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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

#301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's thinking like this that led me down the path of rejecting money/currency for the most part. Every dollar I spent is a vote for producing more of whatever I'm buying, directly correlated with habitat loss (for humans included) and animal deaths. And each transaction is like a curtain from behind which the finished product appears, handed to you with no information about its origin.

That's an interesting perspective. How does such an approach play out in practice?

The freeganism link in sibling comment provides a pretty good overview.

In my case, I live outdoors more than half the time, sometimes couchsurfing.

I obtain food primarily from waste.

My electronics are hand-me-downs.

For getting around, I ride with people going my way or walk. I am a careful driver, and sometimes I help drive as contribution. Sometimes I ride trains and buses, which cost minimal money.

I pay a few hundred a year for domains and hosting.

Occasionally, people offer me money. I used to not accept it, but now I just do my best to limit its use to the above.

If I go to a coffee shop, I typically do not buy a coffee. If I sit at a fast food place, I don't buy anything.

I do not feel that I owe anything to anyone just for occupying space.

I do, however, place some properly logoed cups (reused) on my table, and I pick up any trash on the floors, and fix the chairs, and sometimes wipe the tables with abandoned napkins.

It seems kind of silly sometimes, but it's a system that's working well for me now.

I like to visit libraries, though hours are typically limited.

It has taken me about 5 years to transition to this life from full-time job, apartment, and cat.

I had previous camping experience, and a relatively low regard for social norms. I am a man, which obviously helps with safety. But women do it too.

This practice has helped me develop my meditation practice, write more code I can be proud of, and travel without worry about where I'm going to stay when I get there.

Because my past jobs contributed to selling soft drinks, securities, oil, etc., I think that my "environmental karma" is much better. I also have the time to stop and pick up the trash everywhere I go, a practice I find to be both enjoyable and great "natural" exercise.

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

#302

Are there actual photos of the great pacific garbage patch? I've heard about it for sometime now but it seems a lot of the photos on image search depict small scale stuff, garbage visibly close to shore, or illustrations. I was disappointed to find Wikipedia didn't have any direct birds eye view of the patch in any photos. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch I see a lot of illustrations depict…

From your link: > Despite the common public perception of the patch existing as giant islands of floating rubbish, its low density (4 particles per cubic meter) prevents detection by satellite imagery, or even by casual boaters or divers in the area. > This is because the patch is a widely dispersed area consisting primarily of suspended "fingernail-sized or smaller bits of plastic", often microscopic, particles in t…

Nice find!

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

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an interesting perspective. How does such an approach play out in practice?

The freeganism link in sibling comment provides a pretty good overview. In my case, I live outdoors more than half the time, sometimes couchsurfing. I obtain food primarily from waste. My electronics are hand-me-downs. For getting around, I ride with people going my way or walk. I am a careful driver, and sometimes I help drive as contribution. Sometimes I ride trains and buses, which cost minimal money. I pay a few…

I’m honestly curious and not trying to be contrarian - what does your code produce if not more consumption in some way?

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

#304

I spend a day or two every year cleaning up a beach on a island off the coast of China. Its location relative to local sea currents makes it a natural garbage trap. It has been a radicalizing experience but maybe not in the way you would think. Anecdotally about a third of the trash I pick up is fishing related - some nets, some buoys, but mostly thousands of small plastic sardine sized fishing net floats. About a th…

My local recycling center (in the SF Bay Area) accepts styrofoam blocks (though the machine is down right now). Unfortunately, storing and transporting bulky styrofoam is cumbersome for individuals, so it's not very scalable. https://www.el-cerrito.org/952/Drop-Off-Materials-Accepted

acetone will melt huge polystyrene foam block into a small puddle

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

#305
post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The freeganism link in sibling comment provides a pretty good overview. In my case, I live outdoors more than half the time, sometimes couchsurfing. I obtain food primarily from waste. My electronics are hand-me-downs. For getting around, I ride with people going my way or walk. I am a careful driver, and sometimes I help drive as contribution. Sometimes I ride trains and buses, which cost minimal money. I pay a few…

I’m honestly curious and not trying to be contrarian - what does your code produce if not more consumption in some way?

Well, it is not producing much at the moment, and it is consuming electricity and resources to run.

I am hoping that it will produce a better way for people to talk and connect, as well as provably reliable information store.

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

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there something in particular necessary about animal protein, that it gets a distinct category from just protein in general Pretty worrying that people don't know that the only real sources of essential acids critical to humans are from seafood, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) They aren't optional and the body sucks at synthesising them.

Humans can get EPA from algae, same as where fish get it, among other sources. Just look up "algae based omega 3 supplement". The body synthesizes DHA from all sorts of seeds and oils, else we'd be screwed. Weirdly smug, alarmist post. There are people who never eat seafood. Reading your post, you'd have to assume such people would be dead.

Historically none of the above is true. iodized salt, and the OM3 where almost universally received from sea based foods.

You are talking about sources that have only affected people in the last small period of time. There are a couple of million years of development that got you to the point of fortified cereals and pills.

> There are people who never eat seafood.

Woosh

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

#307
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We already had this data before the straw bans. They're not based on evidence, they're based on one photo of a turtle with a straw in its nose. Straws are a pretty common type of litter on beaches, and I could understand bans were that kind of litter is a problem. But if you put a straw in a landfill it's not going to end up in a turtle's nose.

> But if you put a straw in a landfill it's not going to end up in a turtle's nose. That depends on what happens with your trash. If it stays inland in a landfill, then no. If it's sold for sorting and transported long distance on a barge, then that's possible.

And it needs to be a well placed and designed landfill:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/111835637/volunteers-in-tears...

"The Fox Glacier landfill operated from the 1960s until the early 2000s. It was eroded by the Fox River during the huge storm event on March 26 and 27."

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

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are paper straws the wrong solution? Even if they take a little more energy to produce they at least don't leave long-term waste behind.

Because they don't work for people with disabilities. They dissolve, they're more easily bent, they're less resistant to accidental biting. They disintegrate even faster with hot beverages.

I've heard this argument before, and please forgive me if this is insensitive. Are people with disabilities eased by non-paper straws not able to supply their own? Perhaps steel ones that can be reused many times? I appreciate that allowances for disabilities must be made, but I can also understand that general popular use of plastic straws is harmful to the environment.

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

#309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they don't work for people with disabilities. They dissolve, they're more easily bent, they're less resistant to accidental biting. They disintegrate even faster with hot beverages.

I've heard this argument before, and please forgive me if this is insensitive. Are people with disabilities eased by non-paper straws not able to supply their own? Perhaps steel ones that can be reused many times? I appreciate that allowances for disabilities must be made, but I can also understand that general popular use of plastic straws is harmful to the environment.

Ok, then there's the rest of the objections.

Add to this, plastic straws are a trifling fraction of plastic pollution, and the made-up furor distracts from actual important issues.

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