Personal anecdote: During a bad depressive time I saw a psychiatrist who enthusiastically prescribed serious antidepressant medications like they were M&M's. One to lift me up, one to help me sleep, one to take the edge off, one just in case an anxious episode occurred during the day, etc, etc. That kind of thing. And he said to me "There is still nothing I can prescribe you that is as effective as exercise."
I have a similar anecdote! Except mine ends with me becoming a marathon runner. I'm kinda glad none of the pills worked or else I might not have discovered the best natural anti-depressant.
The unfortunate thing is that often times when one is depressed, exercise is the the last thing on one's mind. And it also doesn't help that it can take a long time to have noticeable effects.
That's the most frustrating part of depression- You can have a nice protective mindset and habits carefully constructed and working great and then depression comes along and throws it all into darkness. You really have to work to keep pushing ahead and through it. I literally visualize putting one foot in front of the other to get through the hardest days.
I had a similar mindset change the last time I had a prolonged depressive episode. Usually, I would be either happy and productive and feel on top of the world, or I would feel like shit and do nothing.
My recent epiphany is a lot like "putting one foot in front of the other". It's mostly a change in values--instead of worrying so damn much about my own happiness, I just kind of thought, "I don't have to ENJOY being a high-functioning human being, but at least I can BE a high-functioning human being." Grim determination isn't really that much fun, but at least it breaks the part of the depressive spiral where you feel useless and your obligations continue to pile up.
The same happened to me, sort of. I never once had a psych say "You might try exercising to treat your depression." They would only prescribe medication. Then a few years ago my GP, who took over maintaining my prescriptions, asked me if I exercised regularly. I wasn't. So I started going 3 times a week, then 5-6, and I've been much less reliant on my medication to keep my spirits up. It's pretty shocking to me that this is neither a standard question psychs ask nor a suggested (additional) treatment modality.
China. Indonesia. Philippines. Vietnam. Sri Lanka. This chart says it all: https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting... They are everyone's oceans and these countries are disproportionately choking them with plastic. Blame must be focused on them for meaningful change to happen.
I'm a foreigner living in one of these countries and it is shocking how absolutely careless and ignorant the majority of the population is with their plastic waste. Tons and tons of it. I see it every day. First hand. They view waterways as trash cans. Formal waste management is rare. Ask a local where to throw a plastic bottle and they are more than likely going to point to the ground.
Doesn't China buy up a lot of US / EU plastic waste via recycling programmes? Are these numbers offset because once China buys the waste, they simply dump it? Are we knowingly selling our plastic waste to a state that will miss-manage it? I know China lately has stopped buying plastic waste from states.
The article that GP linked uses data from 2010. It might take longer than two years for the effect of China refusing the US's trash to actually make a change in media graphics.
So called "developed" countries were once similarly careless with their waste. And their developed status was a result of such carelessness and the free expansion of their industries. It seems slightly unfair to expect developing countries to achieve a similar level of development via a sustainable methodology immediately, when that has not been the path for the richest countries in the world. (Given that developing countries are likely more concerned about the health of their population, and as such, focused on raising GDP, then the health of the ocean). Skipping to sustainable-led development is not impossible and obviously would be hugely advantageous for all, but it is still equally unfair to assign blame to such countries and label them as careless.
So we should give all developing countries a pass on destroying the habitability of the planet because we used to be as bad ourselves when we didn't know better? While it may be 'fair', I don't think that's sustainable. Even if these countries eventually become 'developed' and start behaving better, there will be new countries that will become 'developed' to take their place, and we'll just keep having these issues over and over until it's too late.
We're already (collectively) fucking the ecosystems and wiping out tons of species of flora and fauna, and making the living situation of billions (and possibly trillions) of life forms on this planet more toxic and less comfortable all in the name of convenience and growth. And it seems like we're on a trajectory of only making things worse in the future.
We need to start doing something about it, the developed countries by being an example and by taking advantage of our desirable trade status by providing incentives (trade, foreign aid, whatever) for developing countries to clean up their act sooner than later.
I don't dispute that it is unsustainable. I agree with the sentiment of what you are saying (and did in the end of my comment) despite you strawmanning my comment. I was just making the point that assigning blame to current developing countries is unfair because blame should be equally apportioned to today's developed countries who, throughout their period of industrialisation, kicked off the anthropocene.
I mean... no where I personally traveled in Indonesia had trash service. Maybe Jakarta and Java do, IDK. But it’s REALLY common to just dump your trash behind your place and burn it. It’s just what you do.
Malaysia was better, but I’m sure people there and in Taiwan still burn trash.
Asking people who are still burning trash to recycle might be a step too far just yet.
Of course they have the ability to recycle. They even have the ability to be 100% sustainable (e.g. Costa Rica). My point was on the matter of anthropocene blame culture.
Specifically, heavy weights.