Good News
China Just Declared War on Single-Use Plastics
China has announced a massive ban on single-use plastics.
(TMU) — China is waging war on plastic waste as it seeks to ban all single-use plastics from production and sale by the end of 2020. Meanwhile, a surge of new plastics are set to hit the world market as companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, and Saudi Aramco are ramping up the output of petrochemical-based products.
Over the course of the next five years, China plans on rolling out a nation-wide ban on single-use plastics that will restrict the production, sale, and use of plastic bags, microbeads, straws, packaging, tape, cotton swabs, and utensils, according to Science Alert.
A translated explanation for the new guidelines states:
“Consumption of plastic products, especially single-use items, has been consistently rising.
There needs to be stronger comprehensive planning and a systematic rollout to clean up plastic pollution.”
China is currently the largest producer of plastic in the world, generating nearly 30 percent of all products while the North American Free Trade area produces 19 percent and Europe produces 18 percent.
Last year, under the auspices of the United Nations, 180 countries agreed—with the exception of the United States—to treat plastic as hazardous waste. The deal is an upgrade to the 1989 Basel Convention on the control of hazardous waste adding plastics and is expected to sharply reduce the amount of the material being washed into the world’s oceans.
In 2018, a UN report issued on World Environment Day showed dozens of nations acting to cut plastic use worldwide.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced in 2018 at the United Nations’ World Environment Day that the country would also begin eliminating all single-use plastics with a goal to be rid of all items by 2020.
In March of last year, India banned imports of waste plastics from other nations only one year after China—the world’s biggest importer of scrap plastic—implemented a similar ban on Western imports, the Independent UK reported.
In general, the U.S. has resisted India and China’s own push for ending the use of single-use plastics, objecting to a proposal for a global ban in March of this year.
“The United States recognizes that marine plastic pollution is an important and growing issue, and that urgent action is needed to reduce the release of plastic into the environment,” a State Department spokesperson said in the statement to Bloomberg Environment.
The State Department further added the U.S. and other countries “are taking ambitious action to reduce plastic pollution,” but “we do not believe in a prescriptive approach where we target a specific product type because it is the subject of regulation in some countries and with no consideration of the associated environmental consequences.”
The G20 also made its own recommendations last year, where world leaders discussed reducing the glut of plastic waste in the oceans, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, who hosted the G20 summit, said he wants his country to lead the world in reducing plastic trash in the ocean by developing biodegradables and using alternative materials to replace plastic products.
All across the world nations have begun banning single-use plastic items such as straws, packaging, and bags. Plastic produces toxic additives such as styrene and benzene as the products decompose. It’s an undeniable fact that single-use plastics are killing birds and marine life.
The recent decisions by India and China were presumably influenced by the EU list of to be banned plastics by 2021 as well. The EU ban was based on single-use common plastic items like cutlery, cotton buds, straws, and stirrers. Plastic bottles will incur a 90% collection target by 2029.
Despite efforts to ban plastics, oil companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, and Saudi Aramco are seeking to expand their efforts to produce plastifs due to fears of a climate crackdown on oil, according to Wired.
Plastic takes around 400 years to degrade, it kills vital ocean life and land animals, and is being found in the form of microplastics in places we wouldn’t expect. And finding a way to dispose of it hasn’t been easy—far less plastic is actually being recycled than the general population is being told.
However, hemp as an alternative can be used as packaging for many plastic products including straws and bags. It is 100% biodegradable and even has the ability to clean soil of pollutants by pulls it up through the plant’s roots. Hemp also grows easily in a variety of places. Plastic alternatives are also on the rise. Some bars are now using pasta in lieu of straws in Italy, scientists in Mexico have discovered a way to turn the prickly pear cactus into a plastic alternative, and plastic packaging is being replaced by banana leaves in some markets in Thailand.
By Aaron Kesel | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
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Keanu Reeves is an actor who has long been loved by audiences —and not necessarily due to his acting skills, but due to how nice the John Wick star is.
And now, Reeves is once again earning praise as a “true gentleman” after resurfaced video footage shows Reeves giving up his seat on the subway.
The clip was shared by Instagram film fan account Cinemonkeys where it has since earned nearly 45,000 likes.
The video footage dates back to 2011, when it was shared on YouTube by a user of the video-sharing platform.
At the time, Reeves was already a superstar riding on the fame he earned from the Matrix, Speed, and a number of other blockbuster hits.
When Reeves notices a woman carrying a heavy bag, he quickly points to his seat and asks if she would like to sit. The woman accepts and Reeves gets up without hesitating to let her take his seat.
Reeves, ever the model citizen, then stands and holds onto a subway pole while carrying his bag.
The video has since been watched over 27 million times and was even cited in a 2019 Time magazine profile of the actor describing Reeves as the “soul mate” of the internet.
The resurfacing of the clip on Instagram once again impressed users of the platform.
“This human being’s soul honestly shines so bright,” wrote one user.
“OMG I love him in every single way,” another person commented.
“His kindness knows no bounds,” commented someone else.
Keanu is set to reprise his role as Neo in the upcoming fourth Matrix film directed and written by Lana Wachowski, who co-directed the earlier trilogy with her sister Lilly. He will also return to the silver screen in John Wick: Chapter 4, which will be released in 2022.
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An injured baby bird received a new lease on life after a young man who was inebriated had the good sense to send the little creature to an animal shelter because he and his friends were too drunk to drive.
In the Summer of 2019, a small lesser goldfinch suddenly appeared by itself at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah. The center’s chairman, Buz Marthaler, was notified by a volunteer who sent him a photo.
“It was a picture of this bird, and it had come by Uber,” Marthaler told FOX13. “It was just crazy.”
As it turns out, the tiny bird – which was only two weeks old – indeed rolled up to the site by its lonesome, the sole passenger in an Uber vehicle called by concerned citizens who found the injured creature.
Among those good Samaritans was Tim Crowley, who had been “day drinking” on that Saturday before he and his buddies witnessed the little bird fall from the sky.
“Impromptu, sitting in some camp chairs, hanging out, having a few drinks when we had a visitor fall out of the sky,” he explained.
Crowley then snapped a photo of the bird and sent it to the WRCNU, which instructed him to immediately bring the bird in. However, the group obviously couldn’t drive since they had been guzzling booze all day.
So Crowley decided he’d hail a cab for the creature.
“At first it was a joke, like, ‘Hey, maybe we should just call Uber!’” he said. “Then we were like, ‘No, really. Why not? We’re paying them.’”
As it turns out, the bird – since named “Petey Uber” by staff at the rescue center – likely would have perished if not for Crowley’s quick thinking.
Marthaler remains impressed by Crowley’s move and shared the news on its Facebook page.
“While we feel we’ve seen it all and can’t be amazed by anything, there is always someone out there to prove us wrong,” the shelter’s post read. “Thank you to the rescuer who helped this little one get the care it needed in a timely manner and thank you for keeping yourself safe and others on the road safe as well.”
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Amid the tragedy of last month’s collapse of a South Florida condo building, there was a tiny bit of good news when a cat named Binx, who lived on the ninth floor of the Surfside building, was found safe and returned to his family.
“I’m glad that this small miracle could bring some light into the lives of a hurting family today and provide a bright spot for our whole community in the midst of this terrible tragedy,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in a Friday press conference, reports NPR.
Levine Cava explained that a volunteer who feeds street cats in the area recognized the cat near the building before bringing him to an animal shelter, where it was then identified.
Gina Nicole Vlasek, the co-founder of the The Kitty Campus rescue group, posted on Facebook that a black cat had been found near the rubble of the group before it was brought to the shelter on Thursday night.
“We are so grateful to be able to help in any small way,” Vlasek said.
“All we needed was a ray of hope in this tragedy,” she continued. “Today was one of the most amazing days.. one of the survivors came to see the cat and to determine if it was her families cat and IT WAS!”
The mayor said that animal control workers are continuing to work to recover any pets that may have survived the horrible collapse.
The 12-story Surfside condo collapsed on June 24. At least 79 people have been confirmed dead, with 61 additional residents remaining unaccounted for.
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