Period 5/6: United Nations Environment Assembly

The lives of millions of people are horrendous in India and that’s just the beginnings of what we know. First of all, the cities are way overpopulated and just can’t support the amount of people living in them. The amount of air pollution doesn’t help the overwhelming amount of people either. As said in the first article, One out of every nine people die from air pollution and the amount of pollution compares to the amount in China, which are both way over what it should be. You know when it gets to the point where you can’t even hold sporting events because the pollution is so bad, it’s real bad. Now after looking at a typical day, we need to brainstorm resolutions to this issue. I agree with implementing the plastic ban. This world uses way too much plastic and burning the stuff is even worse,which is what they’re doing over in India. If we could change parts in the small things in life to something other than plastic, it could make the biggest change. Like stated in the third article, even getting rid of the plastic bags and using paper bags could drastically change the amount of plastic used in the world. Changing to paper bags would make things a million times better for the world. If we want to resolve the world pollution issue, we as a whole have to go all in to fight this crisis. Other parts of the world need our help and it’s help that is manageable for all of us, so let’s do it.

The idea of the Plastic Ban is interesting but ultimately would cause such an uproar globally that it may not be in place very long. Big industries and companies that benefit from the cheap and easy qualities of plastic would not be happy. With wealth comes power and if these companies feel as though their wealth is in jeopardy they will work around or even ignore the laws set against plastic. Daily Nation said part of the pledges being taken would require “Mobile phones could be upgraded and reused instead of being replaced every few years. Mobil companies are renowned for working outside the law and doing appalling things in order to make top dollar on their products. Examples they have set in the past include the child labor in the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the working conditions in Chinese factories where suicide among workers became so common that “Suicide Nets” had to be installed around the roofs. If these companies are able to outsource and work around laws set in more modern countries, just as the plastic ban is set in the modern countries included in the UN, is it not reasonable to assume this will be the same way? Thoughtco explains, “Although most of the world's 196 countries have joined forces to tackle global issues like global warming, trade policy, and human rights and humanitarian issues through joined the United Nations as members, three countries are not members of the U.N.: Kosovo, Palestine, and Vatican City.” Those 3 countries could really benefit from desperate companies sourced out of countries who participate in the Plastic Ban.
Moreover, there is a lot that would have to go into applying the Plastic Ban. UNPE explains the process, “In order to make change happen, Member States, businesses, individuals, mayors, local governments, partnerships, civil society organizations are invited to make voluntary commitments of actions in support of a “Pollution Free Planet”. Change, on the global scale, is a huge feat that requires a lot of thought and effort from billions of people. It is not impossible, but in some cases it is pretty close to being so. This ban must be enforced by all steps in the political ladder in order for it to be effective. The change would not be seen immediately on the global scale but in the everyday lives of the people it would make a major change. This fact in itself may cause dicuragment among those participating. The Plastic Ban has the potential to make a great impact on the world, it's only downfall is the selfish nature of human beings.

Cobalt: www.businessinsider.com/apple-cobalt-mine-child-labor-2017-5
Suicide nets: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103798/Revealed-Inside-Apples-Chinese-sweatshop-factory-workers-paid-just-1-12-hour.htm
UN: www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=14&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiA_PiW5ofYAhVscd8KHSn1C60QFgheMA0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thoughtco.com%2Fnon-members-of-the-united-nations-1435429&usg=AOvVaw3GyRy-QQwvgYzSzFslJoSm

Matt accidentally put his response on a past Discussion board, so I am adding it here:

The pollution in India is unlike any other country in the world. This is due to the fact of their high population in the size of the space that they are in. With the high demand of plastic in this country for production and construction of the resources that they need for fuel and what not. But the situation that comes from the production of these resources pollution is much greater in this country. With the UN meeting to help protect the world from situations like this it makes the situation seem better than it actually is. The amount of pollution is crazy compared to other countries based on the population to size ratio.

What would happen if this would happen to the US if we were in that situation?
What if the world would not help this country

Pollution across the globe has been a major issue in China and India. I feel that India needs to step up in ways which china already has. In Beijing they have “no drive” days where you can only drive the days based on the last digit of your car’s license plate. This drastically reduces pollution and I feel that India should come up with a similar system. The everyday life in India must be frightening for most people especially those with children; I can only imagine the fear of a parent watching their children outside wondering if the air that they are breathing is slowly killing them. If it were my choice I would absolutely have a system jus like the “no drive” policy in order to regulate the amount of pollution that comes from cars on a daily basis. I would also ban the use of plastic and would most definitely regulate if not stop the burning of plastic because burning plastics containing substances like PVC are extremely harmful to our bodies. When such plastics are burned, harmful quantities of dioxins are released. Dioxins are extremely toxic to the human organs. If we were to ban plastic it would highly benefit everyone across the globe due to the lack of harmful and even deadly toxins people would be breathing into their lungs and destroying their bodies. The United States should most definitely go “all in” and try to end pollution. The dioxins that are being released form the burning of plastic bags is a serous issue that should have been taken care of by now. We as humans should be always looking to improve our quality of life, not stand by and watch each other breathe in toxic air.

Pollution is not a new problem in the world but there is a new focus from governing bodies on how to slow down, stop, or reverse the damages caused by pollution. India is the second higest country in population and their population density of 445 people per square kilometer (as compared to the United States with 35 people per square kilometer) so their pollution rate makes sense in comparison with the size of their population. An average day in an Indian city is most likely full of smog and is very similar to cities during the industrial revolution (covered in grime because of pollution). According to NDTV “‘UN can only inspire and motivate nations. Final decision on action has to come from the respective government.’” so if I was in the shoes of the UN I would have to try and apply pressure to different nations to try and get them to follow guidelines. The guidelines proposed should be the most extreme option to make countries bargain them into the moderate terms that are originally wanted (using rhetorical strategies to try and persuade countries into taking some steps toward slowing down their pollution rate).
The plastic ban trying to be introduced into the UN would affect even the most miniscule aspects of life. First it would effect large manufacturing companies that wrap almost every product in plastic. It would effect toy companies, who primarily use plastic as their construction materials for toys. It would then effect the average person with how they buy groceries (needing to buy reusable bags) to decorating for holidays. Plastic is one of the most common materials to build common items. The UN should “go all in” by making pollution the forefront of their political campaigns (aside from humanitarian crises) and not throwing up a movement and abandoning it. Everyone needs good air so pollution is a global issue.

My question: Do you think the plastic ban will affect Americans with the current administration not focusing on environmental issues?

India’s pollution problem is affecting the citizens lives severely. I would imagine that the people in India’s day to day lives wouldn’t be drastically different from ours, but it would change in some ways. I think that they would have to wear masks, but that isn’t too bad. I also think that illnesses and diseases involving the lungs would be a lot more common, such as asthma. Honestly if i had to decide what the world was going to do about pollution, i’m not sure what i would do right away. I would definitely cut down the amounts of fossil fuels we use. I’d try to get car dealers to convert a lot of cars to electric instead of gas. It would be cheaper and a lot better for the environment. I don’t think the plastic ban would be too bad. To help the pollution, a ban on plastic bags is definitely not too much of a price to pay. Ya it would affect us a little bit in our everyday lives, but it’s easy when you think about the change it will make in the environment. I think that the United States should definitely try to decrease the pollution, but it would be very hard to just jump in and hope that the public puts up with it. There would be uproar just on a plastic bag ban, let alone jumping into other pollution helping bans that will affect our everyday lives a lot more. People need to have time to get used to the idea of living without certain things that are a big part of their daily routines. That’s just human nature. But after living without for a while, they’ll start to realize that it isn’t that bad and losing more wouldn’t hurt them as much as they thought. So no, i don’t think that we can just jump into these big changes, at least without a huge uproar.