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Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

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Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#71

Post by toofy »

notacoward wrote: post #68
toofy wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it’s all useless if a random idiot proceeds to dump my weekly household recycling output into a river and call it a day. Even if that random idiot dumps their recycling, it is anything but useless. If you didn't recycle, that would be at least 2 idiots dumping their recycling. Sorry for being pedantic, but it troubles me when people worry they aren't making a difference because some other random idiot doesn't p…

I don't think "random idiot" here meant another consumer. It meant an idiot at the recycling company, though it might not be idiocy. The stuff you put out on the curb doesn't just magically vanish the moment the big green truck pulls away. They have to put it somewhere. As one article I read recently put it, most of us (in the US) haven't really been recycling for years. We've just been shipping our carefully sorted…

Is this fake recycling happening on any kind of scale?

This seems like something which could be pretty easily mitigated against by citizens following up with their local cities to verify that things are actually ending up at recycling plants. I'd be furious, considering what I pay for these services if I were to find out they aren't actually recycling. I guess I'll have to look into my local situation. This is a frustrating realization.

It's becoming exhausting that it seems like more and more we can't trust companies to do what they imply.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#72

Post by ecmascript »

cageface wrote: post #58
ehnto wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure that is good advice. Fixing the fishing industry is important, overfishing is rampant as is plastic waste from it. But fish is probably one of the best alternatives we have to other environmentally unfriendly meats we currently raise. As populations grow it is proving to be key to keeping everyone fed. Farmed fish most importantly will soon be the majority of fish consumed. Getting ocean based fishing t…

We don't need to eat meat or fish at all to be healthy, and meat & fish are very resource intensive. We're better off redirecting all the resources we currently waste trying to feed 8 billion people this way into sustainable, plant-based diets anyway.

> We don't need to eat meat or fish at all to be healthy

I think you will have to back that statement up if you want to be taken seriously. I for one am certainly not going to stop eating fish and meat, I have been a vegetarian for over a year and I did not fancy it.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#73

Post by hycaria »

cageface wrote: post #35

These stories rarely mention this for some reason but the bulk of the plastic junk in the ocean is discarded fishing nets, not consumer waste. Reducing the plastic waste you personally generate is still a good idea, of course, but if you really want to have an impact then stop eating fish. https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/ocean-plastic-made-disca... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/great-pacific-ga...

Picture clearly shows plastic bags though

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#74

Post by lnsru »

cageface wrote: post #58
ehnto wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure that is good advice. Fixing the fishing industry is important, overfishing is rampant as is plastic waste from it. But fish is probably one of the best alternatives we have to other environmentally unfriendly meats we currently raise. As populations grow it is proving to be key to keeping everyone fed. Farmed fish most importantly will soon be the majority of fish consumed. Getting ocean based fishing t…

We don't need to eat meat or fish at all to be healthy, and meat & fish are very resource intensive. We're better off redirecting all the resources we currently waste trying to feed 8 billion people this way into sustainable, plant-based diets anyway.

Western world throws insane amounts of food away: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/02/no-time-leftover...

There are other real problems than plant-based diets.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#75

Post by lozenge »

viraptor wrote: post #8
BadassFractal wrote: post #2

Not sure much can be done here without global investment and adherence to never dumping plastics that are not biodegradable. The solution must be possible, but finding the will and the support to convince every country in the world to switch sounds incredibly tough. The US could flex its economic muscle here and say that it will not accept products from abroad unless they're packaged according to its new standards wi…

> global investment and adherence to never dumping plastics that are not biodegradable. Or not producing the unnecessary packaging in the first place. We really don't need every single cucumber wrapped in its own plastic film. (Like it's common in the shops recently...) Lots of other packaging is completely useless as well.

Those wrapped cucumbers last longer on the shelf and at home.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#76

Post by ndnxhs »

WalterBright wrote: post #49
jl2718 wrote: post #4

Third grade me believed that my recycling got recycled. But it didn’t. We paid extra taxes for corrupt deals to get it dumped in the ocean. That was my plastic that killed the whale. Why did they lie to me? I did always wonder where all the recycling plants were. Would it really have been worse if we had put it in the landfill?

I don't really understand what's wrong with putting it in a landfill. If it's inert, it shouldn't cause any harm. Animals don't eat buried plastic.

Its not the worst solution. Problem is a load of it doesn't make it to the bin and everywhere that isn't carefully cleaned daily is covered in bits of plastic.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#77

Post by usrusr »

ehnto wrote: post #56
cageface wrote: post #35

These stories rarely mention this for some reason but the bulk of the plastic junk in the ocean is discarded fishing nets, not consumer waste. Reducing the plastic waste you personally generate is still a good idea, of course, but if you really want to have an impact then stop eating fish. https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/ocean-plastic-made-disca... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/great-pacific-ga...

I am not sure that is good advice. Fixing the fishing industry is important, overfishing is rampant as is plastic waste from it. But fish is probably one of the best alternatives we have to other environmentally unfriendly meats we currently raise. As populations grow it is proving to be key to keeping everyone fed. Farmed fish most importantly will soon be the majority of fish consumed. Getting ocean based fishing t…

Farmed fish is mostly fed with industrially caught wild fish (the species and sizes that don't fetch a good market price for direct consumption), they are not a solution to overfishing or the feeding of billions at all. Traditional farming of freshwater fish fish is an exception, but I don't see carp reaching global mass appeal any time soon (and it quite likely either would not scale or it would turn nasty as well from scaling, just like everything we touch in search for excessive yields)

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#78

Post by ndnxhs »

EGreg wrote: post #31
RileyJames wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in Walmart last night and they had no bags. I asked, “have you stopped providing bags now?” Fully expecting the answer to be yes, BYO only now. “No, we’ve run out of the paper bags. We’re switching to plastic bags tomorrow” Seriously? Wow.

Stores should provide non plastic bags and give you a large discount for returning/reusing them.

In Australia they banned single use bags and now most people bring their reusable ones back to the store to reuse.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#79

Post by usrusr »

toofy wrote: post #71
notacoward wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think "random idiot" here meant another consumer. It meant an idiot at the recycling company, though it might not be idiocy. The stuff you put out on the curb doesn't just magically vanish the moment the big green truck pulls away. They have to put it somewhere. As one article I read recently put it, most of us (in the US) haven't really been recycling for years. We've just been shipping our carefully sorted…

Is this fake recycling happening on any kind of scale? This seems like something which could be pretty easily mitigated against by citizens following up with their local cities to verify that things are actually ending up at recycling plants. I'd be furious, considering what I pay for these services if I were to find out they aren't actually recycling. I guess I'll have to look into my local situation. This is a frus…

> Is this fake recycling happening on any kind of scale?

Guess who will be the lowest bidder?

Even if there is some actual recycling and the trash can be sold for a positive value, chances are that someone who only picks the easiest valuables and then illegally dumps the rest will be able to outbid a more responsible competitor. It's just the natural outcome of a disposal market and it is incredibly difficult to regulate away from that outcome.

Re: Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'

#80

Post by ndnxhs »

yardstick wrote: post #28
hrktb wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We seem to be producing 8 billion tons [1], so 9 million ending up in the ocean is sadly predictable, even assuming earnest recycling efforts. [1] https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced...

More emphasis is needed on the Reduce and Reuse aspects of recycling. The ordering of the slogan is intentional: Reduce, Reuse, and only after those we should then Recycle. How can we better minimise the amount of plastic that is thrown out in the first place?

I'd like to know this as well. The only solution I know is to buy everything at a local farmers market and make everything yourself which seems extremely impractical for most people.

How for example do I not end up with waste shampoo bottles? Its not like I can reuse them because I don't have any way to get shampoo without another bottle.

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