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Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

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Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the ocean is being overfished and is being polluted by fishing. The clear answer is to ban fishing. Though, as someone who dislikes all seafood, this is easy for me to say.

Seafood haters unite! You're the only other person I've ever found who doesn't like seafood, I feel like we should form a club or something.

There are dozens of us

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#32

This is known. The number I have heard floated around is 45%. So, commercial fishing nets are a big problem when it comes to plastic in the oceans. And here we are "saving the planet", by reducing the plastic straw consumption: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/07/18/anti-straw-mo... https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-06-07/plasti... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/business/plastic-straws-b...…

And here you are creating a straw man argument.

Reducing straws won’t “save the planet” on its own. We will improve the planet by doing multiple things.

Reducing plastic use (less packaging, fewer straws, reusable shopping bags) all play a role in a much bigger effort.

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#33
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One interesting side-effect is the rise of the edible straw. There are other edibles as well, spoons, forks, knives and bowls - though the latter is rather an old idea. So while the ban straws was a token gesture it does seem to have generated some creativity and movement on other fronts which at least gets peoples attention on the problem of single-use plastics.

Yeah, we have to start somewhere and we have to have the mindset that we should keep going.

I'm more worried that we dig in on the easy problems, forgetting the big, hard problems. Like plastic straws instead of fishing nets...

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#34
It's undoubtedly some mix of "all of the above", thanks to plastic being everywhere and used in nearly everything.

We save the ocean by requiring "all of the above" to act differently. Ships, shipping, fishing, recycling, nations, individuals. Most especially producers.

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the ocean is being overfished and is being polluted by fishing. The clear answer is to ban fishing. Though, as someone who dislikes all seafood, this is easy for me to say.

Seafood haters unite! You're the only other person I've ever found who doesn't like seafood, I feel like we should form a club or something.

Smells like death to me.

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#36
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or even the context. A coffee shop in my neighborhood started keeping straws behind the counter, so that you have to ask for them. And yet, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that there's less plastic in a straw than in a disposable coffee cup, let alone the doubled cups that they serve the coffee in in lieu of using those paper sleeves. Certainly after they've stuck one of those plastic sippy lids on top of…

Many will have paper straws as substitutes, but I’m very skeptical they did a study regarding cradle-to-grave impact of the substitution. Maybe they are net positive (results wise), but I doubt they looked at numbers and said, yes, clearly paper straws are less impactful.

I imagine it's similar to the grocery bag situation. Reusable cotton canvas bags keep plastic out of the environment, but their production emits thousands of times more CO2 per bag than disposable plastic bags. If you buy groceries once a week, you basically have to use the cotton canvas bags the rest of your life to even have a chance at breaking even, everything's a trade-off.

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#37
post #7

Anyone that lives in a city next to a river/lake/sea knows that all the small pieces of trash on land end up in the water.

Yes, but "in the water" includes both shallow water near shore and deep water far out in the ocean. The OP is about one. You're talking about the other, which might not even be relevant, so the "anyone knows" condescension is misplaced.

This (coastal area) also happens to be where the vast majority of fish live. This doesn't change the context, but it's something to consider.

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#38
post #30

Extensive air pollution from China or India that surpasses the West also doesn't seem to get much attention, e.g. [1] [2] Greta visited the US and gave some compelling speeches. Will she visit China and India and do the same? [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2018/07/01/china-emits-... [2] https://qz.com/india/1581665/indias-carbon-emissions-growing...

My guess is Greta focuses on people who can actually be influenced. Americans have access to a free press and information about how we use our energy or pollute. And being the richest nation in the world, we certainly have some responsibility for how we live our lives and the effects it has on the Earth.

Communicating with China and having the ability to effectively influence their policy is a much more difficult task.

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#39
post #30

Extensive air pollution from China or India that surpasses the West also doesn't seem to get much attention, e.g. [1] [2] Greta visited the US and gave some compelling speeches. Will she visit China and India and do the same? [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2018/07/01/china-emits-... [2] https://qz.com/india/1581665/indias-carbon-emissions-growing...

> Greta visited the US[...]

Yes, to address the United Nations.

Re: Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says

#40
post #30

Extensive air pollution from China or India that surpasses the West also doesn't seem to get much attention, e.g. [1] [2] Greta visited the US and gave some compelling speeches. Will she visit China and India and do the same? [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2018/07/01/china-emits-... [2] https://qz.com/india/1581665/indias-carbon-emissions-growing...

Please don't troll here. Pollution in those countries gets massive attention. The mainstream news articles you cited are an example. Those countries are part of the UN and Global community that is covered by the Global climate strike. Much of China's pollution is in industry manufacturing exports to the rest of the world.

If you have good faith interest in reducit pollution, please contribute efforts to reducing pollution, not backseat driving another volunteer. Greta Thunberg doesn't owe you anything.

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