Beautiful Vacation Destinations Overtaken By Trash
Our planet is inhabited by more than seven billion people and grows by nearly 100,000 people a day. The World Bank estimates that three billion of our population lives in urban areas, and produces more than 1.3 billion tons of solid waste a year.
By 2025, the amount of waste we produce as a planet is set to exceed 2.2 billion metric tons a year, and by 2100 we will be churning out more than 11 million tons a day.
As a result many of our world’s most beautiful and historic destinations are being buried under mountains of trash that just can’t be disposed of at a fast enough rate. Here are some of the worst:
By 2025, the amount of waste we produce as a planet is set to exceed 2.2 billion metric tons a year, and by 2100 we will be churning out more than 11 million tons a day.
As a result many of our world’s most beautiful and historic destinations are being buried under mountains of trash that just can’t be disposed of at a fast enough rate. Here are some of the worst:
Maldives
Trash litters the beach in Maldives. (Photo: Michele Westmorland/Corbis)
Tourism is a major cause of increased trash production for many countries, and island communities are particularly at risk due to their isolation and space issues. Every year, more than 750,000 head to the paradise-like resorts of the Maldives islands, but this massive influx of people has created an uncontrollable flow of trash buildup that the country’s government is now struggling to deal with.
Things got so bad, that in 1992 the country allocated one of the islands, Thilafushi, to be turned into a makeshift dumping ground for all of the nation’s waste — and it has been nicknamed “The Rubbish Island.” What was once a picturesque lagoon with white sand, coral reefs and crystal-clear waters was turned into a toxic dump where hundreds of tons of rubbish were dumped and burned on a daily basis, creating a reclaimed island spanning more than 124 acres.
Smoke billowing as trash is burned off on Thilafushi Island, which has been dedicated to waste disposal. (Photo: Ibrahim Muneez/National Geographic Creative/Corbis)
Broken oil drums, lead, asbestos and other metals, along with an abundance of plastics and food waste created a major biohazard as well as disgustingly increased fly and bug activity. Smoke also polluted the air around the island from all the burning waste. Gross.
This practice of using the island as a dumping ground began being phased out in 2011 after several ships bringing piles of waste to the island began dumping it straight into the ocean. All waste is now shipped to India, where it is sorted and sold. But it will be years, if not decades, before the islands local habitat will be returned to is former natural beauty. If that is even possible.
