4 ms·
How Do Plastic Bags Get into the Ocean?
- mirimir 11y agoThe article doesn't actually focus on bags. I suspect that wind is a major pathway.
- mandeepj 11y agohumans?
- betimsl 11y agoNo. We do not throw them at all. Seriously ;) ;) ;)
- stevetrewick 11y agoWhere I live (coastal UK) the answer is quite simply that people throw them in. Yes really. More discard them in the street, where the wind does the rest. No evidence so far that the 5p mandatory charge is changing this behaviour. So yeah, I can believe that some large portion comes from coastal litter. Someone's sure to pop along and mention commons, but a large proportion of people who my partner or I have questioned or upbraided about their litter habits seem to genuinely believe they're keeping someone in a job, which makes it more of a broken window fallacy. Everyone should read Bastiat [0] [0] http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html#broken_window http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html#broken_window
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- melling 11y agoSame here in NYC. https://instagram.com/p/4hV_LcgD_H/?taken-by=mmellinger66 https://instagram.com/p/4hV_LcgD_H/?taken-by=mmellinger66 https://instagram.com/p/39AlorgD4n/?taken-by=mmellinger66 https://instagram.com/p/39AlorgD4n/?taken-by=mmellinger66 https://instagram.com/p/3_lmaRADx_/?taken-by=mmellinger66 https://instagram.com/p/3_lmaRADx_/?taken-by=mmellinger66
- ingenieros 11y agoIn Iceland some folks find it more convenient to dump their old furniture into the sea: http://grapevine.is/news/2015/11/01/caught-on-film-throwing-furniture-off-a-cliff/ http://grapevine.is/news/2015/11/01/caught-on-film-throwing-...
- mipapage 11y agoI see people here in Spain do this too. I suppose the thinking is that there are people who clean the streets every night, so why not just discard whatever wherever you want! So much for being responsible about yourself and your actions. And while some do argue the 'keeping people in a job' line, others don't even realise the harm in what they are doing and at the same time don't even try and rationalize it.
- SixSigma 11y agoLouis C.K. One time, I threw a candy wrapper on the street … I was with a friend who said to me, “You just littered on the street! Don’t you care about the environment?” And I thought about it, and I said, “You know what? This isn’t the environment. This is New York City … New York City is not the environment. New York City is a giant piece of litter. Next to Mexico City, it’s the shittiest piece of litter in the world. Just a pussy, runny, smokin’, stinkin’ piece of litter.
- dfc 11y agoLiberated copy of paper mentioned in article: http://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_AMERICANA/Science-2015-Jambeck-768-71__2_.pdf http://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_A...
- dschiptsov 11y agoLike everything else - by the rivers?)
- TheSpiceIsLife 11y agoI wonder how much car tyre rubber ends up in the oceans.
- fit2rule 11y agoAbout 10x more than appears in your clothes dryer. Srsly. That fluffy blue stuff? A lot of it is nano-tyre.
- freshyill 11y agoThe article mentions Baltimore's efforts to remove trash from the inner harbor. Here's how they're doing it: http://baltimorewaterfront.com/healthy-harbor/water-wheel/ http://baltimorewaterfront.com/healthy-harbor/water-wheel/ Here's a pretty impressive photo if it in action: https://twitter.com/MrTrashWheel https://twitter.com/MrTrashWheel
- mironathetin 11y agoMost shocking - because unexpected - news to me is the plastic waste from the laundry. First time I read about that was only a few months ago. It means, all our super high tech modern wear finally poisons our drinking water. And the most sporty young cool dressed guys are the worst polluters. One more reason to stay with natural fabrics. Industry always tries to convince us that their high tech stuff is superior. Honestly, after buying a lot of it, I doubt that's true. All the artificial clothes smell quickly and they are not warm at all. I am switching back to cotton, wool, real leather shoes and (for the winter) down: This all feels great (but needs more attention and care).
- mhb 11y agoReally? If you don't go outside much, those materials are great. But a lot of synthetic gear is worth it. Cotton is cold when wet. Wool is warm when wet but moths eat it. Down is worse than useless when wet.
- mironathetin 11y ago"Cotton is cold when wet" yes, I see that point. For mountain climbers this is bad. For runners, its ok. At least I only stop when I am done and then I take a shower. Even in winter I run with a cotton t-shirt under a cotton sweat shirt. That's fine down to -15 degrees centigrade.
- mikestew 11y agoFor runners, its ok. At least I only stop when I am done and then I take a shower. Until you get hurt and have to walk home, shivering the whole way because you wore cotton. I avoid the stuff for running. Plus a wet cotton sweatshirt just sounds miserable.
- mironathetin 11y ago"Until you get hurt and have to walk home," You make me laugh. I run since - 30 years? Once in this time I hurt myself, once my wife fell badly and we had to walk home in the cold. Despite of this, we are still alive and well. Otoh, coming back with a plastic shirt, in summer or in winter, being dry but smelling like a wet cat, THIS is ugly!
- agentgt 11y agoI live right next to one of the widest parts of the Charles River (Waltham) and since I don't own a dog I often pick up litter during my walks along the river (this behavior was encouraged by my brother early in my life... I'm not really a super environmentalist). The reason I mention the dog is I have seen people litter (usually throwing a cigarette, can, or candy wrapper) and than the next minute are picking up their dog's shit. Irony at its best.