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Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

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201–210 of 318 posts

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#201

Personal anecdote; just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Many of the beaches there had significant deposits of pebble sized and smaller visible plastic particles. Presumably there’s exponentially more smaller ones that I couldn’t as easily see. Some of the beaches had plastic floating in the water. Locals said it wasn’t island dumped garbage, it was brought in from currents from the ocean. Horrific to see.

For those asking for pictures, I didn’t take any of the plastic in the water, only the beach. It was near Laie on Oahu. It seemed current and shoreline dependent. https://postimg.cc/gallery/2d0q09gqk/

On remote beaches I have visited in Australia there are large items but nothing like the amount of small items in this photo. I wonder if you could use machine learning to automatically classify plastic in photos like this based on color and shape. People could then submit all photos like this from all over the world to build a database of plastic levels, which could be used with ocean currents to provide source information. Maybe it has happened.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#202
post #200

It should be possible to design floating trash collecting buoys in swimming areas that would gather trash due to wave action, no power or active mechanisms needed. Perhaps someone would go by and empty them every morning. Hotels and resorts on beaches would love to have something like this.

How would it differentiate between algae, plankton, and natural waste?

What incentive do hospitality services have to perform this on bodies of water they do not have control of? Won’t it just be swapped with the same quality of water the next day?

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#203
post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would locals know where the garbage came from?

Garbage can sometimes be identified. Think floating bottles with intact labels, yoghurt containers with a specific language, etc. anything so tiny that it can’t be identified is almost by definition part of the global flow because it takes time for plastic to break down.

... and locals are using this logic?

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#205
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's irrelevant. It's still the fat that causes type 2 diabetes. That doesn't mean keto can't work because it clearly can as long as it doesn't lead to overconsumption of fat. Also there are different kinds of carbs. As long as you keep to whole-food carbs, you practically can't eat too many (except for a few kinds like nuts and seeds and avocados) because you will be full long before it's too much. It's a differen…

I see this copy pasta replicated several times. What do you mean by "cause type 2 diabetes"? Type 2, you body is simply not making a sufficient amount of insulin to get the desired effect. In many cases, this is because the individual has developed "insulin resistance" but the pancreas is producing what would be an adequate amount otherwise. And this is usually due to "fat", as in, fat stores in that individual. It i…

> Type 2, you body is simply not making a sufficient amount of insulin to get the desired effect.

No, that is type 1.

> In many cases, this is because the individual has developed "insulin resistance" but the pancreas is producing what would be an adequate amount otherwise. And this is usually due to "fat", as in, fat stores in that individual. It is not directly related to consumption of fat.

Indeed, but the body prioriteses food, and it's easier for the body to store saturated fat than carbs, and since people in the western world where diabetes and other heart diseases rule, over consumption of whole-food carbs doesn't, but instead oils and other fatty-food does, so I'd say that is more likely the cause. Also the studies done supports this. You could check out this[1] 5 min video and this[2] that talks about a few studies that showed that insulin resistance decreases and diabetics of 20 years gets off insulin in mere weeks, on the same amount of calories, after they switch to a diet that prioriteses whole-food carbs over fat. All studies referenced in the videos are linked to.

[1]: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-causes-insulin-resista... [2]: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die-from-diabete...

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#206
post #204

Support the ocean cleanup project. Some people are very sceptical about the project but it's the only project that is trying to collect plastic asap. Asap = 18 days from now. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/

I have a bridge project to Hawaii that I'd like to sell you. Some people are very skeptical aout the project but it's the only project that is trying to build a bridge to Hawaii.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#207
post #206
post #204

Support the ocean cleanup project. Some people are very sceptical about the project but it's the only project that is trying to collect plastic asap. Asap = 18 days from now. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/

I have a bridge project to Hawaii that I'd like to sell you. Some people are very skeptical aout the project but it's the only project that is trying to build a bridge to Hawaii.

If there is a need for such bridge and you can show me your plan, your R&D and a working prototype I might support your bridge project.

Maybe you should check the website and see it for yourself.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#208

Personal anecdote; just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Many of the beaches there had significant deposits of pebble sized and smaller visible plastic particles. Presumably there’s exponentially more smaller ones that I couldn’t as easily see. Some of the beaches had plastic floating in the water. Locals said it wasn’t island dumped garbage, it was brought in from currents from the ocean. Horrific to see.

4 months ago took a car to beaches up and down the west and east sides of a Oahu. No hotel / high traffic beaches considered here: bits of plastic across all beaches. A specific light blue tube plastic material never longer than a couple inches was spoted many times on both sides of the island, felt very like vacationing a sand trap for the world's trash.

Visit Cyprus: their south-coast beaches are the worst I've ever seen in the Mediterranean: cigarette butts & plastic caps uniformly distributed in the sand to a depth of about 30cm. Oddly, just to the East, Crete's beaches were spotless, so it must be due to cleanup and not currents. Guessing.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#209

A small number of countries are responsible for the majority of plastic in the ocean. China is far and away the worst offender: https://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_12211_... https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_...

Wow, Vietnam vs. US. Such a tiny country producing so much waste in the ocean.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#210
post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Garbage can sometimes be identified. Think floating bottles with intact labels, yoghurt containers with a specific language, etc. anything so tiny that it can’t be identified is almost by definition part of the global flow because it takes time for plastic to break down.

... and locals are using this logic?

...why wouldn't they be?
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