4 ms·

Before anyone starts saying anything about trash exports, some statistics for you to consider (Copypasted from last time this came up, also sorry mobile users f

• Pfhreak 7y ago
  > Incredibly crude adjusted EU plastic marine debris percentage: 2% Whoa, you are telling me can have a measurable, whole integer impact? That sounds like a huge win! A lot of the ways we solve this problem are going to be <1% at a time. 0.05% here, 0.75% there. We could say, "this doesn't solve a big percentage of the problem so why bother" or we can meaningfully tackle something as large as 0.5%.
  • darkpuma 7y ago
    Technically you can carve a wood log with a piece of sandpaper, but I recommend a chainsaw.
    • Pfhreak 7y ago
      The problem we have is not a wood log. The problem we have is a widely distributed pile of sawdust. If you find a wood log we can cut with a chainsaw, by all means let's do so. I just don't believe it exists.
      • sgift 7y ago
        And even if you find one: If you only have sandpaper then sandpaper is still better then looking at the wood log and "sorry, I know this has to be worked on, but I don't have the right tools - and I know I probably won't get them in time either - but I won't do with this bad tool". Sometimes you have to use what you have, even if it sucks.
        • darkpuma 7y ago
          We do have the tools. International economic and military sanctions on regions that refuse to cooperate in cleanup and reform efforts, and international funding for those that do. Other rivers have been cleaned up before, the big 10 polluting rivers can be cleaned up too. This is not a technical problem, it's a political problem. When push comes to shove, our current political regimes seem to have little regard for the environment as a whole. Token gestures only placate people so they don't demand meaningful reform.
          • DocTomoe 7y ago
            > International economic and military sanctions on regions that refuse to cooperate in cleanup and reform efforts Just so I don't misunderstand you: You want to go to war with countries that you consider not green enough?
      • AcerbicZero 7y ago
        Here are 10 logs. Let me know if you need help starting the chainsaw. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plastic-tide-10-rivers-contribute-most-of-the-plastic-in-the-oceans/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plas... When 93% of the ocean's plastic waste is coming from 10 riviers, those need to be the focus. That doesn't mean ignore the ~7% coming from elsewhere, because this truly is a problem we all need to solve together.
• close04 7y ago
  For the point(s) comparing countries (unions) perhaps one useful detail to put things into perspective is the population. In this case the EU has an ~55% larger population than the US.
• dang 7y ago
  Please don't copy-paste comments on HN. Repetition lowers signal/noise. If you want to draw attention to something that was posted previously, a link is good.
• darkpuma 7y ago
  It took me two readings to catch that "269,000 tonnes" was not '269,000k tonnes' I recommend trying to keep the unit/scale matched up to improve comprehension rates.
  • tomatotomato37 7y ago
    Good idea, I'll edit it.