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Indigenous-Led Solutions Essential to Reversing Plastic Pollution, Researchers Say
Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch Plastics & Pollution
Plastic pollution is an international problem, as trillions of pieces of plastic have made their way into the ocean from commercial and household waste, blown from landfills and trash cans into sewers and rivers and out to sea. Marine animals can ingest and become entangled in ocean plastic, leading to sickness, starvation and death. Plastic leaches toxic chemicals and doesn’t biodegrade naturally in the environment.
An inordinate amount of plastic waste has been dumped in the Pacific Islands (Te Moananui) in what is referred to as waste colonization or waste colonialism — where a disproportionate amount of plastic pollution is dumped in a region, leading to threats to the livelihoods and health of its people, a press release from The University of Newcastle, Australia, said.
In a new paper, researchers show that making the rights and needs of Indigenous people a priority, rather than the interests of settler-colonizers and commercial corporations, is essential to turning the tide of plastic pollution and putting a stop to plastic dumping on Te Moananui, the press release said.
Read the full article here
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