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U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#31

Post by sschueller »

dynm wrote: post #23

> The U.S. also ranks as high as third among coastal nations for contributing litter, illegally dumped trash and other mismanaged waste to its shorelines. I can't access the paper, but can anyone verify: Do I understand correctly that this means the US might be as high as third in terms of contributing trash that ends up on the US's coastline?

I see this as a bigger issue than the use of plastic as a whole. If you properly dispose of it (modern trash burning facility and recycling) , it wouldn't be such a huge environmental issue. Open landfills are a disaster.

The government should focus on proper disposal laws. Banning plastic bags at the grocery store is a bandaid on a blood gushing wound.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#32

Post by [deleted] »

the-dude wrote: post #25
INTPenis wrote: post #15

I believe it. But that doesn't mean we're innocent in the rest of the western world. One really cool improvement here in Sweden recently, besides "banning" plastic bags at supermarkets, was one store called ICA started selling their burger pattys in cardboard packaging. So the only plastic is a top foil that you peel off to open the package, the rest is cardboard. Pretty cool! That's one area where we're all guilty,…

Isn't the cardboard 'lined' ? And how much does it actually differ, plastic vs cardboard? For the cardboard, the basic ingredient also has to be harvested, or won another way. Then it needs to be transformed into cardboard.

[deleted]

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#33

Post by lostcolony »

ardit33 wrote: post #22

Pre pandemic, I'd go often to trader joe, and they would give samples. It was maybe a small bite of a food (ice cream, salat, or whatever else), and use a plastic fork for it. Just one bite, and you had to throw it out. It was more plastic than food. Whole Foods was the same. I think it is a crime against environment and I started feeling bad about it, and stopped taking samples when there were plastic utensils. It t…

Yeah; back in the day it used to be wooden toothpicks to spear stuff, and small wooden spoons for things that couldn't be speared. I can only assume things moved to plastic because of cost, which is nauseating.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#35

Post by Swizec »

stormbrew wrote: post #19
cgb223 wrote: post #9

Does anyone know what it would look like for the US to stop using single use plastics? Always thought it would be a cool thing for us to try, but can’t quite figure out how practical that really is

In practice we don't really have replacements for a lot of things "single use plastic" is used for. Sterilized medical equipment, storage and distribution of prepared food products for people with disabilities, and probably a myriad of other minor uses that don't get a lot of attention just don't have practical alternatives without making life untenable for a lot of people. So I don't think there's a world in which w…

That argument feels a little disingenuous. Like when people drive a big truck every day because once per summer they haul a boat.

We can eliminate or at least improve a lot of single use plastics outside medicine and people with special needs.

At my local farmer’s market, for example, all prepared food from food trucks and stands comes in unlined cardboard containers. When you’re done, you throw it in compost because cardboard is compostable. Works great and disadvantages nobody.

You still get plastic cutlery but it says to be made of compostable plastic. I don’t know how well compostable plastic works but I sure hope it does.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#36

Post by elric »

INTPenis wrote: post #15

I believe it. But that doesn't mean we're innocent in the rest of the western world. One really cool improvement here in Sweden recently, besides "banning" plastic bags at supermarkets, was one store called ICA started selling their burger pattys in cardboard packaging. So the only plastic is a top foil that you peel off to open the package, the rest is cardboard. Pretty cool! That's one area where we're all guilty,…

Not to rain on your parade, but all these "little things" add up to ... a little thing.

Cling film and aluminium foil are both incredibly useful at ridiculously tiny thickness/weight levels. One roll of 30m of either easily lasts a year or two in my kitchen. A glass tub probably has way more embodied energy, I'd need more of them, etc. The full life cycle analysis might not be as clear cut as we'd like.

Those "cardboard" foot containers are usually lined/sealed with stuff containing PFAS and goodness knows what else.

In days of yore, butchers (etc) would use wax paper for wrapping food. Which is ... paper ... and paraffin wax. A hydrocarbon usually derived from, you guessed it, petroleum.

This war on useful food packaging is silly and maybe even counter productive. A box of individually wrapped chocolates is pretty stupid. But a pallet full of those boxes is often wrapped with more plastic than all the other packaging combined, and then some!

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#37

Post by hereforphone »

This might be the case, I don't necessarily dispute it. But with this sort of thing always keep in mind that the US (and other Western countries) tend to be more compliant with reporting actual facts than say.... China (who somehow is ranked 107 in the world for covid-19 cases, despite their huge population).

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#38

Post by handrous »

cgb223 wrote: post #9

Does anyone know what it would look like for the US to stop using single use plastics? Always thought it would be a cool thing for us to try, but can’t quite figure out how practical that really is

Everything would get a little more expensive, basically. It's used because it saves money, same as everything else.

Similar to cheap but non-repairable or non-reusable stuff in general. How do we get rid of it? The answers amount to making stuff more expensive, or making labor cheaper, or some combination of the two.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#39

Post by cpuguy83 »

ardit33 wrote: post #22

Pre pandemic, I'd go often to trader joe, and they would give samples. It was maybe a small bite of a food (ice cream, salat, or whatever else), and use a plastic fork for it. Just one bite, and you had to throw it out. It was more plastic than food. Whole Foods was the same. I think it is a crime against environment and I started feeling bad about it, and stopped taking samples when there were plastic utensils. It t…

Never mind how everything in Trader Joe's is packaged in plastic.
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