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The world has seen several natural and man-made disasters across the globe in a relatively short amount of time. Millions of people have been affected, and millions more still await some form of aid.
Poly tarps are an important part of providing emergency services. These seemingly benign pieces of plastic are a necessary form of aid. Many are using them to construct temporary homes in Haiti and Afghanistan after being struck by large earthquakes that left many without homes.
This does not include the many homes across the US and around the world that employ the use of these tarps for months and even years after a hurricane, tornado, or tsunami strikes. In Texas, coastal towns with bright blue rooftops are still a common site since Hurricanes Rita and Ike.
BP is using the tarps to both clean the beaches and its inhabitants. The tarps are used to herd the oil drenched animals together so that they may be caught, cleaned and hopefully released back into the wild.
It is becoming a very serious issue that will affect many lives. If there are not backups in place, we may not be able to fully engage in a cleanup or relief effort in the near future. Shortages of tarps across the globe may already be responsible for some of the slow action in the case of Pakistan where millions of citizens have been displaced, the homes literally washed away.
We must remain conscious of the growing problem of locating poly tarps and address it before it is too late. These useful aids are disappearing from shelves faster than they can be restocked, and leaving many out in the cold.
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