It is urgent to change the model of production and forms of consumption

In view of the impact of plastic on the environment and human health, it is urgent to change the production model and forms of consumption, said Costa Rican Ana Baez, president of Tourism and Conservation Consultants SA, a company that has been working for Latin America and especially for Cuba for more than 30 years.

The PhD in Sciences explained that it is very easy to acquire any object that solves us now without thinking about its production cost and destiny after its use, especially when in the middle of the sea waters there is a sixth continent, due to the waste accumulated at 15 or 38 meters deep.

According to recent scientific publications, the environment suffers from the disposal of millions of tons of plastic, decomposed into tiny particles and fibers that, at less than five millimeters, do not biodegrade, that is, the well-known microplastics are damaging every corner of the planet.

These small pieces arise from the erosion and fragmentation of larger plastics, tires, clothing or paint or come directly from different medical and hygiene articles (detergents, gels, toothpastes) or cosmetics and have the capacity to produce various harmful effects on the health of animals and humans.

Baez explained that because of the degradation process, a large amount of these particles are found on the surface of the oceans, lakes and rivers, and when they evaporate in the air, they enter the atmosphere as part of the precipitation.

The rain that we use, from the policy of utilization, is applied to crops, whose products are certified 100% organic for export, the importing country, when analyzing the product, rejects it because in its traceability it was found to contain microplastics, he said.

We need, as scientists, to transform our knowledge to communicate without alarming, in order to build multisectorial and multidisciplinary alliances that contribute to the reduction of all contributions to climate change, Baez suggested during his visit last September to the Isle of Youth.

She commented that the climate crisis is not only for scholars, nor for the economies of the planet, it is about ensuring the existence of human beings, no matter if they are philosophers, writers, politicians, economists or biologists, we are all going to be affected equally. We should all be acting much more responsibly.

This is a signal for action, every time we buy glasses, straws, drink from plastic cups, let us ask ourselves where they will end up, because they will surely end up in our bodies, therefore, the only ones responsible for transforming this reality into a positive one are us in order to have a better world, she said.