4 ms·

I find myself sort of in that camp. I think rolling coal is stupid, but when I saw people wanting to ban straws, I just had to roll my eyes. I think the larger

I find myself sort of in that camp. I think rolling coal is stupid, but when I saw people wanting to ban straws, I just had to roll my eyes. I think the larger goals of environmental protection lose some credibility when obviously inconsequential stuff like that becomes the message of the day.

kadenshep 8y ago
> but when I saw people wanting to ban straws, I just had to roll my eyes. You rolled your eyes at people stopping a senseless practice that pollutes the environment? That's some next level misanthropy. >when obviously inconsequential stuff It's not inconsequential, so I'm not even sure how you can paint it as obvious. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iJ1PuR7IwqFuhkvuk7ZWYjlKfU1gjsHp https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iJ1PuR7IwqFuhkvuk7ZW... Straws are one of the top 10 items involved in beach cleanups.
- sp332 8y ago
  It's gonna have to explain how my straw is going to magically appear on a beach.
  - intended 8y ago
    Why would anyone worry about a singular straw? Isn’t this an issue of the average/group behavior - and outcomes resulting from it?
    - sp332 8y ago
      Not one straw, my point is that straws on beaches do not come from landfills. They come from illegal dumping operations and cruise ships and maybe tourists who litter at the beach. Most people do not need to change they way they dispose of straws. This is a problem caused by a minority and no matter how few straws the rest of us use it will not address the problem even a little bit.
      - dnomad 8y ago
        This is wrong. Plastics can and do escape landfills. Also it doesn't seem to be the case that all, or even most, single-use plastics are properly disposed of and make it to landfills.
        intended 8y ago
        Yeah I have no idea why this is being downvoted. Not to mention this is IF plastics make it to landfills in the first place.
        kadenshep 8y ago
        >Yeah I have no idea why this is being downvoted. It's HN. Despite having "hacker" in the name you can't really state anything but the most milktoast of perspectives. Evidence and data be damned.
    - skinnymuch 8y ago
      Do straws on the beach come from normal straw disposal? I would assume not. And most people dispose of straws normally.
      - intended 8y ago
        as I recall, normal disposal regularly involves shipping it out to landfills or other countries - essentially a large “not in my back yard” supply chain. Once there, it worms itself back into the environment, part of which is the ocean.
  - kadenshep 8y ago
    It does do that. It can end up in plenty of places other than a beach. I'm sure you have some sort of environment around you. It's senseless waste. The report goes into how often plastics tend to escape waste management systems. It doesn't have to be purposeful pollution. But it's not about one straw, it's about an aggregate effect. All in all, that's a pretty myopic and disingenuous question.
- mgleason_3 8y ago
  I live at the beach. It seems to me there’s a lot of trash on it. The trash is many different things. Each causes its own problems. There’s Shovels, balls, dod poop bags, Pizza boxes, carryout bags, trash bags, napkins, paper plates, cups, lids, and yes, there’s lids with straws, and individual straws. But there’s a lot more of everthing else. Fixing the trash problem by choosing one item to vilify each year is going be glacially slow. Wouldn't it make more sense to address the trash problem?
  - kadenshep 8y ago
    >Fixing the trash problem by choosing one item to vilify each year is going be glacially slow. Why are you pretending it's one item per year program?
deleted 8y ago
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kadenshep 8y ago

> but when I saw people wanting to ban straws, I just had to roll my eyes. You rolled your eyes at people stopping a senseless practice that pollutes the environment? That's some next level misanthropy. >when obviously inconsequential stuff It's not inconsequential, so I'm not even sure how you can paint it as obvious. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iJ1PuR7IwqFuhkvuk7ZWYjlKfU1gjsHp https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iJ1PuR7IwqFuhkvuk7ZW... Straws are one of the top 10 items involved in beach cleanups.

sp332 8y ago
It's gonna have to explain how my straw is going to magically appear on a beach.
- intended 8y ago
  Why would anyone worry about a singular straw? Isn’t this an issue of the average/group behavior - and outcomes resulting from it?
  - sp332 8y ago
    Not one straw, my point is that straws on beaches do not come from landfills. They come from illegal dumping operations and cruise ships and maybe tourists who litter at the beach. Most people do not need to change they way they dispose of straws. This is a problem caused by a minority and no matter how few straws the rest of us use it will not address the problem even a little bit.
    - dnomad 8y ago
      This is wrong. Plastics can and do escape landfills. Also it doesn't seem to be the case that all, or even most, single-use plastics are properly disposed of and make it to landfills.
      - intended 8y ago
        Yeah I have no idea why this is being downvoted. Not to mention this is IF plastics make it to landfills in the first place.
        kadenshep 8y ago
        >Yeah I have no idea why this is being downvoted. It's HN. Despite having "hacker" in the name you can't really state anything but the most milktoast of perspectives. Evidence and data be damned.
  - skinnymuch 8y ago
    Do straws on the beach come from normal straw disposal? I would assume not. And most people dispose of straws normally.
    - intended 8y ago
      as I recall, normal disposal regularly involves shipping it out to landfills or other countries - essentially a large “not in my back yard” supply chain. Once there, it worms itself back into the environment, part of which is the ocean.
- kadenshep 8y ago
  It does do that. It can end up in plenty of places other than a beach. I'm sure you have some sort of environment around you. It's senseless waste. The report goes into how often plastics tend to escape waste management systems. It doesn't have to be purposeful pollution. But it's not about one straw, it's about an aggregate effect. All in all, that's a pretty myopic and disingenuous question.
mgleason_3 8y ago
I live at the beach. It seems to me there’s a lot of trash on it. The trash is many different things. Each causes its own problems. There’s Shovels, balls, dod poop bags, Pizza boxes, carryout bags, trash bags, napkins, paper plates, cups, lids, and yes, there’s lids with straws, and individual straws. But there’s a lot more of everthing else. Fixing the trash problem by choosing one item to vilify each year is going be glacially slow. Wouldn't it make more sense to address the trash problem?
- kadenshep 8y ago
  >Fixing the trash problem by choosing one item to vilify each year is going be glacially slow. Why are you pretending it's one item per year program?

deleted 8y ago

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