There's a constant drive towards more, more everything, and no one ever seems satisfied which leads to the over-production of products that we could actually do without.
You make a very good point about the disparity between affluent and poor and how that correlates to how each approaches the environment due to circumstances. It's a very complex issue when looked at from all angles.
Here they recycle trash by using it to produce power. I'm not sure if it's cost effective, but it does reduce the waste stream! Plastic is a growing problem, that needs to be addressed. Either by regrinding and reusing it, or by converting it back to fuel (which looks promising); but I Hate to see it in the wild! We all need to pick it up when we see it for useful disposal.
I do understand about the third world problems. It damn hard to worry about trash, when your kids are hungry! That's a very serious problem, that needs serious attention...they need real help! One solution would be to purchase this trash, for a living wage; to be recycled once collected.
I don't know what the answer is, all I know is that not enough people seem to want to do something about it and so the problem gets worse, despite all the initiatives that have been around for many years to arrest the decline. Smells like a money making initiative to me.
Plastic is a massive issue, the oceans are in bad shape because of it, but it'll recover when humans are gone, won't be in our life time but it'll happen, and then the planet can begin to heal.
It must be profitable to recycle, then clean up will occur. Fifty years ago, we had conservationist who would go out, and clean up a problem area. Today we have greenies who try to force others to do clean up by lawsuits. If the greenies put half the energy and money cleaning up themselves, the trash problem would be solved!
I will Always take out any trash I find, leaving the wild in better shape than I found it! Just not that hard to do....
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