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Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

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Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#191

Post by dragonwriter »

usrusr wrote: post #127
isolli wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was vegetarian for 20 years, vegan for 7, yet I started eating meat and fish about a year ago. Here are my thoughts: - I started eating animal products again for health reason; I believe many people can thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet, but I couldn't. It makes me unhappy, but there I am. - Similarly vegetarian and vegan for a long time, my wife started craving animal products the minute she got pregnant. And a…

> limited consumption of animal products It would be more impactful get three people to reduce meat by 50% than to get one to reduce by 100%. Unfortunately, "meals that don't have a chunk of meat as their centerpiece but that are still far from vegetarian" does not have the same ideological zeal as veganism (speaking in the context of a western industrial background). When eating out (again: western cuisine), the mea…

> It would be more impactful get three people to reduce meat by 50% than to get one to reduce by 100%. Unfortunately, "meals that don't have a chunk of meat as their centerpiece but that are still far from vegetarian" does not have the same ideological zeal as veganism

So, work to get people to try a different appreciate meatless options; as you note, they are getting better. You can reduce meat consumption by eating meat-centered meals less frequently as well as eating some-but-less meat in each meal.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#192

Post by theandrewbailey »

ASlave2Gravity wrote: post #113
verasio wrote: post #99

China. Indonesia. Philippines. Vietnam. Sri Lanka. This chart says it all: https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting... They are everyone's oceans and these countries are disproportionately choking them with plastic. Blame must be focused on them for meaningful change to happen. I'm a foreigner living in one of these countries and it is shocking how absolutely careless and ignorant the majority of…

Doesn't China buy up a lot of US / EU plastic waste via recycling programmes? Are these numbers offset because once China buys the waste, they simply dump it? Are we knowingly selling our plastic waste to a state that will miss-manage it? I know China lately has stopped buying plastic waste from states.

China doesn't take plastic anymore.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/world/china-recyclables-b...

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#193

Post by 0xcafecafe »

verasio wrote: post #99

China. Indonesia. Philippines. Vietnam. Sri Lanka. This chart says it all: https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting... They are everyone's oceans and these countries are disproportionately choking them with plastic. Blame must be focused on them for meaningful change to happen. I'm a foreigner living in one of these countries and it is shocking how absolutely careless and ignorant the majority of…

I am surprised India is not there in that list. Are they doing something well which other countries aren't?

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#194

Post by grawprog »

cobbzilla wrote: post #183
dalbasal wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Commercial fishing is a lot less important than commercial hunting was 200 years ago. The sea is bigger, and the industry can switch to new species when one gets depleted (eg cod, salmon and tuna were once far more abundant) but the problems are still the problems. A fishery, like a bison herd, cannot handle the might of a modern industry. Quota systems and controls keep fisheries from immediately collapsing, but the…

(I know there are concerns with many commercial fish farming operations today) Couldn't sustainable fish farms, done right, solve this? Tree farms seem to work, iirc the amount of forested land in the US actually started increasing in the past few years.

Fish farms have their own problems especially open-pen ones they use for things like salmon.

http://www.alexandramorton.ca/salmon-confidential-booklet/

Tree farms are also not a forest. There's no real ecosystem there. They're just rows of commercially viable trees planted and left until they're old enough to harvest.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#196

Post by CannisterFlux »

ndnxhs wrote: post #80
yardstick wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More emphasis is needed on the Reduce and Reuse aspects of recycling. The ordering of the slogan is intentional: Reduce, Reuse, and only after those we should then Recycle. How can we better minimise the amount of plastic that is thrown out in the first place?

I'd like to know this as well. The only solution I know is to buy everything at a local farmers market and make everything yourself which seems extremely impractical for most people. How for example do I not end up with waste shampoo bottles? Its not like I can reuse them because I don't have any way to get shampoo without another bottle.

I haven't tried this but you can buy shampoo in solid bars, like bars of soap, rather than in bottles.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#197

Post by mlrtime »

cageface wrote: post #35

These stories rarely mention this for some reason but the bulk of the plastic junk in the ocean is discarded fishing nets, not consumer waste. Reducing the plastic waste you personally generate is still a good idea, of course, but if you really want to have an impact then stop eating fish. https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/ocean-plastic-made-disca... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/great-pacific-ga...

Shouldn't that say "stop eating wild fish" Surely most of the fish we eat is farmed which in no way impacts nets in the wild?

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#198

Post by ataturk »

dalbasal wrote: post #115
ehnto wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure that is good advice. Fixing the fishing industry is important, overfishing is rampant as is plastic waste from it. But fish is probably one of the best alternatives we have to other environmentally unfriendly meats we currently raise. As populations grow it is proving to be key to keeping everyone fed. Farmed fish most importantly will soon be the majority of fish consumed. Getting ocean based fishing t…

Commercial fishing is a lot less important than commercial hunting was 200 years ago. The sea is bigger, and the industry can switch to new species when one gets depleted (eg cod, salmon and tuna were once far more abundant) but the problems are still the problems. A fishery, like a bison herd, cannot handle the might of a modern industry. Quota systems and controls keep fisheries from immediately collapsing, but the…

It's a shit sandwich, not a fish sandwich. I have begun to feel pretty guilty about the occasional fish fry knowing that we're screwing up the oceans so badly. But what makes me supremely annoyed is that the Far East isn't doing anything to rein in pollution, they just dump shit into rivers and the ocean and go about their merry way.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#199

Post by organsnyder »

maxwell wrote: post #179
mcv wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just in New Zealand. It hurts me when I see people not finishing their plate. I will eat myself sick before I will throw away food. Sadly, this has developed into a bit of a weight problem. And then there's restaurants and supermarkets which throw away enormous amounts of unsold food. We should buy and cook less food, or maybe have a quick way of sharing left-over food with people who are hungry.

Obesity is now a bigger problem worldwide than hunger.

Is that because hunger has been diminished, or because obesity has increased?

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#200

Post by dorfsmay »

scotty79 wrote: post #158
isolli wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was vegetarian for 20 years, vegan for 7, yet I started eating meat and fish about a year ago. Here are my thoughts: - I started eating animal products again for health reason; I believe many people can thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet, but I couldn't. It makes me unhappy, but there I am. - Similarly vegetarian and vegan for a long time, my wife started craving animal products the minute she got pregnant. And a…

I don't mind vegetarian. I rarely eat meat and never crave for it. However vegan just sounds horrible. Eggs and cheeses are incredible, milk, fish, prawns. Cutting them out feels like cutting half of the nutrients out of my diet. I wouldn't risk it unless I had very extensive knowledge and dedication to human dietary requirements and what which plants can provide, which I don't have and won't have.

Aren't fish and prawns animals? Would you still considered a vegetarian if you ate them?
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