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45 Shocking Photos Showing How Bad Pollution In China Has Become
China has some stunningly beautiful natural landscapes, but they may not count for much when, in other parts of the country, pollution runs totally unchecked. These shocking photos show what severe pollution people have to deal with in some parts of China.
Beijing and other parts of China have already become notorious for their incessant clouds of smog, which present very real health risks to anyone not wearing dust masks. Unregulated dumping in various rivers throughout China is fairly common, as many of the photos in this series help illustrate.
Chinese leaders have vowed to get serious on air pollution, but change will be difficult in a country whose industry has expanded so rapidly. If you have any photos illustrating these difficulties, please add them to this list.
(h/t: allthatisinteresting)This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Fake Hong Kong Skyline For Tourists
Final score:
38points
Yingqi Han 8 years ago
THANT'S TOTALLY NOT TRUE. I live in Hong Kong, and I have never seen this.
The Beast 2 years ago
shut up bro after all the beef I'll smoke your jaw blud don't chat to me
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Roddy Pfeiffer 3 years ago
The residents of Hong Kong are the healthiest people in the world. The men are outlived by only the Japanese, and the women live longer than anybody. I have been to Hong Kong many times. This article is BS.
CharlesBaer 10 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8joNjIJzcQ&list=UUJZF9xiNZG_jkk5S6Q4dQsw
MadGoggles 10 years ago
Instead of doing something for the planet, we do a quick fix so the tourists keep coming. Sad, isn't it?
BeckiPenfold 10 years ago
This picture is actually covering up the building work behind it! The Smog is no worse than London!
Scott Henrie 6 years ago
What is it like now? Do you have any pictures from that time and current pictures?
Load More Replies... RELATED:
#2
Fishermen Row A Boat In The Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei, Anhui Province
NicoleF 10 years ago
Julija, this is clean water, its from Reuters and it was explaining why there was a algae.... why the misinformation?
TheEndHorizon 10 years ago
What are you talking about? This is not clean water by any stretch of the imagination. Many sources call this one of the most polluted lakes
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RobLaBrushe 10 years ago
The algae outbreak is caused by an increase in nitrogen and phosphorus as a result of domestic/industrial sewage. Devastating to wildlife.
ScientificEval 10 years ago
This lake is severly polluted, From China Daily direct - http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-02/28/content_17314244.htm
AnnetteSundararaj 10 years ago
3000 dead pigs? WTF?! We can't afford to tell the developing world that it's OK just because we were able to pollute.
MarjoNaylor 10 years ago
"They"? And you have not contributed to pollution at all? No. WE are destroying this planet like cancer.
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MeaganLavender 10 years ago
Hahaha it clearly is. You must be in denial. Or perhaps you don't know what clean water looks like. That is a bit sad.
Load More Replies... #3
Girl Walks Through Smog In Beijing, Where Small-Particle Pollution Is 40 Times Over International Safety Standard
LaurelEgglestonHayes 10 years ago
Strange thing is, they wear masks regularly...but they get angry if anyone who visits their country wears one.
Jamie Keans 7 years ago
well it could be seen as a sign of disrespect to them
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EzioMiyazaki 10 years ago
somebody i spoke with (who is a foreign national working in china) said that he gets frowned at when he wears a face mask to work...
EileenMoana 10 years ago
CHINESE GOVERNMENT. YOU ARE KILLING YOUR HOME (EARTH) AND PEOPLE. STOP IT NOW! WE NEED THIS EARTH. WE HAVE NO-WHERE - ELSE TO GO !
GloriaHayes 10 years ago
think of that next time you buy the cheaper product - cheaper because it was MADE IN CHINA
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Cyndie Stephens 2 years ago
Why isn't this a priority by the Paris clean air fools! No city in the US comes even a quarter close to the pollution in China. And then there is India!
Ambrose Lee Kahnke 6 years ago
I understand that this is caused by dust from the Gobi Desert. There are plenty of "real" pollution photos and videos out there tho...
Kara Straite 7 years ago
This growling photograph depicts the unsightliness of the air pollution that has taken over China's capital, but it does not illustrate the effects that the smog/pollution has on the environment and the people who live in this environment. Fortunately, scientific advances have allowed medical treatments to decrease the amount of fatal death due to air pollution but the short term effects can be just as harmful. In addition to the "Beijing cough" that has become a norm for people in this community, they also can experience a variety of respiratory problems like asthma attacks, heart attacks, Bronchitis, etc. Some long term effects include but are not limited to: lung and or cardiovascular disease, cancer and birth defects. It is imperative that not only the Chinese government but international governments as well, work diligently to reduce the amount of air pollution. If it is not regulate, effects may eventually grow to large to contain or infiltrate. Reference:https://www.usnews.com
Minnie Macten 7 years ago
little too late to clean up its not like we can go up and wipe the ozone clean we are pretty much screwed and driving cars makes it 50x worse so when you go home today remember you are driving the new img-5524-5...69-png.jpg 
#4
Child Drinks Water From Stream In Fuyuan County, Yunnan Province
Jamie Keans 7 years ago
well if you were that child would you prefer to drink that water or drink nothing
Load More Replies... Hpster_Panda 10 years ago
NOOO!!! Don't drink it! why in the world would you want to drink that?
ChristinaDanieliPagliucaLamphier 10 years ago
This happens in many countries not just China.. There are organizations out there trying to get clean water to our friendly countries.
Pam Drybrough 9 years ago
and look at the garbage in the background that ppl. have left there.
#5
Boy Swims In Algae-filled Water, Qingdao, Shandong
JulieMariaRohde 10 years ago
No, but polluting stuff as nitrate helps algae bloom, which uses the oxygen in the water, which kills the fish
JasonJRoss 9 years ago
Think about how science has been able to use algee as a fuel and a future power supplier of sorts. Meanwhile all made on the backs n coffins of the slaves that poisoned knowingly but could not stand up to the utopia of communism/socialism. Now this is fun, get reading, one more point to make. Now slaves on the otherside of the globe lives in a society of 95% ( guessing on the highside) is sold in every store in every facet of our lives being shipped, truck train to our tables. Hmmm. 6 billion of us all slaves...........
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MeaganLavender 10 years ago
They are lied to there and told it is safe. When it is not.
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#6
Journalist Takes A Sample Of Red Polluted Water From The Jianhe River
RobLaBrushe 10 years ago
Dye from a local plant changes the colour frequently. http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-river-blood-jian-turns-red-after-chemical-dump-photos-70
lindsayandlife 10 years ago
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/dec/19/santas-real-workshop-the-town-in-china-that-makes-the-worlds-ch
Boredpanda27 10 years ago
Pollution is bad, granted but, I'm certain a 'scientist' wouldn't really be using an old fizzy drink bottle to take a sample??
InveterateArtist 10 years ago
Did you read? Not a scientist but a journalist? Big difference!
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#7
Worker Cleans Away Dead Fish At A Lake In Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province
MiroslavaKrzmanović 10 years ago
Whole world is doing this to China. Made in China.
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RobLaBrushe 10 years ago
This one is a little tougher. Could be weather-related coupled with stressed fish from regular pollution.
#8
Labourer Tries To Clean Up Oil From Water, Dalian, Liaoning
SuzieLane 10 years ago
OMG...chinese leaders need to stop just talking about fixing this and actually do something
BrendanJackson 10 years ago
what like the usa government rallied to stop the BP oil spill
Load More Replies... ChristinaDanieliPagliucaLamphier 10 years ago
OMG this has happened to America more than once. We need to protect our own shores. Let them worry about theirs..This a propaganda site WTF
Jan Sam 8 years ago
I can only chip in when i am well enough to stand. Do i know you from somewhere. Did you go to school in B.C.?
#9
Workers Try To Drain Sewage Water From Leaking Sewage Tank, Shanghang, Fujian
RobLaBrushe 10 years ago
BTW, this is ore waste, not human waste. This is a reservoir (you can see the lining) typically used for mining... huge enviro problem.
DustinSimons 10 years ago
You know you have taken the wrong path in life when you end up literally knee deep in s**t.
#10
Buildings In Beijing Surrounded By Smog
BarbaraJohnson 10 years ago
In all of China, or in Beijing which is depicted in the above photo? I suspect that a lot are ill with at least asthma in Beijing.
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DariaB 10 years ago
You do realise it's so many American companies too that have huge factories in China, don't you?
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AniaUchnast 10 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU Everybody should watch this movie, about our HOME - EARTH!
CamiloGonzález 10 years ago
That looks more like a sand storm. I am not saying Beijing is not polluted but please be serious.
#11
Child Swims In A Polluted Reservoir, Pingba
StefanieLorimer 10 years ago
because you need a bath? because it's hot? because you don't have running water at home??
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BarbaraKistler 10 years ago
Why doesn't pull that trash out? Put it out in the country in a hole
SianCowley 10 years ago
I don't think it's about them not caring it's normal to them there parents probably also swim in there
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#12
Boy Tries To Avoid Scattered Rubbish Floating On A Flooded Street In Shantou, Guangdong Province
RobLaBrushe 10 years ago
This is the aftermath of a natural disaster that killed hundreds. Rather shameful to have this posted here.
John Hartman 7 years ago
Rob they are literally killing the Earth with their pollution, you are also subhuman as you don't truly have empathy for fellow man let alone the environment. Get back in the cuckshed!
Load More Replies... Hpster_Panda 10 years ago
It's hard to think that the poor people are helping the world MORE than the leaders that everyone relies on!
ElizabethCampbell 10 years ago
Understandable if that was after a big flood. Most people buy their food fresh daily so you would have to go out into the mess.
#13
Pollution From A Factory In Yutian, 100km East Of Beijing
mehmet ali karakoç 5 years ago
It has been an article that has been described in the best way I have ever read. Thank you admin Etkileyici Sözler
DixieYagle 10 years ago
I wonder if it is partly or fault. We buy up all the cheap products that are manufactured in China instead of demanding products made in th.
JillianBryan 10 years ago
Yes. It's 100% our fault. In fact, our consumerism is the reason most of the world is enveloped in pollution, flooding from climate change, laboring in sweat factories, and being blown to bits by advanced weaponry. Aren't you proud to be an American, huh?
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#14
Workers Clean Up Floating Garbage On The Yangtze Rive
StefanieLorimer 10 years ago
Why can an industrial country like China not manage to do better then men with sticks and baskets??
Jan Sam 8 years ago
as far as i know they leave clean up ideas and efforts to the littlest like children....on sscoast , b.c. Canada where there are no problems. They have a project where anyone absolutely anyone can participate if you can get access that is to the beaches where they couldn't be bombing in a democracy. Anyway there is hardly any seaweed in the ocean imho
AliceCampbell 10 years ago
no environmental protections on anything. industry can dispose of anything anywhere no matter how poisonous. and we support it all by trade.
RobLaBrushe 10 years ago
This poor river never catches a break. What worse is people still have to eat the fish from it despite the compounds found.
#15
Dead Fish In Water Filled With Blueish Algae, East Lake, Wuhan
ElizabethCampbell 10 years ago
Is it possible to use the alge for something? Since there is so much of it... maybe burn it like peat moss?
DarcieStratton 10 years ago
Is there anything but dead fish and wildlife in all that pollution?
#16
Woman Collects Plastic Bottles Near River Polluted By Reddish Dye
lindsayandlife 10 years ago
probably all of our christmas decorations... http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/dec/19/santas-real-worksh
lindsayandlife 10 years ago
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/dec/19/santas-real-workshop-the-town-in-china-that-makes-the-worlds-ch
PriyashaRay 10 years ago
The Red Dye............, or could me some kind of algae or microgranism doing anaeroic respiration.
ElizabethCampbell 10 years ago
Oh good. At least someone is trying to fix this. A lot of people doing a little each can fix this or at least slow it down..
#17
Man Walks By Pipe Discharging Waste Water Into Yangtze River
ShayLhea 10 years ago
Probably because the US has other countries make everything for them. Waste stays where those items are made, keeping home soil clean.
HollySummers 10 years ago
dont blame the U.S. for the stupidity of those countries who dont regulate their own pollution.
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StefanieLorimer 10 years ago
what? factories have to be run with the health of the people and the environment in mind. This costs money and cuts profit. Tough.
MarcusTaylor 10 years ago
We are all guilty of pollution, indirectly we contribute to the pollution in China, most of the stuff you own is Made In China. Awaken...
PreslavKolev 10 years ago
Don't need to fight China's economi, soon it gonna be death by itself...
TheEndHorizon 10 years ago
Gosh, it seems China has some really bad pollution problems. I've never seen pollution like that in my whole life in the US
PennySmitten 10 years ago
Many American industries are placed in China which are contributing to this tho...
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#18
Great Wall Of China, Shame.
Final score:
21points
PetyaHarizanova 10 years ago
Ow, wow! At first I thought "Hmm, looks like some of the ruins in my country..." but then I saw this pile of bottles.... Shame...
ChesterGibson 10 years ago
Saw bottles and discarded rubbish all over the sides of the great wall at least at the part I went to. Sad!
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GuillaumeLombard 10 years ago
I v been to China and I can guarantee you that most chinese will happily throw their rubbish anywhere as they completely disregard nature
AngieTavares 10 years ago
Wait though... if that is along the great wall them those bottles were left by tourists. Looks much like many Nepali trekking trails.
Jinghan Zhao 8 years ago
This is not the Great Wall, the wrong architectural style, lower altitude and the Great Wall is intact not like this. The journalist used the wrong picture to mislead the readers. This is a shame.
IrinaKastelova-Siderova 10 years ago
Why these pictures should be ranked?! They show a tremendous problem of people's ignorence and intolerance towards nature's harmony
#19
Heavily Polluted River In Jiaxing, Zhejiang
ChristinaDanieliPagliucaLamphier 10 years ago
Have you seen the dead towns in the USA because of mining??
#20
Child Jumps Over Trash At A Village, Jiaxing
EvelynBock 10 years ago
Gruselige Fotos - sicher ein Ergebnis der boomenden Wirtschaft und billigen Preise in China :(
YasminMynona 10 years ago
Vor allem ein Ergebnis davon, dass europäische und US Marken in China billig produzieren lassen.
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YasminMynona 10 years ago
Stefanie,western countries do not have the obligation to buy products of high env. costs.But they do it because they want the cheapest stuff
GazHs 10 years ago
China does not have an obligation to produce goods at a high cost to the environment, they do it because they want cash.
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LaurelLindstrom 10 years ago
Lets be accurate .... The boy is scaling a fence to keep his feet dry from a pond/ puddle, not jumping some trash.
LaurelLindstrom 10 years ago
Lets be accurate .. the boy is scaling a fence to avoid getting his feet wet in a puddle/small pond of water, he is not jumping over trash.
BenBanano 10 years ago
You're an idiot. Look at the reflection, if what you say is true his hands and feet would be on the same place on the reflected fence.
Load More Replies... #21
Fisherman Fills His Palms With Water From The Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei
#22
Factory Polluting The Air
#23
Fisherman Covered In Algae, Chaohu Lake
#24
Woman Walks On Bridge Over Polluted River, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province
JohannesKlaeger 10 years ago
our debt as well, because of the stupid unreasonable consumer behavior of all industrial countries, and there people have to suffer
catdogma 10 years ago
It's so easy to blame others. This is the result of a government that doesn't care about its people.
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EileenMoana 10 years ago
Who runs that place. need a good kick up the a**e! Can anything be done about this? Or we just gonna look at photos & shake our heads. SMH
JacquelineBradley 10 years ago
Better solution.Learn, adapt, & continue survival of species.Standing around shaking heads & pointing fingers is guaranteeing extinction.
Load More Replies... tjfrank2 10 years ago
After gagging at these 20 photos.....who would even think of going to China?!
キティキャットグラント 10 years ago
Not everywhere in Chin is like this. China is a nice place to visit, poorest places are like this in developing countries are all like this.
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#25
Girl And Her Father Collect Water From Puddle At Dried-up Reservoir, Baofeng County
#26
Fishermen Collecting Fish In A Polluted Canal, Beijing
LucyHarvest 10 years ago
These photos of China pollution is very shocking & very sad indeed!! We are traveling for the first time to China in June. will take masks!!
#27
Workers Collect Dead Fish At A Park In Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
#28
A Street Dog Naps Amoungst The Garbage - Northern China.
Final score:
7points
#29
Over 3000 Dead Pigs Fished Out Of Huangpu River
Final score:
7points
KarmenTung 10 years ago
Might have been dead live stocks from factory and people don't want to deal with them. Throw them into the rivers.
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AndrewSullivan 10 years ago
maybe because 90 percent of the worlds products comr from this country. It is the wests consumerism causing this.
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#31
The Price Of Rapid Industrialization - Western China's Xinjiang Province
Final score:
6points
#32
Morning Smog In Beijing
TimothyMathews 10 years ago
Or like London at the height of the industrial revolution. Smog was/is defined as smoke plus fog.
#33
Workers Clean Up Leaked Oil After An Oil Pipeline Explosion, Qingdao, Shandong
JudeS-r 10 years ago
The difference is that the US doesn't have hardly ANYTHING like the rest of these photographs. One spill does not a bad pollution policy mak
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#34
Fishermen Clean Up Oil At Oil Spill Near Dalian Port, Liaoning Province
#35
Smog In Beijing
Beatrice DuPont 6 years ago
https://www.inkstonenews.com/china/new-study-puts-annual-cost-chinas-air-pollution-38-million-and-11-million-deaths/article/2166591 A million deaths: the annual price of China’s dirty air
petertzvetkov 10 years ago
One girl among all the people in this photo ... one girl with a mask and everyone assumes this is NOT FOG...... come on, be serious....
Heyyyyyyyy 10 years ago
GUESS WHAT THAT IS SERIOUS DO YOU WONDER WHY SO MANY ASIANS THAT ARE ADOPTED ARE CHINESE THEY WANT TO SAVE THOSE KIDS
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#37
Flies Gather On Railings Because Of Polluted Water, East Lake, Wuhan
CamiloGonzález 10 years ago
There are twice as many flies in Canda than in China. I've lived in both countries.
VinnieMcLean 10 years ago
Like did you count all the flies, i want a detailed statistic. F*****g moron. This picture is about the flies gathering over polluted water every country has a lot of flies in every country. Every post just makes you look even more dumb and uneducated. Sad thing is you are probably a 40 year old man, that's just really f*****g sad.
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CamiloGonzález 10 years ago
Those are NOT flies! Those are mosquitoes! Come on people, stop this stupid information war upon China.
JhangKarlosDalanon 10 years ago
Mosquitoes are much more deadly than flies my friend.
Load More Replies... #38
Fishermen Brave Heavy Smog Over A Natural Beauty Spot - Jixian, Tianjin.
Final score:
4points
#39
Great Wall Of China, Call It "great"?
Final score:
4points
#40
Smog Particles Mix With Fog And Settle At Ground Level In An Early Morning Freeze - Tianjin.
Final score:
3points
TimothyMathews 10 years ago
That's the definition of smog. Smog is a combination of the words smoke and fog!
#41
Heavily Polluted River
#42
Pollution In Beijing From The Seventeenth Floor
Final score:
-3points
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What do you think ?
Amanda-JoyVeness 10 years ago
If you feel strongly about it perhaps look at where the things you buy were made. Dollar stores may be cheap, but at the cost of our planet.
DeeRuler 10 years ago
Exactly!!!! Just because China is on the opposite side of the world, doesn't mean we haven't contributed to this in some way shape or form!
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TeriKing 10 years ago
Luck? Lucky? We're part of the problem. We buy 'Made in China' but do nothing to help with the cleanup the products produce!!
harpy 10 years ago
Noone can help China exept the Chinese, you know. What keeps 'em from cleaning their own wastes?
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BarbaraHenley 10 years ago
I think the CEO's of the companies responsible for this pollution should the ones in the muck cleaning!
GazHs 10 years ago
They are primarily state owned enterprises, probably also explains the crackdown on Chinese environmentalists who speak out about pollution.
Load More Replies... Chengwatana4est 10 years ago
I live on the St. Croix River, Minnesota and I wig out if I see as much as a cig butt or a can on the shore. Those poor children.
RoxanaIordacheLostun 10 years ago
What the f**k is wrong with us? We're destroing our planet, ourselves ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm87aIuNTL8
PaganMoon 10 years ago
The planet will recover, once we have killed enough plants and animals and die ourselves.
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NancyNguyen 10 years ago
Don't buy from China until they change their environmental regulations.
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Amanda-JoyVeness 10 years ago
If you feel strongly about it perhaps look at where the things you buy were made. Dollar stores may be cheap, but at the cost of our planet.
DeeRuler 10 years ago
Exactly!!!! Just because China is on the opposite side of the world, doesn't mean we haven't contributed to this in some way shape or form!
Load More Replies... TeriKing 10 years ago
Luck? Lucky? We're part of the problem. We buy 'Made in China' but do nothing to help with the cleanup the products produce!!
harpy 10 years ago
Noone can help China exept the Chinese, you know. What keeps 'em from cleaning their own wastes?
Load More Replies... BarbaraHenley 10 years ago
I think the CEO's of the companies responsible for this pollution should the ones in the muck cleaning!
GazHs 10 years ago
They are primarily state owned enterprises, probably also explains the crackdown on Chinese environmentalists who speak out about pollution.
Load More Replies... Chengwatana4est 10 years ago
I live on the St. Croix River, Minnesota and I wig out if I see as much as a cig butt or a can on the shore. Those poor children.
RoxanaIordacheLostun 10 years ago
What the f**k is wrong with us? We're destroing our planet, ourselves ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm87aIuNTL8
PaganMoon 10 years ago
The planet will recover, once we have killed enough plants and animals and die ourselves.
Load More Replies... NancyNguyen 10 years ago
Don't buy from China until they change their environmental regulations.
Load More Replies...
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