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Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

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Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#151

Post by woogiewonka »

As an individual who wants to make the biggest impact on this issue, what are my options?

I am a UX/UI designer and I wonder what I could do to help rid the world of microplastics. I was thinking off the top of my head:

1. Write a letter to every company that uses exorbitant amount plastic in it's product or packaging (tons of them here in Japan) and try to make them aware of the issue (appeal through emotions - their kids). I figured, if I send 5,000 letters, perhaps I get an action rate of 2%, that could amount to 100 companies acting to reduce their product waste. 2. I could write to every politician that comes in contact with this issue on a regular basis - but what do I tell them? I think it needs to be something very specific and actionable, but maybe it doesn't? 3. I could create a website that helps expose the issue. I think, especially here in Japan people are just unaware of the environmental disaster pending outside their nation. It seems the island as a geographical feature creates a very strong bubble and we hardly ever hear about anything environment related. I could also do the same in U.S. (multi-language site)

That's where my creativity stops... what other things can I, or people like myself do right now to make an impact?

EDIT: If anyone wants to help me make a list of top Japanese company executives (preferably with their email, and or any other personal information we can find - hopefully their kids names), I can write a compelling letter + email to try to get past their gatekeepers.

EDIT 2: I am starting a doc to get info on Japanese Execs who have the most impact on this issue. I will try to find ways to communicate action to them in ways that do not cost them, preferably help generate additional revenue. Here is a link to anyone who would like to participate. I think if we crowd-source this issue, we can make an impact: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1biahioKkh7ZbYBxquWaM...

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#152

Post by marcosdumay »

dcbadacd wrote: post #113
NotQuantum wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's this same argument with recycling, reuse, etc. I.E how many times do I have to use my cloth bag before the resources it took is less than that of a normal paper bag. Recycling is the same way, IIRC, aluminum is the only thing that's cheaper to recycle, energy wise. I really wish more studies would look into the Energy per Ton for creating our consumer products.

That's one thing to consider, but it's ignoring a major aspect - biodegradability. Yes, a plastic bag is in some ways more efficient per ton than a cloth bag but doesn't decompose safely and fast, cloth usually does.

What's worse, adding some inert foreign molecules to the environment, or adding some CO2, excess nitrates, and excess phosphorous, taking down a bit of native vegetation, and revolving some more soil?

I really don't know the answer, but I bet everybody on the anti-plastic crusade doesn't know either. I would really like if somebody cared to do some unbiased studies on this (not the ones full of flaws reinforcing the author desired answer - whatever that it).

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#153

Post by mikepurvis »

nostromo wrote: post #109

A small number of countries are responsible for the majority of plastic in the ocean. China is far and away the worst offender: https://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_12211_... https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_...

The west benefits from a robust system for handling and landfilling waste. Our responsibility as far as the ocean is in modelling and exporting that culture to nations where the handling systems are not in place. I see this as similar to how the culture of smoking has been "exported" to places where there isn't nearly the same infrastructure present to limit access for kids, prevent second hand smoke exposure, and help people out who want to quit.

So yes, we may not be dumping our millions of daily plastic water bottles down the Mississippi like happens in the Ganges, but we could do a lot of good as a culture by intentionally modelling reusability and repair.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#154

Post by code_duck »

gerdesj wrote: post #135
kingkawn wrote: post #107

Personal anecdote; just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Many of the beaches there had significant deposits of pebble sized and smaller visible plastic particles. Presumably there’s exponentially more smaller ones that I couldn’t as easily see. Some of the beaches had plastic floating in the water. Locals said it wasn’t island dumped garbage, it was brought in from currents from the ocean. Horrific to see.

Hawaii. Many of the beaches there had significant deposits of pebble sized Bollocks (citation needed)

A citation is needed for a first person account? Photographs, perhaps.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#155

Post by code_duck »

tylerhou wrote: post #146
kingkawn wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not adding eternally polluting particles to the environment seems like it must have smaller footprint

Organic != pollutes less. For example, some organic farms use more than an order of magnitude more (~20x) organic pesticides than regular farms use regular pesticides (by weight). Many of these organic pesticides have the potential for serious health risks. One organic pesticide, Rotenone, which was banned in the US in 2005 but reapproved in 2010, causes "Parkinson's Disease-like symptoms in rats, and has the potenti…

Hemp does not require any use of pesticides. Cotton, on the other hand, uses a wildly disproportionate amount of pesticides for cultivation acreage - stats I’ve seen are 25% of pesticides for 3% of land cultivation.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#156

Post by orky56 »

woogiewonka wrote: post #151

As an individual who wants to make the biggest impact on this issue, what are my options? I am a UX/UI designer and I wonder what I could do to help rid the world of microplastics. I was thinking off the top of my head: 1. Write a letter to every company that uses exorbitant amount plastic in it's product or packaging (tons of them here in Japan) and try to make them aware of the issue (appeal through emotions - thei…

I think it will be a tough sell to go after companies directly as an individual. Unless you are influential yourself, they will only take notice from an entity that dictates or shapes policy. It might be more beneficial to offer your services, perhaps pro-bono, to researchers like the ones cited in the article or to a non-profit with a similar mission. Your effort and hard work can be significantly higher levered with the right organization behind it.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#157

Post by code_duck »

marcosdumay wrote: post #152
dcbadacd wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one thing to consider, but it's ignoring a major aspect - biodegradability. Yes, a plastic bag is in some ways more efficient per ton than a cloth bag but doesn't decompose safely and fast, cloth usually does.

What's worse, adding some inert foreign molecules to the environment, or adding some CO2, excess nitrates, and excess phosphorous, taking down a bit of native vegetation, and revolving some more soil? I really don't know the answer, but I bet everybody on the anti-plastic crusade doesn't know either. I would really like if somebody cared to do some unbiased studies on this (not the ones full of flaws reinforcing the…

You mean, is natural gas extraction and processing more harmful than agriculture and recycling?

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#158

Post by mistrial9 »

stephengillie wrote: post #130
kingkawn wrote: post #107

Personal anecdote; just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Many of the beaches there had significant deposits of pebble sized and smaller visible plastic particles. Presumably there’s exponentially more smaller ones that I couldn’t as easily see. Some of the beaches had plastic floating in the water. Locals said it wasn’t island dumped garbage, it was brought in from currents from the ocean. Horrific to see.

Just got back from a trip asking the Washington State coast, including Westport and Ocean Shores, and Birch Bay near Bellingham. The beaches were nearly pristine, for the number of people there. I only saw the occasional lost sandal on the various beaches, and a few beer cans near bonfire dugouts. I was surprised at the lack of plastic and debris, given reports like yours. Is there a state or federal agency that comb…

Pacific Northwest coast has ocean current flowing strongly from North to South.. all the way down to California..

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#159

Post by allover »

subcosmos wrote: post #67
allover wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We can keep running on the macronutrient treadmill, People reach obesity from overeating, no matter what their choice of calorie-dense foods, but it's typically sugar or fats, and sugar is the cheapest/most available. Being obese is clearly a causative factor towards T2B [1]. How are these obvious truths 'running on a treadmill'? [1] https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-obesity.html

The treadmill is the endless debate over whether or not fats vs carbs are more obesogenic. This debate continues ad-nauseum and distracts from more nuanced explanations. High fat consumption raises inflammatory profiles through mechanisms that are poorly understood. Carbohydrates seem to cause similar inflammation, but this is largely do to advanced gylcation end-products created from fructose, specifically. Overeati…

> Overeating is not interesting. The reason people do overeat is very interesting

What if it's not. What if people just overeat because life is boring, and food tastes good, and we all have differing levels of willpower & education on nutrition?

> if you hit the literature you find that this is largely driven by damage to the hypothalamus by environmental exposure.

Sounds like nonsense, can you elaborate?

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#160

Post by cageface »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #64
fredsir wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's irrelevant. It's still the fat that causes type 2 diabetes. That doesn't mean keto can't work because it clearly can as long as it doesn't lead to overconsumption of fat. Also there are different kinds of carbs. As long as you keep to whole-food carbs, you practically can't eat too many (except for a few kinds like nuts and seeds and avocados) because you will be full long before it's too much. It's a differen…

This is not true (whole food carbs vs processed food). Carbs are carbs, and should be avoided as much as possible (no more than 20-30g/day).

This is nonsense. The healthiest populations in the world eat large volumes of carbs and have for millenia. Lumping all carbohydrates under the bucket term "carbs" makes as much sense as lumping all drugs under a single term.

Eating complex, unrefined carbs is overall the healthiest way to get the calories you need to keep your body fueled.

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