Fiji Is Ground Zero for the Planet’s Waste Problem- and the Challenge of Stopping It at the Source.

Рет қаралды 29,763

28 күн бұрын

Whenever the growing pile of plastic waste in front of her door takes up too much space, Asinate Lewabeka has a simple solution. She sets it on fire. She prefers to do so at dawn when the air is still so that the smoke rises in a black column. She says any later in the day, the coastal breeze risks blowing the acrid fumes straight into her home, a modest shack built on the edge of the Vunato dump site in Lautoka, Fiji’s second largest city.
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Пікірлер: 39

@stevenotero2627 21 күн бұрын

I miss the days when most things were in glass bottles.

@matkins6813 21 күн бұрын

Glad to see this. Not buying Fiji water moving forward. It's a mess.

@ThatFijianGuy 21 күн бұрын

My beautiful Island home ❤

@keetahbrough 21 күн бұрын

Here in Canada it's a huge social issue, it's even entered class wars. Garbage is just another toxic waste they dump in the deemed poorest and unwanted areas of their society.

@ronkirk5099 21 күн бұрын

In the U.S., there are only a very few states that have bottle deposit laws, and I'm proud to say my state of Maine is one of them. Like Fiji, we treasure our land and coastal waters not only because we live in 'vacation land' but because it is the right thing to do for us today and future generations.

@peterbilt2 21 күн бұрын

maybe Fiji should say no to plastic bottles & change to tetra (cardboard) . Not just Fiji - the whole world

@harperwelch5147 21 күн бұрын

When I was in Bali last year I noticed there was no trash removal system, no recycling, most trash and waste is burned.

@jpjovs1786 21 күн бұрын

why cant we have a standard plastic bottle for companies to use?

@SkyeRangerNick 21 күн бұрын

Beyond intense and heart wrenching. I have been disturbed of late by the use of the term "net-zero emissions" as some sort of parade banner; officials suggesting that solutions are at hand; some strategy to be put in place that will lead to an answer regarding plastics pollution and to CO2 and other toxic gas emissions. Am I allowed to include discarded plastics as a carbon emission? They are, whether we acknowledge it or not.

@jimmyconway8025 21 күн бұрын

Sad. They should be getting more.

@prayalways 14 күн бұрын

This is educational and deep! Thank you for sharing ❤.

@maifaith90 21 күн бұрын

Fiji is doing a great work in tackling this problem

@mariafrech9205 21 күн бұрын

Chapeau for your engagement and efforts! 👍👍👍💖

@okotbryan2011 21 күн бұрын

Great work keep it up all involved 👏🏼

@kayclifton9064 21 күн бұрын

Your on the right path of measuring the amount of plastic that ends up in no recycled facilities near by. It's incredible that the ocean currents carry it to your beaches from Latin American countries. My big question is there any environmental office in those countries that you can talk to about how much plastic waste is in your country and can they use your program to ♻️ there own waste? Europe 🇪🇺 has you separate plastic, glass, aluminum and paper products. Can you convert this type of waste into energy like here in Honolulu, Hawaii? It's an ideal worth looking into instead of the elderly women in the community doing the plastic burning. Poor Aunty's doing that to get by on.

@solarnova3502 14 күн бұрын

we need to hold these companies accountable! I know there's not a ton of regulations for them right now and they try not to take the blame for how much pollution they're responsible for- that's why we need to keep raising awareness and hold them accountable for it. something needs to be done and it is not all on the people suffering from its affects to do something about it. the companies need to be made to help. this has inspired me to get more involved too.

@TheAngelicRider 21 күн бұрын

Tourism is a big killer in Fiji as well. Let’s not forget how capitalism as a driver of accumulation and surplus is the number one problem in this situation. This traditionally paints the problem as if it’s the individuals fault.

@Sjalabais 21 күн бұрын

Good people doing good work, but imagine having a bottled water company as the country's biggest taxpayer and business. Wow.

@ratumelimatanatoto2488 14 күн бұрын

Fiji Water is an American Fortune 500 company who does not pay ANY tax to the Fijian Government.

@truegrit7697 21 күн бұрын

Buy a water purification system - You will break-even in less than a year. Use reusable aluminum canisters. We can stop the idiocy of plastic bottles if we choose.