ZHOU Jinfeng: Participating in “Reduce and Pick up Plastics”, and Becoming a "Prepared Person" | Preface to "China's Green Code for China vs. Plastics"

The book "China's Green Code for China vs. Plastics" was co-authored by Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation(CBCGDF), Zhejiang Ecological Environment Publicity and Education Center, Hangzhou Chemical Research Institute and other units, and was officially published by China Social Sciences Press in November 2024, bringing readers a series of systematic thinking about understanding plastic knowledge, understanding plastic problems, and dealing with plastic pollution.

Dr. ZHOU Jinfeng, an academician of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences (WAAS) and president of the World Academy of Sustainable Development Sciences, was invited to write the preface for this book. The content of the preface is now organized and shared as follows for readers.

Microplastics, from being first discovered in Arctic ice cores to human blood clots, to the latest international research finding that each liter of bottled water contains up to 240,000 nanoplastic particles, every study on the plastic problem always refreshes our cognition.

Because it is so shocking, whenever the “Reduce and Pick up Plstics” Working Group" of the CBCGDF releases these latest international and domestic research results, there are always many people asking me "Is this true?", and my answer often makes the questioner's hope shattered, because in our daily life, in rivers, lakes and seas, plastic is everywhere. This is obviously an imminent and severe challenge for some natural mineral water production companies, because the plastic problem is making us gradually change from "nature's porters" to "plastic porters" in nature.

Due to the large-scale production and application of plastic products, and the subsequent plastic waste, microplastics - a kind of plastic particles with a diameter of only nanometers and micrometers that are difficult to degrade - have become a new type of pollutant and one of the main pollution carriers all over the world.

Compared with conventional pollutants, new pollutants represented by microplastics, in addition to serious harm and wide range, also have the characteristics of hidden risks, difficult to degrade, wide sources, difficult emission reduction and substitution, and many fields involved. They are the pain points and difficulties to be solved in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Some people may say that it is not objective to talk about harm without considering the dose. Although microplastics have been proven to be widely present, they still need to reach a certain concentration to be harmful to the human body. This view is not wrong, but it is obvious that he ignores the dimension of time. With the accumulation of time, plastics are bound to bring about qualitative changes in human health. We should not and cannot have any fluke mentality about this.

People cannot do without plastics in food, clothing, housing, transportation, big things and small things. Plastics have gone from being an amazing scientific invention to becoming a prominent global crisis, and they also carry many stories. This book has a detailed account of this, which you can see in the corresponding chapters. Here, I would like to emphasize that in the face of these realistic problems, finding corresponding solutions is the core that we need to invest more attention in.

At present, people are still in a state of weakness in dealing with a series of problems caused by plastics. During the writing stage of this book, the United Nations is holding frequent meetings to deal with the plastic crisis, hoping to promote the introduction of the "Plastic Treaty" as soon as possible; World Earth Day has set the theme of 2024 as "Global Fight Against Plastics", hoping that more people will pay attention to the environmental pollution caused by plastics. The fundamental solution to the plastic problem is inseparable from two aspects: reducing the use of plastic and reducing the environmental pollution caused by plastic, which is what we often call reducing plastic and picking up plastic.

How to "reduce plastics"? How to "pick up plastics"?

I think it can be understood in this way: reducing plastic covers the entire process of production, processing, and use, including government policy-making, scientific research and technology, corporate low-carbon transformation, green consumption guidance, etc. These measures can fundamentally alleviate the plastic problem; picking up plastic focuses more on taking positive measures to deal with the plastic hazards that have already occurred, such as widely mobilizing the masses to launch a people's fight against plastic, starting with plastic waste discarded in scenic spots, plateaus, fields, rivers and other ecosystems, and carrying out garbage collection actions to clean up our earth.

“Reduce and Pick up Plastics”are also closely related and mutually influential unity. For example, although the people's fight against plastic is mainly based on the participation of the general public in plastic collection activities, in these scattered specific activities, we can sort out the big data such as the company products and brands that form plastic waste, the proportion of different types of garbage, the concentrated areas of garbage distribution, and the age of participants in the action. These data can form a detailed and accurate report on the fight against plastics, help local governments better understand the key points of plastic governance, and allow enterprises as producers of plastic products to better extend their environmental responsibilities. They will also play an important role in promoting the better response of human beings to the plastic crisis.

Of course, in addition to the stories and excellent cases of fighting plastics listed in this book, I believe there must be more good methods and stories of fighting plastics waiting for us to explore. I think this is also an important purpose of compiling this book - to use a single insight to be a brick to guide jade and cultivate the flowers of fighting plastics.

There is no doubt that the plastic problem will become more and more prominent, and it may be closely related to individual lifestyles, academic research, and even work. When a crisis comes, it is often accompanied by opportunities. Open this book, through early learning, early participation, and early research, to deeply understand the challenges we face today and the ideas for dealing with challenges, so that you can become a "prepared person".

I hope this book can help you.

Original Chinese article:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uusPNO689-LeD-Xl9w0qqg

Translator: Daisy

Reviewed by Sara

Editor: Daisy

Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

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