Plastic Memes

Okay, so this isn't a meme. But I thought using the title might inspire you to read on.

Most well-informed people are aware that plastic pollution is a global phenomenon. What is thrown, dropped, or blown into the Pacific Ocean on one side can be found on the other side not too long after, and probably eventually will be found around the world. Plastic has been found at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, the deepest place in the ocean.

And it isn't just the ocean. Most people think of Japan and how how cleanliness is engrained in their culture. But go to the NHK news channel website and you will see shocking pictures of Japanese beaches completely covered in trash, as well as tame deer in Nara Park dying from ingesting plastic thrown away by tourists and locals both.

So why the meme reference? Throwing away plastic is like sending a meme. It never stops. It goes on and on, floating, flying, falling onto the landscape. Even when plastic "degrades", it doesn't. It simply becomes smaller and smaller. It NEVER breaks down. It only breaks up. When they dig up the remains of our civilization, the dominant material found will be plastic.

So what can you, one person do? Start with the first R in that little triangle. Reduce. Don't use it, buy it, take it if you don't have to. Then work hard to reuse it. And even harder to recycle it. Work your hardest to stop the plastic memes, including pressuring leaders to develop methods of reduction, reusing and recycling.

Unless you really want you and your children and your grandchildren to live in a world buried in plastic memes.