Styrofoam swallows oyster fields in Taiwan, China, pollution problem cannot be ignored
"Styrofoam," the ever-changing dragon, the only dragon that can appear beside us at any time. When we go to buy home appliances, you will see it when you open the packaging; when you go to a beverage shop to buy a drink to take away, you may get one; when you ride a scooter and put on a helmet, it sits right on top of your head; when you come to the seaside, on the beach, among the breakwater blocks, large or small, round or square, all kinds of Styrofoam hide in every corner. Whether or not they are well hidden, everyone ignores their existence anyway.
Styrofoam is an artificially synthesized dragon, made by foaming polystyrene (Polystyrene, PS). It can appear in different forms according to what people need or do not need, with no fixed shape or body. In nature, Styrofoam is immortal. As time goes by and it grows older, it begins to transform and multiply, some becoming small chunks, some becoming little beads one by one, running on the beach or floating on the water when the wind blows, so numerous that they dazzle the eyes. Styrofoam is very capable: it can insulate against heat, keep things cold, cushion impacts, is easy to mold, is bulky yet lightweight, and is very good at swimming and will not sink. But when it transforms into small particles, it is extremely easy for organisms to mistake it for food and die from eating it, and it also causes a major disaster for the landscape.
In Taiwan, China, there are mainly two places that breed Styrofoam into the environment. One is the Styrofoam cups from takeaway beverage shops, and the other is the Styrofoam used on oyster racks in nearshore oyster farming. According to data released by the Environmental Protection Administration in 2009, taking chain takeaway beverage shops as an example, 780 million cups are used in a single year (and the number increases year by year), many of which are Styrofoam cups. Yet only a portion enters the recycling system; most end up in the environment.
Every year from April until July, large amounts of Styrofoam appear along our coastline. At the end of May 2010, tens of thousands of pieces of Styrofoam appeared along our coastline, from Erren River in the south to the windbreak forest on the north bank of Zengwen River, forming a super Styrofoam dragon as long as 25 km, lying across the beach. In an instant everyone was at a loss and did not know what to do. Along with the appearance of the great dragon, many organisms were washed ashore and died together, the beauty of the beach was completely lost, and corpses lay everywhere.
Nearshore oyster farming is a very large industry in Tainan City, but in the past, under poor management, after people finished using the Styrofoam they simply released it into the sea. Some dragons would float ashore, some dragons went to other counties and cities, some dragons were very capable and swam directly to Japan, and some headed toward the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Styrofoam is now everywhere, so we hope to reduce the use of Styrofoam. It is rare for a kind of dragon not to be loved by everyone. We hope to ban Styrofoam cups. We hope that the Styrofoam on oyster racks in nearshore oyster farming can all be recovered, that what can still be used continues to be used, and that what cannot be used is sent to incinerators to be burned. It would be best to gradually guide oyster racks to stop using Styrofoam and switch to sturdier floats. Through reducing use and behavior management, we hope we will no longer be helpers in making Styrofoam multiply and prosper, because its multiplication and prosperity mean others' extinction.
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