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Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

motherjones.com

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Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#11

Post by _qwfv »

version_five wrote: post #3

The canadian government is big into the business of making these kind of "declarations" these days, so our PM can demonstrate to everyone how progressive he is. Although I don't think Mother Jones is a legitimate news source, so would be careful about taking anything in the article at face value.

Most progressive folks I know are pretty disillusioned with the Canadian PM for being a Liberal and not at all a Leftist. His treatment of indigenous people in particular is something they've repeatedly pointed out as glaringly terrible.

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#12

Post by [deleted] »

_qwfv wrote: post #6

Great. Regulation and reduction of plastic production is long overdue. There are some places where it makes sense to use plastic, but we're far, far overproducing the stuff because it's convenient. It's fantastically difficult to recycle in practice, burning it produces toxic smoke and carbon emissions, and putting it into the waste stream results in a bunch of it getting dropped on the sides of roadways.

[deleted]

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#13

Post by dataflow »

It's such a pleasant surprise to me how effectively and quickly people have become concerned about this issue. The recent WWF report came out less than 2 years ago [1]. Microplastics were obviously known for a long time, but that's when conversations about microplastics re-ignited. And now we can see an entire country declaring plastics toxic and restricting them. If you'd asked me an hour ago, I'd have predicted it'd take at least another decade before concern about this would spread widely enough to prompt a national policy shift. Great to see that raising public awareness can actually do something!

[1] https://wwf.panda.org/?348371/Could-you-be-eating-a-credit-c...

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#14

Post by aussieguy1234 »

Many people might think something as massive as the ocean is basically unlimited and that there's no way us humans could screw it up.

Not true. Take a sample of seawater from almost anywhere right now and you'll find microplastics. Something like 80% of the world's fish stocks are also gone from overfishing.

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#15

Post by gogopuppygogo »

hirundo wrote: post #7
maxqin1 wrote: post #2

The focus here is on the environment. However, plastic is linked to many health issues as well.

Plastic packaging makes hygienic food more accessible as an effective and cheap barrier to pathogens, incoming and outgoing. Such public health interests should be balanced against their toxicity. It's easier for wealthier people to substitute with restaurants, servants and higher quality materials. So a general plastic ban would amount to a regressive tax on sanitary food.

That penn and teller episode with the petition for removing dihydrogen monoxide from schools was fantastic.

https://youtu.be/zVxypRWZODQ

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#17

Post by version_five »

908B64B197 wrote: post #5
version_five wrote: post #3

The canadian government is big into the business of making these kind of "declarations" these days, so our PM can demonstrate to everyone how progressive he is. Although I don't think Mother Jones is a legitimate news source, so would be careful about taking anything in the article at face value.

> so our PM can demonstrate to everyone how progressive he is. Maybe he should focus on providing vaccines instead (Canada's vaccination rate sits at barely 4% while the US is at 38%) [0] and stop pushing pipelines to export some of the most environmentally destructive oil on the planet [1]. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccina... [1] https://news.yahoo.com/trudeau-stresses-disappointment-…

Not an expert in the oil sands but personally I think there are benefits from getting oil from a virtually uninhabited area in northern canada vs relying on other suppliers.

I completely agree on the vaccine issue, Canada had failed miserably vs. comparator nations in this regard.

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#18

Post by bearcobra »

908B64B197 wrote: post #5
version_five wrote: post #3

The canadian government is big into the business of making these kind of "declarations" these days, so our PM can demonstrate to everyone how progressive he is. Although I don't think Mother Jones is a legitimate news source, so would be careful about taking anything in the article at face value.

> so our PM can demonstrate to everyone how progressive he is. Maybe he should focus on providing vaccines instead (Canada's vaccination rate sits at barely 4% while the US is at 38%) [0] and stop pushing pipelines to export some of the most environmentally destructive oil on the planet [1]. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccina... [1] https://news.yahoo.com/trudeau-stresses-disappointment-…

Over 40% of Canadians are partially vaccinated

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#19

Post by aussieguy1234 »

version_five wrote: post #3

The canadian government is big into the business of making these kind of "declarations" these days, so our PM can demonstrate to everyone how progressive he is. Although I don't think Mother Jones is a legitimate news source, so would be careful about taking anything in the article at face value.

In the same way Fox News and the Murdoch owned press has an agenda, so does Mother Jones.

However, their reporting is mostly factual. I'd say more so than Fox News https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_controversies

Re: Canada declares plastics toxic, paving the way for restrictions

#20

Post by belinder »

_qwfv wrote: post #6

Great. Regulation and reduction of plastic production is long overdue. There are some places where it makes sense to use plastic, but we're far, far overproducing the stuff because it's convenient. It's fantastically difficult to recycle in practice, burning it produces toxic smoke and carbon emissions, and putting it into the waste stream results in a bunch of it getting dropped on the sides of roadways.

Hopefully reduction of plastic production does not lead to reduction in plastic recycling.
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