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tv   Global 3000  LINKTV  February 15, 2014 10:00am-10:31am PST

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>> hello and welcome to "global 3000." let's imagine for one moment a world without plastic. if you too are struggling to do that, that's because within only a few decades plastic has replaced many other materials, making our lives easier and more convenient, but also creating new problems. and that's what we're focusing on today. here's what's coming up. back to paper -- we meet a ugandan who is building his future on the comeback of the paper bag. we hear from the singaporean mp who wants to share her country's fortunes with its neighbours.
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and saving the source of the blue nile -- efforts to preserve ethiopia's lake tana. hand on your heart -- how many plastic bags do you use every week? the fact that most of us can hardly remember highlights the problem we're facing. of course, they are cheap and incredibly convenient. but our thoughtlessness in using plastic has already swollen into a big rubbish problem -- one that gets worse every day. here's a look some facts that will likely make us think twice next time a shop assistant asks us whether we would like a bag. every day, people the world over use plastic shopping bags. they are lightweight, hardwearing, and often come for free. but how harmful are plastic bags to the climate?
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every year more than 600 billion plastic bags are manufactured worldwide. 4% of the crude oil consumed globally every year ends up in plastic bags. but oil is a fossil fuel and supplies of this precious resource are depleting. manufacturing and shipping plastic bags requires large amounts of energy and also causes 60 mmillion tons of co2 emissions every year. on average, plastic bags are in use for just 25 minutes. they are then thrown away. few of them are recycled. most plastic bags end up in rivers, on the streets, or in the ocean.
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some countries have banned plastic bags entirely, while in others it is illegal to give them away for free. >> of course, consumers are sensitive when it gets to their hard-earned cash. and that was proved once again when ireland became the first country to introduce a levy on plastic bags more than a decade ago. sure enough, this tax saw a 90% reduction in plastic bags. uganda has gone even further and banned those thin bags we all know from the grocery store. and that's what a young entrepreneur sees as his chance to set up a big business. >> plastic bags have long been banned in uganda, but in the suburbs of kampala, they're still littering the ground. andrew mupuya wants to change that. he's 21 years old. five years ago, he founded his own company with 15 co-workers, he makes paper bags. the young entrepreneur comes
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from humble circumstances. he earned his start-up capital all by himself. >> i collected used plastic bottles. then i mobilised my fellow students in school and we collected over 70 kilograms, and i sold them to the recycling plant. when people saw me collecting those plastic bottles, they thought i might have gone mad. but i knew what i was doing. >> that start-up capital amounted to 12 dollars. now he sells yeli paper bags all over uganda. his customers are small shops and pharmacies. the market developed rapidly. andrew mupuya now produces 20,000 paper bags a week by hand. the simplest bags are folded in 9 steps. the most complicated take 32. mupuya can't afford machines.
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he buys his paper in kenya. the young men are entirely self- taught. >> i had to watch youtube videos of people making bags by hand in india. then that's how i learned to make it. and then i made a sample. i took it to the supermarkets and shops, and then they were interested in it and then they gave me orders. >> when he's not at the company, andrew mupuya studies economics at kampala university, where he also recruits new co-workers. he says the country offers great potential for young entrepreneurs like him. >> the entrepreneurial character is quite new in uganda. and a few are adopted it, because it sounds not easy for someone to be studying while enterprising at the same time.
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>> no risk, no gain, and he has won plenty of awards with his venture. his plans are quite ambitious. >> i want to be the biggest paperback producer worldwide. so i still have a long way to go. and to build up a bigger plant that is able to supply paper bags all over the world. but i started small. i will go step-by-step. and i believe i will make it. >> there is certainly a market in uganda. many supermarkets and shops have yet to introduce paperbacks. yeli paper bags can scarcely keep up with demand. and andrew mupuya is already negotiating. he wants to buy paper bag making machines abroad when he gets the loan he is hoping for. >> after all of that -- after all, that is what banking is supposedly about, providing capital for businesses to develop.
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we wish andrew luck come about our planet will need more than that to stomach the amount of plastic waste already circulating, literally, in our oceans. and from there what used to be our grocery bag can eventually even land on our dinner table. xp sees are a giant garbage dump. estimates say there are more than 140 million tons of plastic waste floating around in the world's oceans. through the action of ocean currents, five huge plastic islands have formed around the globe. they are not always visible on the surface, because most of the plastic sinks into the lower layers of water. and it does not biodegrade. >> it is estimated that it will take several hundred years for plastic bags to decompose. that means that all the plastic that has ended up in the oceans so far is still there. >> plastic only weathers or breaks into increasingly smaller
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particles. these microparticles are especially troublesome for ocean fauna and, as a result, for humans. it is why scientists are researching the effects of plastic waste on a variety of organisms. in the process, lars gutow discovered these iso-pods have fewer problems than many. this has to do with their specialized digestive systems. but a look at other creatures shows dramatic consequences. take gulls, for instance. scientists have examined the stomachs of dead gulls and found large pieces of plastic waste in them. some gulls simply starved to death. >> this waste accumulates in their stomachs and induces a feeling of fullness in the birds, so that they no longer feel hungry, and they stop eating. >> there are projects in which scientists, activists, and even
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fishermen collect ocean waste. but debris from fishing, such as nets that have been thrown overboard or lost in the water, is just part of the problem. most of the waste is not thrown into the ocean. it drifts there from the land. 80%, according to one estimate, is carried into the oceans by rivers and the wind. there are initiatives worldwide to collect waste on the beaches before it gets into the ocean. >> we can't remove the waste that's already in the oceans. of course we can collect trash on the beach. but in view of the size of the oceans and the amount of waste that is in them, it is mission impossible. >> instead, lars gutow is pinning his hopes on the future. last it has to be avoided or become so expensive that collecting and recycling it to come profitable.
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>> i always compare it with scrap metal. if you leave it outside your door in the evening, the next morning it is guaranteed to be gone, because it fetches good money. and if we got similar prices for plastic, i am convinced many people would go out and collect it. >> in addition, we all have to be more aware that plastic is a problem. educating children and teenagers, as here in the baby a -- in namibia is a good place to start. >> about time to give our kids that pep talk on what to do with plastic waste. and as we saw in that report, plenty of bits of plastic chairs are also floating in our oceans. like no other plastic product, except the plastic bags of
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course, a so-called monobloc chairs epitomize the plastic revolution of our society. at less than three euros production cost, they are cheap, convenient, and some even say sheikh. judge for yourself. >> this is henning wotzel- herber. he lives in hamburg and is partial to chairs. more precisely, the monobloc c hair. >> plastic chairs are basically like people. all people are alike but different. and all plastic chairs are alike but different. they have different shapes, colors, and sizes, and in the end, they are somehow all the same. >> a chair has to have specific characteristics to be considered a monobloc. it has to be injection molded and made of polypropylene. these plastic chairs have been produced the world over since the 1970's. their exact origin is vague.
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a patent was never applied for. some people assume they originated in france. others in italy or the u.s. two reasons explain their success. they are light and they are stackable. >> the plastic chair is definitely a global object. whether it is an object of globalization is not seriously disputed. that is not why it is so fascinating, provides an excellent opportunity to collect pictures of plastic chairs from all over the world. >> weather in norway, cuba, or a workplace in rwanda, plastic chairs are everywhere, in all sorts of colors. henning wotzel-herber now runs two websites, both of which are devoted only to the monobloc. he has collected photographs, stories, videos, and music.
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>> on plasticchair.org, any photo by anyone is welcome. there are still enough blank spots on the map where i do not yet have a plastic chair picture. and i would like to change that. >> with more than a billion monoblocks out there, the plastic chair is now the most commonly-found piece of furniture in the world, whether you like it or not. >> undeniably value for money, that maybe the wrong value there. asean, the association of southeast asian nations, is the fastest-growing economic region in the world, that there is a lot of disparity among its members. we caught up with the singaporean parliamentarian penny low, who has been named a young global leader by the world economic forum. she says it is about time that her country starts sharing its wealth with its neighbors.
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just turn out a good leader by sending them to a good business school or good government schools thomas and the leader would appear. i think it has got to go back to reinforcing a value system in the society. where is the world heading? and of course a few strong, good, ethical leaders to also become the role model. i have been a hitchhiker before. so having been on the roads for 1.5, two years, being helped by so many people, when i came back, the first thing on my mind was, how can i be a useful citizen? how can i contribute back to people?
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my name is penny low. i am a member of parliament from singapore and also the founder of the social innovation park. so the idea really is to get people into conversation and action. so it is not just a think tank. it is a do tank. world. so some people call it the engine of growth of the world today. so obviously any country that is within asia will have the great opportunity to grow along with it.
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small little country in the context of the world that is devoid of any resources underground, has to rely on what is above ground, which is our human capital. we also have to make ourselves relevant, at least economically, to the rest of the world, so that we can then continue to bring investments into the country. where we have reached a certain level of wealth, then we have got to think about how we can now enrich our neighbors.
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how can we now in all those around us? -- empower all those around us? any years ago, when myanmar suffered from the cyclone nargis, singapore was one of the first to extend a helping hand. it is not just about helping. it is about understanding each other and moving together. solutions from 10,000 miles away. look at what is in the community already existing. perhaps they are not doing that as efficiently. or they are lacking in the resources, whether it be a lack
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of access to finance, a lack of access to demand, a lack of access to market. i think we have to think in terms of prospering the neighbors and prospering together. and as a political leader, my role is to continue this sort of value system and to ensure again that the next generation doesn't just become a me-me-me generation, the one that understands there is a small meet but there is a big we. -- a small me, but there is a big we. >> thousands of birds flying south during the european winter had for lake donna -- in ethiopia. it is the source of the blue nile and has a unique ecosystem. more than 2/3 of its fish can only be found there. several of the lakes islands also host ancient orthodox monasteries.
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at the region's resources are under threat. a german conservation group is trying to help. >> the fishermen on lake tana start at 6:00 in the morning. it is the best time of day for them. >> i love my work. i am happiest when i start to finish in the morning. i am alone on the lake, i'm out in the fresh air, and it is just dutiful. -- beautiful. >> others have formed collectives and have already finished catching fish by 10:00 in the morning. fishing, but the stocks are threatened.
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>> we have noticed that the fish stocks are dwindling. there is no one structuring who is allowed to fish, and when. nobody observes the fishing season. until now, people have faced whenever they wanted to, and as much as they could. that is why the stocks are diminishing. >> and the fish cannot spawn in peace anymore. the shores of the lake are in danger. the fishermen still cut papyrus to build their boats, as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. the german nature and biodiversity conservation union wants to preserve the area. it does not want to destroy traditions, but it does want people to change their ways. >> more than 3 million people are dependent on the lake. our government is also investing
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too much money, trusting lake tana exists. we have hydropower investments in this part of lake tana. more than 70,000 hectares of land is being considered for investment, for agriculture. all of this is planned assuming lake tana is there, so it is very important. millions of people's lives are at stake, so protecting lake tana is crucial. >> but the people need the land to survive. termers cultivate fields up to the water's edge, under the simplest of conditions, to the displeasure of conservationists, because birds from europe, like these cranes, spent part of the year there. >> it is one of the most important bird areas, i said, because most, more than 50% of the migratory birds, especially common cranes, come and stay here during the winter season in europe. >> the first photographers are already on hand to watch the spectacle.
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the nature and biodiversity union wants to encourage farmers to develop ecotourism. for the locals, that is new territory. >> what do they say whenever they see some your appearance -- some europeans coming to their field and trying to observe the birds? and they say it is a bit strange for them, because they do not know what is so special about the birds of the moment. and i was trying to explain to them how we can link it to ecotourism, how we can benefit, the youth especially, the young ones who are landless. >> there are not any paved roads in the villages. there is just no infrastructure yet. the only place nature protection is doing well so far is in what is known as "church forests" on more than 30 islands. many animal species live in the trees. the forests are well protected,
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because they mean everything to the faithful. the last surviving 14th-century ethiopian orthodox monasteries can be found here. there are hardly any tourists, but plenty of pristine nature, which the coptic monks care for personally. we have here all sorts of different species of monkeys, wild boar, birds. they all live with us in the forest. >> the monk shows us his pride and joy. >> this tree is very important to us. it is very old and highly resistant to answer. it is my -- two -- resistant to ants. it is my favorite tree.
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>> the centuries-old trees are not the only reason the islands are important for nature protection. the banks and rivers that flow into the lake provide unimportant face for fish to spawn. >> the fishes here in lake tana are a bit different. i do spawning or they breed in the tributaries of lake tana, and during this breeding time they go to the river miles of lake tana. there are around 66 rivers that are feeding like -- lake tana, but four of them are major rivers. and in these river mouths we are there are around 66 rivers that are feeding zones are fishes can easily breed and can return to the lake. >> only when the fish stocks recover will the people near the lake have a livelihood. gebeye tegenge feels it firsthand. >> we have to protect our lake. if things go on like this, it will be disastrous. five years ago, i could earn 500
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birr a day. now it is just 150, because there are fewer and fewer fish. >> everyone can profit from nature protection. >> we have to learn to work with the authorities to protect diversity here, because the fish stocks can recover only if we have regulated fishing seasons. and only then can we secure our work in the long term, and then export more to the international markets. >> until now, people have done too little to protect lake tana. that could change if the region becomes an official nature protection area. >> and that look at lake tana brings us to the end of this week's edition. you not forget you can always find us online. things for watching, and goodbye. -- thanks for watching, and goodbye.
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captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--ññ
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