Biologist in Costa Rica sees 10-year anti-straw fight spotlighted after Trump order

The Manila Times

Biologist in Costa Rica sees 10-year anti-straw fight spotlighted after Trump order   The efforts to end disposable plastics will remain despite President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of plastic straws, a marine conservation biologist based in Costa Rica said on Feb. 11, 2025 about the movement she contributed to raising 10 years ago. The German biologist Christine Figgener went viral in 2015 when she posted a video she filmed of her team removing a plastic straw lodged in a sea turtle’s nostril in the Costa Rican waters. Her testimony contributed to raising awareness of the need to ban single-use plastics to limit the harms inflicted on wildlife. Since then, many countries have passed such regulations including France in 2021 and India in 2022. Yet, a Trump order signed on Feb. 11 backtracking efforts to end the use of disposable plastic products on federal lands by 2032 has put the anti-plastic straw campaign in the spotlight again.   REUTERS / CHRISTINE FIGGENER HANDOUT   Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein    #TheManilaTimes  #tmtnews  #costarica  #antistraw

Transcript

00:00Well, I really hope that all the other countries that have also banned single-use plastics,

00:22not just plastic straws, will not follow suit of what the Americans are doing, what the

00:27US Americans do.

00:29And I don't think they will, because I think there are so many people in this world that

00:32really care about our environment, there is so much awareness that has been created in

00:36the past 10 years, and there's also something called consumer demand.

00:42And I don't think that we will get back to where we were 10 years ago, thank God, because

00:47I really think that the video, for example, that I published with a sea turtle that had

00:51a plastic straw lodged in its nose, was helping that people understood that even just one

00:58tiny piece of plastic can cause a lot of pain and suffering.

01:02Mr. Surgeon.

01:03Well, we're shortly after that actually cutting off a piece and investigating it, and then

01:12we're like, wow, that's plastic.

01:13So the executive order that was signed is, of course, right now just for plastic straws.

01:20But the thing is, with plastic straws, it is one item of single-use plastics, which

01:25is a massive problem.

01:27We already have a plastic crisis at hand.

01:29We have way too much plastic on our planet, we're producing more and more, and we're using,

01:36or we're overusing plastic, because it is a material that is meant for eternity, and

01:41we're using it for things, for example, to drink, which will only take a few seconds,

01:47and then it will last on our planet forever.

01:57So the thing is that we've been trying really hard for the past 10 years to, well, really

02:03create awareness amongst people how dangerous plastic is, not just for wildlife, but also

02:09for us humans, human health as well.

02:12And so it's just also the symbolic meaning of the executive order, that really the government

02:19right now is not really caring about the environment, not caring about human health, and it's a

02:24little bit silly, really, to go for the plastic straws, because there's so many other things,

02:29you know, I think that are way more important right now.

02:44Now that we're studying plastic, we know that plastic is also very dangerous for us humans.

02:50We have found plastic in our brains, we have found plastic in the testicles of men, and

02:56we know they're causing cancer, we know they are, well, creating problems with our hormones,

03:02and so all of that, you know, even if you don't care about sea turtles or our ocean,

03:07we should care about human health, and I really think that caring for our environment should

03:11not be a political issue, really.

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