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Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

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Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#211

Post by mtalantikite »

kingkawn wrote: post #107

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.

Came here to say the same. We stayed in a beachfront house in Laie and the beach was covered in microplastics. Every morning there’d be workers raking the beach to clean it up, but the beaches would be covered in the microplastics again by the end of the day. While I was swimming I’d be surrounded by it as well.

It seemed very much dependent on currents, as beaches further south on the windward shore were still pristine.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#212

Post by fredsir »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #131
fredsir wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm intrigued, still the sceptic in me thinks that most victims of type 2 diabetes are probably just victims of the simpler answer, which is occupying a body that has been exposed to too great amounts of fat (from especially oils and other processed foods) over too great a time period. However, I can only imagine the amount of harm continued consumption of plastic over a long period of time will do to a body, and I f…

Insulin resistance is related to inadequate muscle mass/protein. Research has linked diabetes to inflammation, which may be related to body chemistry or infection or both.

> Insulin resistance is related to inadequate muscle mass/protein.

Source? Insulin resistance is literally a drop in insulin sensitivity caused by intramyocellular lipid, which is the build-up of fat inside muscle cells.

> Research has linked diabetes to inflammation, which may be related to body chemistry or infection or both.

Not as one being the cause of the other. If I'm not mistaken, they are both symptoms caused by for example saturated fat and (possibly) increased BPA consumption, not caused by one another.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#214

Post by WalterSear »

kingkawn wrote: post #111
fenwick67 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it really have a smaller footprint? I'd love to see numbers

Not adding eternally polluting particles to the environment seems like it must have smaller footprint

I believe they are comparing it to regular cotton.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#215

Post by WalterSear »

amanaplanacanal wrote: post #193
dcbadacd wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one thing to consider, but it's ignoring a major aspect - biodegradability. Yes, a plastic bag is in some ways more efficient per ton than a cloth bag but doesn't decompose safely and fast, cloth usually does.

On the bright side, because it doesn't easily biodegrade, it is a form of carbon capture. If you ignore all of its other bad effects.

Taking oil out of the ground and burning part of it to create plastic out of the other part, and then throwing it away or incinerating it, isn't carbon capture :)

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#216

Post by WalterSear »

ams6110 wrote: post #179
CptFribble wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we began taxing externalities to reflect actual total cost to society, consumer behavior would change real quick. My only concern is that we are too far down to rabbit hole with cheap, ubiquitous, damaging materials that if the true cost was reflected in the price no one could afford anything.

But who quantifies the cost of the externalities? Tons of room for political games there.

So we shouldn't try?

Political games are all there is.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#217

Post by avip »

bamboozled wrote: post #94
asteli wrote: post #79

Re: microfibers making it into water systems: This is a con to synthetic fibers that I hadn't been considering before. Recently I learned that cotton has a pretty high environmental footprint (land use, highest pesticide use of any crop, high water consumption) [1], and thus started moving some of my clothing purchases toward polyester-blends (trades the cons of cotton for petrochemical and energy use). Does anyone h…

Checkout organic cotton and hemp. Much lower environmental footprint. You can get some really durable, long lasting, organic cotton and hemp blended clothing which is way more durable, breathable and comfortable than you might imagine. Patagonia (brand) is an easy place to buy organic cotton Tshirts and pants.

It’s logically impossible for organic cotton to have less a footprint.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#218

Post by kartan »

selectodude wrote: post #148
stephengillie wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just got back from a trip asking the Washington State coast, including Westport and Ocean Shores, and Birch Bay near Bellingham. The beaches were nearly pristine, for the number of people there. I only saw the occasional lost sandal on the various beaches, and a few beer cans near bonfire dugouts. I was surprised at the lack of plastic and debris, given reports like yours. Is there a state or federal agency that comb…

Usually the municipality sweeps the beach every morning.

> Usually the municipality sweeps the beach every morning.

This. People don't realize how costly can be to maintain a beach in a good state.

I remember getting early to the beach seeing one of this https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/BronzeOldfashionedKarakul

Even more expensive is beach nourishment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_nourishment

Cleaning work is ungrateful because people only notice it when you do a bad job.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#219

Post by rrcaptain »

balls187 wrote: post #115
nostromo wrote: post #109

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_...

Where does the chain of responsibility end? Do the domestic waste management companies that profited from collecting plastics, only to send waste to China bear any responsibility?

> >Where does the chain of responsibility end?

With capitalism.

>Do the domestic waste management companies that profited from collecting plastics, only to send waste to China bear any responsibility?

I would say they bear all of the responsibility, or at least the vast majority of it, due to the fact they profited from doing what they knew was irresponsible.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#220

Post by rrcaptain »

zeth___ wrote: post #187
woogiewonka wrote: post #151

As an individual who wants to make the biggest impact on this issue, what are my options? I am a UX/UI designer and I wonder what I could do to help rid the world of microplastics. I was thinking off the top of my head: 1. Write a letter to every company that uses exorbitant amount plastic in it's product or packaging (tons of them here in Japan) and try to make them aware of the issue (appeal through emotions - thei…

As posts in the thread have made clear, this is a third world problem which is being exported to the rest of us. A captain for proper sanitation and waste disposal in China and Africa would greatly reduce this problem.

Rather it's a problem we're exporting to the third world.
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