91–100 of 150 posts
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Also makes it a natural carbon sink (trees->paper packaging->landfills).
Isn't the paper decomposing in the landfill still part of the carbon cycle? Landfills break down, shrink, venting gases back into the atmosphere.
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86% of the oceans plastic comes from Asia[1]. [1] https://www.theoceancleanup.com/sources/
This statistic shows that as NA or EU residents, what we do basically does not matter. The plastic waste of Asia will only grow. What we can do is focus on the cleanliness of our local communities as that is the only place where we can have an effect. But on the global scale, unless if we manage to strongarm Asia into behaving, it's borderline meaningless.
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This photo is surreal. I can't believe a trash filled planet is becoming a reality and we are doing little to nothing to stop it.
Please, the Western world is doing a lot of work in keeping it out of water ways and oceans. The majority of trash is from China and other Asian countries. [1] What can we do? Simple, this is where trade requirements include treating the environment right. We already have restrictions on seafood harvesting and protecting certain species like whales and dolphins. no reason we cannot hold trade to require proper handli…
Having lived in North America, South America and China, I can tell you the main difference is packaging. The trash can itself is huge in the US, while in South America people use something closer to a small paper bin. A lot of the trash is organic, but in general, waste management and wastewater treatment in Latin America is awful.
China on the other hand has a big wastewater treatment problem, especially in provinces like Sichuan from what I saw. One village I visited had its main creek contaminated in our generation by a nearby factory. waste generation is also low over there.
https://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/trash-number...
I've wondered for a time, why we put so much energy into banning certain plastic items, instead of improving biodegradable plastic technologies in conjunction with efficient trash sorting at waste management plants. If we can replace most plastics with biodegradable forms, a large part of these issues go away completely within our lifetime; plastics decomposing in as little as 24 months![1] > According to a 2010 EPA…
The problem with Biodegradable plastic is that it still requires a special process to break it down. You can’t just toss it in the ocean and have it magically break down. Compostable materials are the ideal.
That's not true, actually. From the article:
> A peer-reviewed report of the work shows 91% biodegradation in a soil environment within 24 months, when tested in accordance with ISO 17556
> Under proper conditions, some biodegradable plastics can degrade to the point where microorganisms can completely metabolise them to carbon dioxide (and water). For example, starch-based bioplastics produced from sustainable farming methods could be almost carbon neutral.
The title makes you believe that this garbage comes from somewhere else, across the ocean, but it's actually coming from their own river into which everybody is dumping waste.
I'm assuming you don't know how oceans work. Eventually, we'll all be ingesting that.
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The problem with Biodegradable plastic is that it still requires a special process to break it down. You can’t just toss it in the ocean and have it magically break down. Compostable materials are the ideal.
> The problem with Biodegradable plastic is that it still requires a special process to break it down That's not true, actually. From the article: > A peer-reviewed report of the work shows 91% biodegradation in a soil environment within 24 months, when tested in accordance with ISO 17556 > Under proper conditions, some biodegradable plastics can degrade to the point where microorganisms can completely metabolise the…
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> developing countries using ocean as a waste dump I thought this was common knowledge by this point. The most polluted rivers in the world are located in India, China, South America, Africa, and Indonesia.
Developed countries don't help by shipping their waste to developing countries and removing the problem from their sight. China recently stopped accepting garbage from California and now the problem is back in the USA.
Point is, mankind still has the issue. China is not solving any problems by making us keep our own garbage. They're not helping mankind at all. And neither are we with our penchant for plastic products. I guess I'm just pointing out that the problem has not been fixed, it's been transferred.
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The problem with Biodegradable plastic is that it still requires a special process to break it down. You can’t just toss it in the ocean and have it magically break down. Compostable materials are the ideal.
> The problem with Biodegradable plastic is that it still requires a special process to break it down That's not true, actually. From the article: > A peer-reviewed report of the work shows 91% biodegradation in a soil environment within 24 months, when tested in accordance with ISO 17556 > Under proper conditions, some biodegradable plastics can degrade to the point where microorganisms can completely metabolise the…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The problem with Biodegradable plastic is that it still requires a special process to break it down That's not true, actually. From the article: > A peer-reviewed report of the work shows 91% biodegradation in a soil environment within 24 months, when tested in accordance with ISO 17556 > Under proper conditions, some biodegradable plastics can degrade to the point where microorganisms can completely metabolise the…
The ocean is not a soil environment; so it degrading well in soil doesn't necessarily help if it is a waste stream that ends up in the ocean.
I don't see a reason we cannot create something that works in that environment too - however, the overwhelming majority of our plastic waste isn't going into the ocean; rather, it's going into landfills where it will sit for thousands of years.
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Explain the inconvenience you're experiencing because you can't get a straw? It's a step forward, a small one at that, but it's progress. I don't understand those complaining - they usually fall back to people with disabilities, and yet establishments will still have straws on-hand for those folks.
Explain the benefit.
Even if the Starbucks lids are larger, they can be recycled because they can be caught by the recyclers.