I took this photo near my Hanoi office. No, this is not litter, although there’s plenty of that to go around; it’s one way that garbage is disposed of in the nation’s cities. Throw it to the curb and the street cleaners will pick it up and put it in their mobile bins. From there everything will go into a garbage truck and be transported to a landfill, one of two methods of trash disposal. Speaking of landfills, Vietnam has a population of 100 million and is just a tad larger than the US state of New Mexico. You do the math.

The other main “method” of waste disposal is burning, including plastic, which “releases toxic gases like dioxins, furans, mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (better known as BCPs) into the atmosphere, and poses a threat to vegetation, and human and animal health,” according to the UN Environment Programme.

Now let’s have a look at the lifespan of the items in this photo.

Styrofoam: At least 500 years

Plastic cups: 450 years

Plastic bags: 20 years

Each of these items releases toxic chemicals into the environment. Take the four items you see on the street and multiply that by millions each and every day and you get a glimpse of the damage we’re doing to the environment.

Every time I buy something at a nearby convenience store, I always have to say, “No need for the (plastic) bag.” I either put the item(s) into my pocket or a reusable (!) bag.

Shalom (שלום), MAA