Earlier quoted context omitted.
I assumed we were talking about the high-tonnage 18-wheeler semis in context, not last-mile delivery.
What are you going to replace those with?
Trains
Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
191–200 of 328 posts
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#192100 million pounds of lost gear by the fishing industry is such a ridiculous underestimate that, judging by some of the comments here, make people believe this number to be somehow OK. The fishing industry has been dodging responsibility for ocean pollution and habitat destruction for forever, good to see more research that people can use to put pressure on them to actually give a s** and change their ways.
My first thought as well that it's a massive underestimate. I live on a fishing island in Iceland (Commercial fishing, not quaint little boats like some people imagine) and there are piles of nets everywhere the size of houses, a factory that does nothing but make new plastic nets 2 shifts a day, and we can remove several large black garbage bags worth of fishing junk a day from just a few of the beaches surrounding just our 3km across island.
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
The corollary to this argument is that most environmental issues routinely blamed on individual behavior pale in comparison to the externalities from industry and commerce People talk shutting off the faucet while brushing one's teeth but ~70% of global freshwater usage comes from agriculture and ~20% from industry, with municipalities accounting for only 10%
> The corollary to this argument is that most environmental issues routinely blamed on individual behavior pale in comparison to the externalities from industry and commerce I agree with internalizing externalities, but let's not pretend that isn't part of individual behavior (consumer demand drives industry), or that individuals don't benefit from them in some way.
And individual behavior is just the result of the culture and the systems that surround us. We can campaign for individual change all day long, and they'll have less effect than what legislation could bring.
In fact I don't think individuals have much choice. They can inconvenience, or hinder themselves, in what effectively amount to a race amongst each other, or they can participate as fully as they can, thereby also dealing as much damage as the system or culture lets them. Circling back to cars and car culture as a prime example, the popular Not Just Bikes channel also talks about this. In their example of a city in the Netherlands, it's not that people love to bike and therefore bike a lot. It's that the environment is optimized to getting around in not just cars, but for pedestrian, and cycling traffic. Therefore people, who just want to get around, choose these two more often. As long as there's a game, they'll be players, so in order to minimize damage by the players, we need to change the game. Not the player.
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The corollary to this argument is that most environmental issues routinely blamed on individual behavior pale in comparison to the externalities from industry and commerce I agree with internalizing externalities, but let's not pretend that isn't part of individual behavior (consumer demand drives industry), or that individuals don't benefit from them in some way.
And individual behavior is just the result of the culture and the systems that surround us. We can campaign for individual change all day long, and they'll have less effect than what legislation could bring. In fact I don't think individuals have much choice. They can inconvenience, or hinder themselves, in what effectively amount to a race amongst each other, or they can participate as fully as they can, thereby als…
As someone who lives in the Netherlands it's certainly true that our country is well-optimized for bicycles, and I personally do everything either by bicycle or by public transport as I do not even have a driving license, but it's also true that the Netherlands is easy mode for building the necessary infrastructure - extremely flat, densely populated, and wealthy.
This isn't meant to disagree with you or the people who bring the Netherlands up as a positive example.
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#195Not to minimize the impact to ocean life and the environment, but lost fishing gear costs money. The upside of which is that there is direct financial incentive to recover lost gear. I know nothing about this space, but a former coworker started a company about ten years ago in part to allow fishers to track and recover their gear: https://www.blueoceangear.com/
It depend a lot on the kind of fishing operation. At small scale the fishing gear is a large part of the investment. This is why repairing nets is a large part of those peoples time. Tracking is a nice technological solution, through at small scale the money is tight and local knowledge usually mean that they know where the net is by memory/intuition and keeping track of where the winds/currents are going.
Large scale fishing fleet however do not generally repair fishing nets, especially trawlers. It not economical to spent time and manpower for it, and since they are out at sea for weeks/months there isn't any space. The law require them to dispose broken nets at landfills but that is a cost center. As such it is suspected is that they just intentionally throw the nets over board.
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#196It is so obvious, and has been known for years, yet the EU banned plastic straws because of the waste in the oceans, so now every drink tastes like a schoolbook. Well done EU...
Some restaurants I've been to, used real straws made of real wheat.
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
And individual behavior is just the result of the culture and the systems that surround us. We can campaign for individual change all day long, and they'll have less effect than what legislation could bring. In fact I don't think individuals have much choice. They can inconvenience, or hinder themselves, in what effectively amount to a race amongst each other, or they can participate as fully as they can, thereby als…
As someone who lives in the Netherlands it's certainly true that our country is well-optimized for bicycles, and I personally do everything either by bicycle or by public transport as I do not even have a driving license, but it's also true that the Netherlands is easy mode for building the necessary infrastructure - extremely flat, densely populated, and wealthy. This isn't meant to disagree with you or the people w…
It isn't well-optimized. It's certainly more optimized, but anything outside a major city is optimized for cars first and foremost. Anything below the size of Eindhoven included.
The stats reflect this (car usage is still going up / barely going down, car size increasing) and it is easily explained given how far people are expected to live away from work without paying a small fortune in rent. On top of that, infrastructure outside cities is getting worse for car-free enthusiasts. Public transit is getting actively worse and more expensive, roads are still optimized around cars first and foremost, and WFH is still barely pushed.
The Netherlands is a great example of how difficult it is, and how easy it is for a government to stop trying beyond the lowest of lowhanging fruit (carfree city centers). A few Americans gasping at the infrastructure of Utrecht not being atrocious doesn't change the 1 hour commute from a popular driveby town 25km away from a medium-sized city.
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
Build more trains, and then make smaller trucks that are locally bound.
That's already what's happening. The US has some of the best railways in the world. It's just that for various institutional reasons the Americans suck at passenger rail, so people totally ignore that their freight rail works really, really well. Guess which part of the industry is in government hands, and which part is privatised and deregulated?
Of course, this ignores that the tracks are mostly privately owned and the private operators prioritize their own freight traffic over the passenger traffic despite the latter being less time sensitive.
The one part where the passenger rail does work well is where the government passenger rail company also owns the network...
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably lighter vehicles? Wear is superlinear with weight. Unfortunately, EVs aren't great on this axis.
Let’s not forget brake dust which is a lot worse than microplastics, EVs create a ton of that. I bet all things considered, ICE Toyota Yaris is less bad for the environment than some Tesla.
Don't EV brake less because of regenerative braking?
Re: Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
#200To place this in context, it's 50,000 tons/year of fishing waste, versus 200,000 tons/year of microplastics from car tires: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/14/car-tyre... Further, microplastics enter the ecosystem far easier than the bulky big plastic from fishing gear, so the tire microplastics should be far more concerning to people. It's really weird how cars get a pass for so much. Try to live a…
How about … shipping vessels? Ships in general.