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Plastics are poisoning us

newyorker.com

31–40 of 528 posts

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#31
post #3

Something I recently learned is that PFAS, which might be a carcinogen and probably isn’t good for you, are in compostable take-way containers. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/pfas-compostable-food-packag...

I was always a bit surprised to see these. At work, we used to have your classic Nespresso plasticy-cardboard coffee cups. They could be reused during the day, but you'd basically throw them away after a few uses. Now we get some "eco" "compostable" ones. To my untrained eye, aside from the different color, they look and feel exactly the same. They even have a drawing on them that I interpret as "we kill turtles". No…

IMO anything that is heated and plastic or plastic-adjacent is suspect.

Not to mention the fact a lot of these “eco” things need special equipment to process which isn’t available everywhere

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#32

Much of the 80's recycling movement was funded as greenwashing by the plastics industry. The lie was that plastic was a "closed cycle" and "infinitely reusable." In the late 90's/early 00's, "biodegradable plastic" was another lie. We need to ban all materials that persist with poisonous degradation products. Most bottles should then transition back to glass or to enamel-lined (not BPA) cans. Glass persists for thous…

i like to walk barefeet, so i worry about glass pollution all the time

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#33
post #25
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 5. Collect rain water and/or use less water Not sure about that -- With modern pollution rain water is not likely to be safe to drink (depends on your location) > 9. fuck sugary drinks Massive yes! Amazing for your own health too.

>> 5. Collect rain water and/or use less water > > Not sure about that -- With modern pollution rain water is not likely to be safe to drink (depends on your location) Water availability is also very different from country to country, region to region, and even town to town. How your water usage affects the environment depends on so many things.

I collect rain water but use it on the veggie garden. So either it is safer because I ma not drinking it directly OR it is worse because the planet are bio-accumulating it. I don't know.

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#34

I became a minimist to save the planet as much as i could. Its easier than any one could think you know. Here is what i have been doing for a decade and would receommend 1. Reusing plastic bags (i love cotton bags but not ideal). Fold and keep one or two in your pocket before you leave home 2. Support and use light software so you dont need to upgrade your gadgets (12y laptop i use) 3. Prepare and eat home cooked mea…

> 8. Carry a water bottle (copper ideal).

It's toxic…

Copper pots are not copper on the inside because of this reason.

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#35

I became a minimist to save the planet as much as i could. Its easier than any one could think you know. Here is what i have been doing for a decade and would receommend 1. Reusing plastic bags (i love cotton bags but not ideal). Fold and keep one or two in your pocket before you leave home 2. Support and use light software so you dont need to upgrade your gadgets (12y laptop i use) 3. Prepare and eat home cooked mea…

> 8. Carry a water bottle (copper ideal). Why is copper better than stainless steel?

It's not better, since it's toxic.

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#36
> For a hundred and thirty-four dollars, she purchases a box that can be returned to TerraCycle filled with plastic packaging,

    No match for domain "BETTACYCLE.COM".
Looks like I found my next startup.

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#37
The study found that, to have a lower environmental impact than a plastic bag, a paper bag would have to be used forty-three times and a cotton tote would have to be used an astonishing seventy-one hundred times. “How many of those bags will last that long?” Franklin-Wallis asks. Walker-Franklin and Jambeck also note that exchanging plastic for other materials may involve “tradeoffs,” including “energy and water use and carbon emissions.”

Why am I not surprised.

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#38
post #32

Much of the 80's recycling movement was funded as greenwashing by the plastics industry. The lie was that plastic was a "closed cycle" and "infinitely reusable." In the late 90's/early 00's, "biodegradable plastic" was another lie. We need to ban all materials that persist with poisonous degradation products. Most bottles should then transition back to glass or to enamel-lined (not BPA) cans. Glass persists for thous…

i like to walk barefeet, so i worry about glass pollution all the time

"we can't require eco-friendly alternatives to plastics because people litter" was not on my bingo sheet for today...

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#39
It's a lot about recycling and very little about how it's poisoning human beings.

I have a lot of unpopular opinions about plastic. I personally think it's not that big of a deal. Benzine compounds are naaty, but they're in your drinking water. I don't like them. But most plastic is organic compounds since it comes from oil. There are already microbes metabolizing it in the wild, and it's a rich energy source that most organisms aren't using, you can expect that adapted niche to be filled very quickly by those organisms. Additionally, I think there's too much of an aversion to burning it. Whether its for disposal or for fuel via depolymerization, I think we need to be burning more plastic. If you're worried about CO2 bear in mind, this stuff is in the environment and will decompose eventually. Overall I'm not that concerned about it, besides some things like PFAS and benzine compounds.

And all that said, I'd bet money I dispose of significantly less plastic than the average European. First is water bottles. I don't do water bottles. I use those 5 gallon jugs and a hand pump dispenser on amazon, it works like a super soaker or a garden sprayer. That alone has me ahead of most Americans. Beyond that I prefer paper bags, and glass over plastic containers. It's just lifestyle decisions, I hardly care but I do it, it's not even effort at this point, it's just different habits. If you care and can't be bothered and I don't care and do it, do you really care? Avoiding single use plastic in your household is not really all that hard, things you can't avoid like linings in cans and what not aren't the problem, grocery bags and water bottles are the big ones, and you can do other things like never buy teflon, which I also do.

Re: Plastics are poisoning us

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 8. Carry a water bottle (copper ideal). Why is copper better than stainless steel?

Copper is known to help kill more bacteria and thus helps additionally purify the water (1) 1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3067274/

Won't it also kill you if you put something acidic in the bottle? Like water with a spritz of lemon? That's why copper pots have a lining, anyway. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdigris
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