Dear Editor, Trash is being generated at phenomenal rates; climate change is happening and the world is heating up; old diseases are coming back while new ones keep being discovered; people are starving; the economy is having major problems. Are all these things interconnected? Can helping one help the other? How are trash, climate change, diseases, food and money related? Trash is pollution and many feel that is what is causing the global warming: if it is not the main cause it is certainly helping it along. Not just the gases generated by factories and automobiles, but also all the plastic rubbish, glass bottles, and Styrofoam containers. They help release toxins into the environment and this slows or destroys plant growth. Fewer plants, less things to absorb the CO2 and more green house gases mean a warmer planet. Trash in the sea has the same effect, decreasing the beneficial phytoplankton that stabilizes the atmosphere and seas. Trash is directly connected to the climate. What about disease and trash, something more complex than cockroaches and flies? Think about mosquitoes. They transmit Malaria, Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus, Ebola and at least 100 other diseases that all currently on the increase, and yes, mosquitoes are directly related to trash. This insect survived for millions of years by being incredibly prolific. It is a food supply for numerous species of fish as well as bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians and even other insects. It breeds in any standing water, but in ponds lakes and streams most larvae are eaten. In trash bottles and old car parts, nothing devours the nymphs. All survive, become adults and then need food so spread disease. The relationship between trash and food is also simple. As stated previously, poisons leach out and destroy or harm the plants, directly decreasing the food. In the sea, it harms sea life and lowers fish numbers that in some cases actually eat parasites. The parasites kill others and destroy coral reefs which are composed of Calcium Carbonates, raising carbon levels and the cycle continues. And that brings up trash and the economy! Less disease and more food would certainly make it easy and more affordable for most people. It would also mean fewer days lost due to illness and thus raise individual productivity. This would lower expenses and the money saved used to pay higher wages. Higher wages would then be either put in savings or spent. Higher savings would lower interest rates and more spending would both stimulate the economy. Trash has a lot of complex correlations and is connected to a lot of the world’s problems today. Trash does effect global warming; it does increase disease, it does decrease food, and it does hurt the economy. By cleaning up the trash, a lot of other problems could be cleaned up as well. Jim Johnson Whitehall, Nevis
