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Why would you rather pollute the environment with more thrown away plastic crap than spend 20 seconds by a sink to clean a fork? Even if you recycle the plasti

Why would you rather pollute the environment with more thrown away plastic crap than spend 20 seconds by a sink to clean a fork? Even if you recycle the plastic fork (few people bother to, since the fork is already associated with food waste they throw it into the trash along with the food waste) the energy cost of recycling that plastic is still inexcusable when you could have avoided the entire thing by simply owning your own fork.

tracker1 8y ago
Plastic is largely a byproduct from oil/gas processing... as long as we're using as much oil/gas as we do, plastic usage (even disposable) is already additional use out of the system. If it weren't composite plastic, it would be landfill sludge anyway. Now, reducing the consumption of oil/gas could reduce plastic as a byproduct and increase costs in which case the market would self-correct.
- darkpuma 8y ago
  If that's the direction you want to approach the situation from, then consider that by allowing the byproducts to be commercialized you are in effect subsidizing the oil and gas, and thereby encouraging their continued use. You should also consider the unique harm plastic waste in particular does to wildlife.
  - tracker1 8y ago
    I'm not saying it isn't a problem... the larger issue of littering in general, and wildlife preservation are huge to me. We have very well managed waste disposal sites, and do a lot of subsidizing recycling efforts. My point was that if you aren't littering, then the net cost to the environment isn't such a huge thing. I'm also not a fan of government subsidies in general. Your point really isn't a subsidy, it's a means of greater use, which is generally considered a good thing. Unless you'd rather have more environmental waste that isn't used for any secondary purpose. I'd love to see more/better efforts with regards to wildlife conservation, not littering etc. I like to do road trips while on vacation. Seeing the shear amount of litter on roadways, in the mountains and everywhere but a proper trashcan that will get disposed of reasonably is upsetting. Frankly, I think that getting society as a whole to respect their environment and other people's property (littering and vandalism) would go further to improving things than not.

tracker1 8y ago

Plastic is largely a byproduct from oil/gas processing... as long as we're using as much oil/gas as we do, plastic usage (even disposable) is already additional use out of the system. If it weren't composite plastic, it would be landfill sludge anyway. Now, reducing the consumption of oil/gas could reduce plastic as a byproduct and increase costs in which case the market would self-correct.

darkpuma 8y ago
If that's the direction you want to approach the situation from, then consider that by allowing the byproducts to be commercialized you are in effect subsidizing the oil and gas, and thereby encouraging their continued use. You should also consider the unique harm plastic waste in particular does to wildlife.
- tracker1 8y ago
  I'm not saying it isn't a problem... the larger issue of littering in general, and wildlife preservation are huge to me. We have very well managed waste disposal sites, and do a lot of subsidizing recycling efforts. My point was that if you aren't littering, then the net cost to the environment isn't such a huge thing. I'm also not a fan of government subsidies in general. Your point really isn't a subsidy, it's a means of greater use, which is generally considered a good thing. Unless you'd rather have more environmental waste that isn't used for any secondary purpose. I'd love to see more/better efforts with regards to wildlife conservation, not littering etc. I like to do road trips while on vacation. Seeing the shear amount of litter on roadways, in the mountains and everywhere but a proper trashcan that will get disposed of reasonably is upsetting. Frankly, I think that getting society as a whole to respect their environment and other people's property (littering and vandalism) would go further to improving things than not.