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Citation? I was told proper incineration can take care of that l.
Tou have to incinerate at a really high temperature to get rid of the chlorine.
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Cloth bags are even better. I can put them into the washing machine if they are dirty, they can be easily stored and so far (I have and use some of both types that are over 10 years old) none of them degraded.
Will you reuse it a thousand times?. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/grocery-bag-environmental...
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This would also cut reproduction rates, which is not pleasant but is necessary to stop climate change.
It is not necessary. Malthus was wrong. You'll notice this position was popular among boomer environmentalists, which is why it was parodied just recently by 70s comic villain Thanos. The birth rate everywhere outside Africa has already collapsed, anyway. It's probably too low.
Funny thing is that Malthus already recognized the effects that artificial birth control can have on the reproductive rate and was worried about that - I don't the the citation at hand though.
I agree that the birth rate outside Sub-Saharan Africa is probably too low and I think that this will become an issue, probably first in China, then the EU and finally in the USA.
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How much does a plastic bag cost where you are? Here in Sweden there's a tax on it and a single bag can cost 7 SEK (USD 0.85).
It's still too low. A plastic bag can be quite sturdy, it can be transparent so you can easily see what's inside, it's light, it folds well, is resistant to humidity, etc. If you'd give a plastic bag to someone from the 18th century they'd cherish it. We need to make it so the average person actually cares about buying a bag. Something like €2 with a return value of €1. Or anything that makes you treat it like you'd…
Something very similar is happening in north korea.
http://koreabizwire.com/bottled-water-a-symbol-of-wealth-in-...
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The countries which are the most preoccupied with recycling plastics, such as the US, are also the least likely to throw they trash into the ocean. Plastic bags do no harm buried in the landfill, and we’re not running out of land.
Developed countries outsource plasti garbage handling to other less developed nations that are happy to take care of it for a fee.
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Presumably you hope the US has a long and prosperous future beyond our generation, so it's a problem that will need to be solved at some point. The US consumes 70 million plastic water bottles a day, just disposable water bottles. Consider all other plastic waste, and consider that just because there is uninhabited land doesn't mean you can economically put rubbish in it. I must admit I am surprised that anyone needs…
There is enough landfill space effectively forever. It's really not a problem. > What makes you question the need for recycling? The environment makes me question it. Everything I've seen shows recycling anything except metal is bad for the environment. We only do it because it makes people "feel good". The right thing to do with: Metal: recycle it Glass: bury it Paper: bury it Plastic: burn it Everything else: bury…
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Why is glass recycling bad for the environment?
Because transporting it (it's heavy) and recycling it consumes more resources than making it fresh. Additionally glass is harmless in the environment, and it's not something we can ever run out of. So why do it? Additionally, if you actually do want to recycle things, glass shards contaminate everything, making it much more difficult and expensive (i.e. consumes more resources) to do it.
Making new glass can be an issue, as it typically uses sand, which is not very renewable and sand mining in many countries causes massive issues with flooding, droughts, sinking, black markets, even sand mafia!
No we should not landfill everything after a single use, or we will soon run out of reasonably accessible raw materials in suitable forms.
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Because transporting it (it's heavy) and recycling it consumes more resources than making it fresh. Additionally glass is harmless in the environment, and it's not something we can ever run out of. So why do it? Additionally, if you actually do want to recycle things, glass shards contaminate everything, making it much more difficult and expensive (i.e. consumes more resources) to do it.
What you're describing is mostly a failure of US commingled recycling system. Meanwhile most of EU countries successfully recycle about 90% of collected glass, collected in glass-only containers. Making new glass can be an issue, as it typically uses sand, which is not very renewable and sand mining in many countries causes massive issues with flooding, droughts, sinking, black markets, even sand mafia! No we should…
And no, we will never run out of it - the planet is made of it.
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Do you have any source for the 5% stat? I don't mistrust you, but it would be nice to "see it with my own eyes" to be confident enough to use it in conversations with others.
https://www.bpf.co.uk/press/Oil_Consumption "In Europe, it is estimated that between 4–6% of oil and gas is used for producing plastics." - British Plastics Federation It varies from country to country, and in the USA natural gas is the primary input instead of oil. Some gas or oil could be consumed by the plant, not actually ending up in the final product.
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Do you have any source for the 5% stat? I don't mistrust you, but it would be nice to "see it with my own eyes" to be confident enough to use it in conversations with others.
"Plastics production accounts for about 4 percent of global oil production. That’s according to figures for 2012, so now it may well be higher." https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-Much-Crude-Oi...