I'm a big believe in protecting the environment. We are all living on this planet and we are all better off when the planet is better off. But like the public places there are those who ruin the place and there are those who ruin the place thinking they are making things better. The war on plastics has become exactly that in many ways.
The biggest contributors to plastic in the ocean are China and Indonesia; a 2015 article in Science concluded that OECD countries contribute less than 5 percent of the plastic waste from land sources.
Developing countries should be putting the pressure on these destructive countries tan on their own citizens and companies. Pretending to do something is merely a great excuse to not do anything.
For example, research from earlier this year studied California’s ban on plastic bags and reported that “the elimination of 40 million pounds of plastic carryout bags [was] offset by a 12 million pound increase in trash bag purchases.” Because pet owners (for example) had been using their plastic bags from the grocery store to pick up after their animals, the ban simply forced them to buy plastic bags the old-fashioned way. Ironically, the California legislation led these people to stop recycling and reusing!
Reusing When Appropriate is The Best Solution
If everyone reuse a single use product twice, that is cutting down production by 50%. Just refilling your handwash instead of buying a new bottle is a great example. The convenience is only slightly affected, yet the effect on environment is greatly reduced as a single plastic bottle can be used many times.
Another important factor left out of the discussion is te environmental impact of these "Green" products. Some of them can be developed sustainable. Some of them on the other hand cost more pollution in the production than the plastic products.