吸管之战：歼灭海洋废弃塑料

劳拉·帕克

Of the eight million tons of plastic trash that flow every year into the world’s oceans， the plastic drinking straw is surely not a top contributor to all that tonnage1.

Yet this small， slender2 tube， utterly unnecessary for most beverage consumption， is at the center of a growing environmental campaign aimed at convincing people to stop using straws to help save the oceans.

Small and lightweight， straws often never make it into recycling bins; the evidence of this failure is clearly visible on any beach. And although straws amount to a tiny fraction3 of ocean plastic， their size makes them one of the most insidious4 polluters because they entangle5 marine animals and are consumed6 by fish. Video of scientists removing a straw embedded7 in a sea turtle’s nose went viral8 in 2015.

“If you have the opportunity to make this choice and not to use a plastic straw， this can help keep this item off our beaches and raise awareness on plastic in the ocean，” says Jenna Jambeck， the University of Georgia engineering professor whose ground-breaking9 2015 study was the first measurement of how much plastic debris10 enters the ocean every year.

Straws are the latest on an expanding list of individual plastic products being banned， taxed， or boycotted in an effort to curb seaborn plastic trash before it outweighs fish， a calculation projected11 to come true by 2050， according to one study.

Last fall， California became the first state in the nation to ban plastic bags， joining a host of nations that already do so， including Kenya， China， Bangladesh， Rwanda， and Macedonia. France not only banned plastic bags， it has become the first country to also ban plastic plates， cups， and utensils12， beginning in 2020. San Francisco banned polystyrene， including Styrofoam cups and food containers， packaging peanuts， and beach toys. And in Rhode Island， the release of celebratory balloons is being targeted by activists， after almost 2，200 balloons were picked up on the shores of Aquidneck Island13 in the last four years.

The plastics industry opposes bans at every turn14. Bag manufacturers have persuaded lawmakers in Florida， Missouri， Idaho， Arizona， Wisconsin， and Indiana to pass legislation outlawing15 the bag bans.

Keith Christman， managing director for plastic markets for the American Chemistry Council， says the industry also will oppose any efforts to outlaw plastic straws.

Bans of individual products often come with “unintended consequences，” Christman argues. Replacement products can cause more environmental harm than plastic products there were banned， he says. In some cases， products advertised as biodegradable16 sometimes turn out not to be. Worse， consumer behavior sometimes changes. When San Francisco banned Styrofoam products， he says， an audit of litter showed that while Styrofoam cup litter dropped， paper cup litter increased.

“What we really need is good waste management structure in countries that are the largest source of this challenge，” he says. “Rapidly developing countries in Asia don’t have that structure.”

What sets the anti-straw campaign apart from other efforts—and why the anti-straw campaign may succeed—is that activists are not seeking to change laws or regulations. They are merely asking consumers to change their habits and say no to straws.

Once found mostly in soda fountains17 of the 1930s， straws have become one of the most ubiquitous18 unnecessary products on the planet. No global usage figures exist， but Americans alone use 500 million straws daily， according to the National Park Service. Except for people with medical needs， straws are not needed to consume beverages or water.

“Ten years ago， straws weren’t everywhere. It used to be at a bar， you’d get a straw. Now you order a damn glass of ice water and they put a straw in it，” says Douglas Woodring， founder of the Ocean Recovery Alliance， a Hong Kong-based group that is working to reduce ocean trash. “Part of it， I suspect， came from people’s fear of germs.”

If fear of germs drove the straw use globally into the billions， the eight-minute video of a four-inch section of straw being removed from a Costa Rican sea turtle’s nostril may have turned the tide19. The video is painful to watch， and has been viewed more than 11 million times on YouTube.

Linda Booker， a North Carolina filmmaker， whose documentary， Straws， is making the rounds of the spring film festival circuit20 in the United States， says the turtle video， in part， inspired her to take on straws as a film project. She interviewed the scientists and included them in her film.

“I believe a lot of the catalyst for these straw campaigns was the video of the straw in the turtle’s nose，” she says.

全世界每年都會有800万吨塑料垃圾漂流入海。其中，塑料吸管并非占比最大。

在饮用大多数饮料时，并不需要这种纤细的小管子。而日益增多的环保运动却将目光聚焦在这种小管子上，这些运动旨在倡导人们不用吸管，保护海洋环境。

由于吸管又小又轻，通常它们不会被扔进回收箱。无论在哪片海滩，这种情形都随处可见。虽然在海洋塑料垃圾中，吸管只是总量的冰山一角，但是，纤细的外形却使得它们成为众多海洋污染物中最为致命的潜在“杀手”之一。因为它们可以将海洋动物团团缠绕，鱼类还可能将它们吞入腹中。2015年，科学家们从海龟鼻子中拔出吸管的一段视频就曾走红。

同年，佐治亚大学工程专业教授詹娜·詹贝克进行了一项开创性的研究，首次测定了每年流入海洋中塑料垃圾的数量。她说：“如果能够选择不用塑料吸管，便可以使海滩免受吸管污染，并加强人们对海洋塑料污染的防范意识。”

一项研究预测，到2050年，海洋中塑料垃圾的重量将会超过鱼类的重量。为防止此事的发生，人们制订了一份扩展清单，对塑料消费品采取禁止、征税以及抵制等措施，吸管是最新列入此单的。

去年秋天，加利福尼亚州率先在美国禁止使用塑料袋。在此之前，很多国家（包括肯尼亚、中国、孟加拉国、卢旺达和马其顿）就已经实施了禁令。另外，法国不仅禁止使用塑料袋，还将于2020年成为第一个禁止使用塑料盘子、杯子和其他塑料器皿的国家。旧金山也禁止使用聚苯乙烯制品，其中包括泡沫聚苯乙烯杯和食品容器、包装用填充物和沙滩玩具。还有罗德岛，在过去四年中，人们在罗德岛海岸边捡到了将近2200个气球！所以后来，当地一些激进分子会针对那些释放庆祝气球的行为进行抨击。

然而，塑料加工企业却三番五次地反对这些禁令。并且塑料袋生产商们已经说服佛罗里达州、密苏里州、爱达荷州、亚利桑那州、威斯康星州和印第安纳州的立法工作者通过立法来取消“禁塑令”。

美国化学理事會塑料市场部执行总监基思·克里斯特曼表示，塑料行业也将反对任何试图取缔塑料吸管的行为。

克里斯特曼认为，对个别产品实施禁令，通常会带来“意想不到的后果”。他说，和遭到禁止的塑料制品相比，它们的替代产品可能会对环境造成更大的伤害。在某些情况下，自诩为可生物降解的产品有时结果却和宣传信息大相径庭。更糟的是，有时消费者行为会发生改变。 他举例说，在旧金山禁止使用泡沫聚苯乙烯产品之后，检查垃圾问题时发现：虽然泡沫塑料杯的数量减少了，但是纸杯的数量却有所增加。

他补充道：“我们真正需要的是如何在废弃塑料泛滥的国家建立有效的垃圾管理架构。亚洲国家虽飞速发展，但这种框架却尚未建立起来。”

反吸管运动和其他运动的不同（当然也是该运动可能取得成功的原因）在于组织者并没有尝试着去修改法律或法规，而是仅仅倡导消费者改变消费习惯，抵制吸管。

上世纪30年代，吸管主要出现在冷饮店中。时至今日，它已遍布世界各地，但却成为世界上最无必要的一种产品。美国国家公园管理局称，虽然目前没有关于吸管的全球使用数据，但仅在美国，每天就消费掉5亿支吸管。实际上，除了有医疗需求的人外，不管是喝水还是其他饮料都用不上吸管。

位于香港的海洋复苏联盟是一家致力于减少海洋垃圾的组织，该组织创始人道格拉斯·伍德林说：“十年前，吸管还并不是随处可见。那时，如果你在酒吧消费的话，酒吧会给你一支吸管。但如今，即便你买一杯普通的冰水，服务员也会在杯子里放一支吸管。我想其中的一个原因大概来自于人们对于细菌的担忧。”

如果说，是人们对细菌的恐惧导致全球吸管的使用量达到数十亿的话，那么那段从哥斯达黎加海龟鼻孔中拔出四英寸吸管的八分钟视频，可能将会扭转这一局面。虽然观看这段视频会让人心如刀绞，但它在YouTube上已经被播放了超过1100万次。

目前，纪录片《吸管》正在美国春季电影节巡回演播，它的制片人是来自北卡罗莱纳州的琳达·布克。该制片人说，将吸管作为电影主题，部分灵感正是来自于那段海龟的视频。她采访了视频里的科学家，并将他们拍进了她的电影。

她说：“我认为海龟鼻孔里的那支吸管成了许多反吸管运动的催化剂。”

（译者单位：广西科技大学鹿山学院）