The plastic contamination pandemic is worrisome. There are more “microplastics” in the Ocean than there are stars in the sky. And also, there are already microplastics in the air, as it has been demonstrated in an article on April 17th, 2019 written by Stephen Leahy, that can be found on National Geographic, and which states: “for the first time, tiny particles of plastic have descended from the sky in apparently a pristine and remote mountain area”.
The discovery raises new questions about the global spread of plastic pollution.
Scientist in the Pyrenees in the south of France caught a daily “precipitation” of 365 plastic particles per square meter.
“It was incredible how much microplastic fell down from the air”, said Deonie Allen, researcher at the EcoLab of the Ecole nationale superieure agronomoque at Toulouse and the lead author of the study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
According to Allen, experts found no clear source of the microplastics within a radius of 100 km. The source is not fully proven and it might be multifactorial.
Here in Costa Rica, steps need to be taken and ideas implemented to deal with our own plastic pollution. Plastic pollution travels all over the world, from country to country, from ocean to ocean, it is definitely a Pandemic.
It’s up to the consumer, the citizens to demand the reduction of single-use plastic, to encourage the various innovative technologies on biodegradable containers to replace plastic and the environmentally sound use of existing plastic.
Recycled plastic can create alternative road coatings, can become biofuel and can also be used to produce energy. Ask yourself, “what happens to plastic when we place it in a recycling bin?” Recycled plastic is still plastic.
We must all respect the beautiful country we live in and be the example we wish to see in all the world. The plastics contamination pandemic is also a reality and must be attacked.
