifying descriptions of what plastic pollution is doing to coastal communities in Cambodia. Quote: "according to Water.Org, about four million people in Cambodia still lack access to safe water, leaving them with no alternative but to buy endless bottled water, perpetuating the environmentally destructive cycle. [...] this plastic waste that all the people here live amongst is unavoidable- they are not about to feed their babies the black muddy liquid that comes out of the taps, it’s poison.” Clearly the solution involves people not throwing plastic into the rivers, but labelling dirt-poor people in a poisoned environment as having a "cultural problem" isn't going to help. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/mountains-and-mountains-of-plastic-life-on-cambodias-polluted-coast https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/mountains-and-...

vimy 8y ago
How is being poor an excuse for throwing your trash in the river? A cart, a horse and you have a garbage truck. Add some plot of land where you can dump the garbage and you have the mvp of a garbage management system. I'm having a hard time believing these countries can't afford such a simple system. Naming the problem is step one in fixing it. Our efforts are better focused helping these countries fix their garbage problem. That won't happen if everyone here keeps thinking we are the origin of all that ocean plastic.
- andyjohnson0 8y ago
  > A cart, a horse and you have a garbage truck. Add some plot of land where you can dump the garbage and you have the mvp of a garbage management system. I'm having a hard time believing these countries can't afford such a simple system. Who pays for it? Cambodia's per-capita GDP is just under UD$1300. A third of the country earns less than US$1.90 a day. Its a poor country. From a developed-word perspective it makes sense to collect the trash, but their perspective may be very different. > Naming the problem is step one in fixing it. Our efforts are better focused helping these countries fix their garbage problem. That won't happen if everyone here keeps thinking we are the origin of all that ocean plastic. I agree.
  - ericd 8y ago
    Not trying to be callous, but that low GDP would mean that hiring a garbage man would be correspondingly inexpensive.
reustle 8y ago
> Almost none of the communities that border these rivers will have access to organised waste disposal Does anyone have any deeper reading on this? I've spent a few years backpacking and Myanmar was by far the worst offender when it came to trash flowing down it's rivers and streams. I know they don't have trash systems in place, and they often dump it in piles and burn it. What is happening around moving towards some kind of centralized landfills? Even basic pickup? Trucks and fuel are cheap relatively speaking. How do we move to the next step? Getting them to reduce is ideal but very hard.

vimy 8y ago

How is being poor an excuse for throwing your trash in the river? A cart, a horse and you have a garbage truck. Add some plot of land where you can dump the garbage and you have the mvp of a garbage management system. I'm having a hard time believing these countries can't afford such a simple system. Naming the problem is step one in fixing it. Our efforts are better focused helping these countries fix their garbage problem. That won't happen if everyone here keeps thinking we are the origin of all that ocean plastic.

andyjohnson0 8y ago
> A cart, a horse and you have a garbage truck. Add some plot of land where you can dump the garbage and you have the mvp of a garbage management system. I'm having a hard time believing these countries can't afford such a simple system. Who pays for it? Cambodia's per-capita GDP is just under UD$1300. A third of the country earns less than US$1.90 a day. Its a poor country. From a developed-word perspective it makes sense to collect the trash, but their perspective may be very different. > Naming the problem is step one in fixing it. Our efforts are better focused helping these countries fix their garbage problem. That won't happen if everyone here keeps thinking we are the origin of all that ocean plastic. I agree.
- ericd 8y ago
  Not trying to be callous, but that low GDP would mean that hiring a garbage man would be correspondingly inexpensive.

reustle 8y ago

> Almost none of the communities that border these rivers will have access to organised waste disposal Does anyone have any deeper reading on this? I've spent a few years backpacking and Myanmar was by far the worst offender when it came to trash flowing down it's rivers and streams. I know they don't have trash systems in place, and they often dump it in piles and burn it. What is happening around moving towards some kind of centralized landfills? Even basic pickup? Trucks and fuel are cheap relatively speaking. How do we move to the next step? Getting them to reduce is ideal but very hard.