> First of all, one common statistic is that 90% of trash in the ocean that comes from people dumping it (in rivers) comes from just 10 rivers, all in China/Asi

> First of all, one common statistic is that 90% of trash in the ocean that comes from people dumping it (in rivers) comes from just 10 rivers, all in China/Asia. Just thought I'd factcheck this: turns out this statement is not accurate. The original paper [1] lists the countries, and two of them are in Africa, 4 are in China, 1 is on the China-Russia border. Jurisdictionally, there seems to be a few parties involved and the insinuation that "they" don't care about the problem seems like an oversimplification and a projection. Secondly, that snapshot was a while ago and assuming that nothing hasn't been done since then is also incorrect [2]. I have to admit I felt uncomfortable with the cultural assumption expressed in the sentiment about "having a hard time believe they'll bother with bubble barriers". It felt a little presumptuous because it assumes a culture is immutable. The sentiment that these types of solutions are something "only first world countries would implement" also seems a little bit dismissive. I work with people in non-first-world countries every day (I work in a global company) and have often been surprised how ahead of the curve they can be in certain areas, and I've learned not to make assumptions without first informing myself of the true situation on the ground (which is often more complex and nuanced than the tropes we have in our heads). [1] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368/suppl_file/es7b02368_si_001.pdf https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368/suppl... [2] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluting-our-oceans-comes-from-just-10-rivers/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluti...