Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics • Hacker News Board

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#321

Post by fooblaster » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:37 PM UTC

reducesuffering wrote: post #282

wcunning wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most popular F150s are significantly less gas guzzling than my 2005 sedan that I replaced with an F150. Not to mention that my F150 is more capable in winter conditions (major importance in Michigan) and more capable for the DIY stuff I do (I actually do regularly get lumber, plywood, drywall and other things that only fit in the 8ft bed that I actually bought). All while using less gas... Efficiency has gone up…

A new F150 is getting 19 city / 24 highway, while ten year old Prius are getting more than double that at 45mpg. Every single trip you make in an F150 without lumber is more than double the gas guzzling than current state of the art. New Prius are 57mpg and AWD. And I've fit tons of plywood, furniture, and even a 50 gal. water heater in my Prius.

Not to mention how dangerous these large trucks like the F150 are to pedestrians. It's a real shame vehicles like this have been normalized.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#322

Post by lazide » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:39 PM UTC

undersuit wrote: post #96

lazide wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it’s easier and (value of time) cheaper, why not?

You seem to have different issues than the person I'm replying to. Maybe your situation is different. If you nearest grocery store is 45 minutes away by walking maybe your situation requires a different solution than someone who has expressed interest to walk but stated that they might buy too many groceries to walk that home.

Nope. A car is convenient (the comment I was replying too) in both situations!

Weird, eh?

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#323

Post by lazide » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:40 PM UTC

swores wrote: post #115

CableNinja wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Housing density, and radius of "walkable" to the average human. I live in a neighborhood full of small apartments, single level duplexes, and single family homes. What stores are walkable? The liquor store, and gas station, and if i really feel like it, dominos and 7-11, both of which are at least 1/4 mile one way. Most others in this area, dont get those even. Past that its about a mile one way to the actual grocery…

So people in your type of neighbourhood maybe can't start walking everywhere right away, but you don't need to also think "walking is out forever" - you can start lobbying your local politicians, and voting for the ones who want to improve things rather than sit in their 4x4 enjoying the status quo. (And personally if I lived somewhere unwalkable I'd move home to address that, though I appreciate there can be reasons…

Though folks who prioritized that would probably not move to such a place in large numbers?

Unless they changed their mind to that state due to some major economic shifts after the move anyway.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#324

Post by lazide » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:41 PM UTC

badpun wrote: post #231

CableNinja wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Housing density, and radius of "walkable" to the average human. I live in a neighborhood full of small apartments, single level duplexes, and single family homes. What stores are walkable? The liquor store, and gas station, and if i really feel like it, dominos and 7-11, both of which are at least 1/4 mile one way. Most others in this area, dont get those even. Past that its about a mile one way to the actual grocery…

A mile to a store is a very comfortable distance. I've lived in such situation for a couple of years and just walked to the store a couple times a week, hauling back a couple of kilograms of groceries in my backpack every time. I needed the walk and the exercise anyway, and this way I was killing two birds with one stone.

So no kids?

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#325

Post by seb1204 » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:41 PM UTC

luis8 wrote: post #278

BowBun wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Even solar + wind - when the buzz started it was all rainbows and butterflies because we found a silver bullet to energy! There is no such thing as free lunch. If you start absorbing massive amounts of solar, you will have some effect on the environment that we have absolutely no clue about. Same with interfering with wind patterns and ocean currents, which would happen with energy generation at true humanity…

Looks like nuclear with proper waste disposal is they way to go

It is not. Proper waste disposal is an unsolved issue that extends beyond so many human generations. Also I suspect that social licence and NIMBYism will make it impossible to build them in time to save us from global warming.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#326

Post by userbinator » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:43 PM UTC

danny_codes wrote: post #295

userbinator wrote: post #280

"Yes, and?" It's time we just stopped caring and propagating this doomer scaremongering. Researchers looking for things will certainly find them, not necessarily because they're true, but because the null hypothesis doesn't bring any fame or fortune.

> Researchers looking for things will certainly find them, not necessarily because they're true, but because the null hypothesis doesn't bring any fame or fortune. Are you saying that the researchers did faulty science? Or that you don't think microplastics are a problem?

Both.

Remember when microwave ovens were thought to cause cancer, and then cellphones a few decades later? You can find plenty of "research" to support those claims.

Just like RF, humans have been exposed to microplastics for over a century now. The biggest difference is that sociopolitical ideology has become more pervasive and environmentalist virtue-signaling is now fashionable and brings in the fame and fortune.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#327

Post by dragontamer » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:45 PM UTC

uoaei wrote: post #183

dragontamer wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My overall point is that the "last mile" we're just screwed unless we fundamentally redesign our neighborhoods and shape of our cities. Its pretty damn obvious that as the USA is laid out right now, we don't have any good last-mile solutions outside of 100x different people driving to the same store and picking up what they want. And its not like houses are going to pick themselves up and move to a store, and given z…

Can you quote actual statistics, not merely sensationalizing articles, demonstrating an increase in shoplifting? As far as I've seen there is no evidence to back up this common assertion. The narrative that is floating around is doing a lot of work to convince people it's true but where are the facts?

No.

Empirically, myself and my sister have witnessed shoplifters personally in recent months. I know this is anecdotal data, but anecdotes (especially personal ones) are enough for myself. At least in my area, it seems like shoplifters _are_ on the rise.

I don't need to prove it to other people on the internet. My own eyes with my own life is enough proof for me. If that's not enough for you, whatever. Seeing news reports that others are seeing similar rises matches my "gut check".

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Now people stealing food from grocery stores is... you know... the lowest level of shoplifting. These people aren't stealing like, luxury goods. They're clearly just trying to survive. Its not like a criminal gang or organized crime that'd be deeply rooted and/or difficult to deal with.

IMO, its weird that people would rather shoplift than to apply and/or use a WIC card (food stamps). So its a conundrum for another day in any case, its a crime (albeit relatively victimless. Sure sucks for the staff and the grocery store but I've seen worse...). But its still speaks poorly for neighborhoods and makes people feel less safe. So yeah, it needs to stop. But I can 100% believe that shoplifting is on the rise today. Anecdotally at least.

There's other low-level crimes, like obviously not-paying for the subway, that I think is on the rise by my eyes as well. These also make people feel unsafe and/or unappreciated (tax dollars wasted, etc. etc.) and is bad for our neighborhoods.

I do know that statistically speaking, the personal savings rate of people has declined, wages haven't kept with inflation, etc. etc. So these actions make sense in the greater economic situation IMO.

I don't necessarily want a police crackdown to throw all these people in jail. But we do need to do something, maybe make WIC cards easier to apply for (at every grocery store for example), or stuff like that. We literally have a food-stamps program, why aren't people using it? Why are they shoplifting instead?

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If I cared, I probably would start by interviewing / personally talking to cashiers at my local grocery store before I trusted online articles anyway. And I'd suggest you do the same if you cared about this issue. The internet is just not as good a source of information as the front-line workers here.

Every grocery store clerk has a feel. Talk with them next time you visit the store, don't be a political asshat about it but it wouldn't take more than 1 or 2 minutes to ask them if they've noticed more shoplifters. Obviously don't eat up all their time either (they're on the job after all). With luck, you might see a manager watching all the clerks who'd have more freetime to talk about shoplifters too.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#328

Post by ryukafalz » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:46 PM UTC

doubled112 wrote: post #119

ryukafalz wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The nearest store is a 45 minute walk (one way) from my townhouse. I'm not in the US, but Canada. Driving drops that to 8 minutes. Assuming an average adult walking speed of 3 mph, I'm guessing that's somewhere in the ballpark of 2.25 miles? So something like 11 minutes at an average cycling speed of 12 mph, yeah? The distances here don't feel insurmountable.

It isn't the distance that is insurmountable by bike, no. Alone it would be fine, I know what I'm doing. If I add my children to the mix, it is a little sketchy due to what I'd consider tricky spots. There are no sidewalks, no bike lanes, no curbs, a squeeze over a bridge where two cars won't fit around the corner simultaneously, and a couple of roundabouts that drivers just don't understand (one normal, one mini). I…

Sure, I don't doubt that the infrastructure is terrible for cycling. It is where I live in the US too. But I think it's worth calling out that the distances involved often are well-suited for cycling, even if the streets today aren't.

Where the distances are okay but the streets aren't, safer streets can make cycling feasible. Where the distances are too far for cycling, you need both safer streets and a shift in land use to get people out of their cars. Both are doable in the long term, but the former is much more tractable in the short- and medium-term.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#329

Post by seb1204 » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:46 PM UTC

BowBun wrote: post #275

badtension wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why so many people are cautious about "EVs to save us all", to put it mildly. We are so focused on climate change and greenhouse gases that we do not see a lot of other issues and may exacerbate some of them in the process of decarbonisation.

Agreed. Even solar + wind - when the buzz started it was all rainbows and butterflies because we found a silver bullet to energy! There is no such thing as free lunch. If you start absorbing massive amounts of solar, you will have some effect on the environment that we have absolutely no clue about. Same with interfering with wind patterns and ocean currents, which would happen with energy generation at true humanity…

Not sure what to make of your comment. Are you suggesting we don't use any technology? All our actions have consequences on the planet. However your comment seems to suggest that by adopting wind and solar we are buying into an issue we would not have otherwise.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#330

Post by Tarsul » Sun, Oct 01, 2023, 9:52 PM UTC

cgb223 wrote: post #32

What tools/technology exist today to remove microplastics from water? This theme comes up time and time again on HN, has anyone attempted to solve this?

look no further than this guardian article from this week about bacteria that eat microplastics: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/28/plastic-...