Microplastic found In Human Poop For The First Time: And The Role Of Crypto To Fight It

On a recent experiment conducted by Philipp Schwabl (lead researcher), participants aged 33 to 65, from Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, United Kingdom and Austria, were asked to keep a food diary for a week. After a week, they provided a stool for testing, and all samples were tested positive for microplastic.

If you're wondering how microplastic looks like:

Yes, that microbeads you see in your toothpaste is one example of microplastic.

Microplastic also looks like this.

Cases of microplastics have been found and documented several times on bird species and fish species. To wonder how we're not exempted from it is utter foolishment.

Annually, eight million tons of plastic waste that range from macro to microplastic goes to the ocean, whereas an estimated of 10,000 to 100,000 tons of plastic are on the surface water. Meanwhile, the total global plastic waste is 275 MILLION TONS.

What Each Country is Doing to Combat Plastic

• Indonesian start-up Indonesia Evoware sells products commercially such as cups made from farmed seaweeds. This is called bioplastic. Big brands such as Coca Cola have been using bioplastic in their packaging as well.
• The toughest plastic ban goes to Kenya. Anyone in Kenya who’s found using, producing, or selling a plastic bag faces up to four years in jail, or a $38,000 fine.
• Rwanda has banned the use of plastic completely for six years now which can possibly make it as the first plastic - free nation.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India vows the complete abolishment of all single-use plastic by 2022.
• Ireland was the first country to place a significant tax on plastic bags (22 cents) checkout in 2002.
• Taiwan will ban single-use plastic drinking straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils entirely by 2030
• The Philippines has Zero Waste Program that enforces households to segregate their wastes properly. Part of this Zero Waste program is "no segragation, no collection" policy.

The Role of Crypto

Have you ever bought Mr. Kleen? Its manufacturing company, SC Johnson, has joined effort with Plastic Bank in recycling plastic in Indonesia. People who recycle will be paid in digital token.

Its first facility was officially opened in Bali on Oct. 28, 2018 with all of the remaining 7 centers is expected to be operational by May 2019.

Another blockchain-powered waste management coin is swachhcoin managed by Swachhcoin foundation.

As stated in their website:

Swachhcoin Foundation is a non profit organization whose primary objective is to work extensively to overhaul the waste management sector by acting as a complete technology developer and service provider in this domain. Swachhcoin will make the existing waste management industries as efficient and capable as possible so that they become technologically and otherwise able to tackle the imminent waste management crisis the world faces at this very moment.

These creative ideas can encourage more people from various countries to follow through and can lead to viewing crypto and blockhain as useful in tackling world problems in general.

So here's my attempt on how we can make use of crypto in saving the environment.

1. Create a website where people get paid in crypto for recycling. They snap a photo as a proof and they get paid in return.

2. Sell bokashi balls and accept payment using crypto. Bokashi was invented by Japanese to clean filthy ponds. It is made from molasses, rice hulls, and garden soil. The funds raised will be used to make more bokashi or set up a community vegetable garden.

3. Write to the politicians in your country to tax the use of plastic or adopt using bioplastic altogether. Better yet, create an online petition about it.

Do you have your own idea on how we can use crypto in getting rid of plastic or protecting the environment in general? Do let me know in the comment section.

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This article was originally posted on Yours.

About

Yaki writes and makes artworks about anything that interests her. She's one of those people who think that the second law of thermodynamics is a bit depressing, although she claims to be contributing to entropy since birth. She likes hunting and playing around with not-yet-mainstream, privacy-oriented apps. On her spare time, she likes laying down and consuming non-fiction books.

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