Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
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Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#2This can only be a good thing.
There are now alternatives to plastic from biodegradable materials such as lobster shells and cactus juice. I'm sure with more research and better methods, mother nature can offer more materials to use for consumption tools.
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBSzxQLQSpI
[1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-48497933/how-to-make-b...
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#3It's an election year. Trudeau wants a second term. But he's turned off much of his traditional centrist base (corruption allegations, many of us realizing he's actually not very smart, etc). He's got new leaders on both the Conservative party (the right) and the NDP (the left) who are trying to squeeze the votes out of middle.
He knows he's got little chance of winning back anyone right of center- the Conservatives will take those votes most likely- so he's going after the votes on the left.
The plastic ban and the finally reopened marine mammal captivity bans are both moves to appeal to the environmentalist left. He'll probably also try to win over unions as much as he can. He wants to eat the NDP votes and hope it's enough to make up his loss on the right.
And I'll still probably vote for him again because the alternatives are somehow worse.
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#4This can only be a good thing. There are now alternatives to plastic from biodegradable materials such as lobster shells and cactus juice. I'm sure with more research and better methods, mother nature can offer more materials to use for consumption tools. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBSzxQLQSpI [1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-48497933/how-to-make-b...
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#5This sort of policy is somewhat of a distraction from the wildly more important goal of reducing CO2 emissions.
A single use plastics ban is fine if it is a minor part of a more comprehensive policy that is focused on CO2 emissions, but by itself, eh, this is not really our most pressing issue in the near term is it? (of course we should reduce single use plastics eventually)
This government has been very uneven on climate issues so I'm not expecting them to announce a ban on CO2 emitting power generation tomorrow or anything. My concern is that announcing this policy so soon after the NDP announced the same thing in their rather bold environmental package is merely part of an attempt to boost their environmentalist cred and blunt the impact of rival environmentalist parties while changing the channel away from their weaker CO2 reduction efforts.
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#6Not mentioned in this article but worth noting that the City of Vancouver was interested in pursuing a single use plastics ban taking effect this summer in 2019, but backed away when disability rights activists protested that plastic straws are very important for people with mobility challenges, and they considered the non-plastic alternative straws available to be poor and not viable options.
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#7This sort of policy is somewhat of a distraction from the wildly more important goal of reducing CO2 emissions. A single use plastics ban is fine if it is a minor part of a more comprehensive policy that is focused on CO2 emissions, but by itself, eh, this is not really our most pressing issue in the near term is it? (of course we should reduce single use plastics eventually) This government has been very uneven on c…
> merely part of an attempt to boost their environmentalist cred and blunt the impact rival environmentalist parties while in actuality doing the absolute minimum
Yeah, it fully is. The major parties in Canada are slowly, and much too late, getting the message that the environment is the biggest election issue this year. They haven't been taking it seriously at all til now, hence this kind of bandwagon jumping. We're still going to hold them to the promise though.
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#8Not mentioned in this article but worth noting that the City of Vancouver was interested in pursuing a single use plastics ban taking effect this summer in 2019, but backed away when disability rights activists protested that plastic straws are very important for people with mobility challenges, and they considered the non-plastic alternative straws available to be poor and not viable options.
What's wrong with carrying your own stainless steel straw? I mean if you know you need one it makes sense to me to have your own.
Not being snarky, just curious.
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#9Not mentioned in this article but worth noting that the City of Vancouver was interested in pursuing a single use plastics ban taking effect this summer in 2019, but backed away when disability rights activists protested that plastic straws are very important for people with mobility challenges, and they considered the non-plastic alternative straws available to be poor and not viable options.
I don't know if this is insensitive of me to ask, but why don't they bring their own straws? I'm sure they would be happier with a premium reusable straw than a cheap single-use one anyway. A good straw could be reusable, sturdy, and even telescopic.
Is there difficulties involved in bringing along accessibility tools like straws that I'm missing? Or is this just a case of the nirvana fallacy?
Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement
#10Hopefully mankind's addiction to single-use plastics and the negligent disposal of all plastics can be stopped before exposure to, inhalation of, and ingestion of large quantities of microscopic shards of poly-whatever start shredding and poisoning our bodies from the inside.