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Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

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Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#291

Post by corvallis »

christophilus wrote: post #275
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…

I suspect that bamboo clothing is the way to go. Bamboo grows anywhere and requires very little input and no pesticides. I don't know what the carbon footprint of turning it into thread is, though. I suspect still smaller than polyester. Plus, bamboo clothes are super soft.

Bamboo itself is "green" but the process to turn it into textiles is anything but. The marketing of bamboo textiles relies on your assumption, which is why it has so far been doing well.

https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-fashion/whatever-happ...

https://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/11/06/bamboo-has-a...

The second article requires a subscription to WSJ but you can find the same information elsewhere on the web.

My philosophy for a long time now has been to take good care of existing clothing/textiles, purchase used as much as possible, and purchase fewer items overall - only what I absolutely need to live my life in a reasonable manner, without excess or mindless purchases.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#292

Post by pq0ak2nnd »

gdfasfklshg4 wrote: post #243
pq0ak2nnd wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Such a tiny country importing so much waste and dumping it in the ocean. There is every chance that your plastic waste ends up in the ocean via Vietnam. EDIT: Other countries know that this is happening and should bear their share of the blame.

Oof. I completely forgot about that. I remember seeing a footage of a young boy in Singapore sorting dumped US plastic PC chassis by burning them with a lighter and smelling the fumes.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#293

Post by another-cuppa »

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…

The best thing to do is probably to buy high quality clothes and keep them for a long time. Don't buy t-shirts (especially printed t-shirts) that wear out quickly and get disposed of. Buy shirts and take care of them. Don't wash them often. Wash then minimally when they become dirty. They'll last you many years this way.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#294

Post by intended »

CptFribble wrote: post #42
dmritard96 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. There should be a mitigation cost associated with all plastics. Nothing more frustrating than buying a container for some food that will last for millennia meanwhile the food was consumed in a couple minutes... More generally, I hope more will push for taxes on all things we want to discourage as means of weening off. Oil, coal, plastic, high impact animal products. All of them have huge external costs, none…

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.

Hah, I guarantee it.

The majority of this forum will think from a first world perspective.

Remember that per capita consumption of plastic in India is FAR lower than the first world average.

And then remember that no politician in the world can be elected, unless he promises growth - which directly means more consumption of plastic wrapped goods.

We haven't even seen peak plastic.

In only part jest, I think our best hope is a plastic eating bacterium, which will also mean that plastic ceases to be the wonder compound it is.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#295

Post by [deleted] »

subcosmos wrote: post #73
timr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TCF7L2 is a transcription factor. It is involved in many pathways in human biology, of which diabetes is one. Observing that it is downregulated in diabetics provides no evidence for or against any theories concerning BPA.

It's also the most statistically significant gene, in the whole dang genome, associated with Type 2 Diabetes. And out of a compound library of 20k chemicals, BPA had the top effect on it. Seems significant to me Also worth noting that BPA has been shown to specifically effect the occupancy of TCF7L2 at transcription factor binding sites in Chip-Seq experiments. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/endo-meetings…

[deleted]

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#297

Post by dmritard96 »

CptFribble wrote: post #42
dmritard96 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. There should be a mitigation cost associated with all plastics. Nothing more frustrating than buying a container for some food that will last for millennia meanwhile the food was consumed in a couple minutes... More generally, I hope more will push for taxes on all things we want to discourage as means of weening off. Oil, coal, plastic, high impact animal products. All of them have huge external costs, none…

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.

I think not being able to afford these things is the goal though. The trick is in how you do it.

The simplest example is just phasing in a 'negative externality tax'. First year is x * .1, second year is x * .2, etc.

I think the trade tariffs should be done the same way so that we don't just shock and awe and everyone can reposition in ways that works for all while also ultimately addressing the various parties issues. I don't understand the step function style introduction of change - it seems like a really clumsy approach.

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#298

Post by [deleted] »

subcosmos wrote: post #73
timr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TCF7L2 is a transcription factor. It is involved in many pathways in human biology, of which diabetes is one. Observing that it is downregulated in diabetics provides no evidence for or against any theories concerning BPA.

It's also the most statistically significant gene, in the whole dang genome, associated with Type 2 Diabetes. And out of a compound library of 20k chemicals, BPA had the top effect on it. Seems significant to me Also worth noting that BPA has been shown to specifically effect the occupancy of TCF7L2 at transcription factor binding sites in Chip-Seq experiments. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/endo-meetings…

[deleted]

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#299

Post by mikepurvis »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #162
mikepurvis wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The west benefits from a robust system for handling and landfilling waste. Our responsibility as far as the ocean is in modelling and exporting that culture to nations where the handling systems are not in place. I see this as similar to how the culture of smoking has been "exported" to places where there isn't nearly the same infrastructure present to limit access for kids, prevent second hand smoke exposure, and he…

In that vein, I’ve noticed how little many seemingly progressive companies care about plastic waste. Lots of products that I would think are meant to cater to a progressive, “green” crowd use thick packaging apparently to give the product a premium feel. Hint brand water is one example, and a bag of Forager chips I had recently did this too. The thick plastic gives the product a premium feel but is utterly destructiv…

We noticed this recently with the Quip toothbrush. The whole concept is reasonable, and I get that they're limited to some degree by hygiene regulations, but it's just nuts that your brush tip "refill" shows up every three months in a think, nalgene-bottle-like enclosure. Which is apparently itself recyclable, but it feels like there's got to be a better way.

Quip's statement on the matter: https://help.getquip.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000320463-Is-q...

Re: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

#300

Post by dang »

Gibbon1 wrote: post #250
fredsir wrote: 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…

> fredsir Stop downvoting people you simply disagree with.

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