The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

A Modest Solutionto a Difficult ProblemSo it appears that government agencies have no intention of stoppingpollution. A second difficulty is that all aspects of the problem of foodpollution must be brought together and solved at the same time. Aproblem cannot be solved by people who are concerned with only one oranother of its parts.To the extent that the consciousness of everyone is notfundamentally transformed, pollution will not cease.For example, the farmer thinks that the Inland Sea [The small seabetween the islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku] is of no concern tohim. He thinks that it is the officials of the Fisheries Bureau whosebusiness it is to look after fish, and that it is the job of the EnvironmentalCouncil to take care of ocean pollution. In this way of thinking lies theproblem.The most commonly used chemical fertilizers, ammonium sulfate,urea, super phosphate and the like, are used in large amounts, onlyfractions of which are absorbed by the plants in the field. The restleaches into streams and rivers, eventually flowing into the Inland Sea.These nitrogen compounds become food for algae and plankton whichmultiply in great numbers, causing the red tide to appear. Of82