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I think we are past prevention at this point and need to figure out ways to adapt/clean up that can be easily and economically implemented.
by EricE 7y ago
I think we are past prevention at this point and need to figure out ways to adapt/clean up that can be easily and economically implemented.
- kian 7y agoNote that cotton clothes leave exactly 0 microplastics no matter how much water is used to wash them. Prevention is still the best cure - just stop buying plastic clothes. Kind of like how the way to adapt to the Roman habit of sweetening wine with lead and then serving in lead dish ware was to not drink leaded wine and eat out of wooden or other dish ware.
- bkrn 7y agoWe still have to demonstrate that the choice to go cotton to avoid micro plastic release outweighs the tremendous water use that goes with cotton agriculture - water use that occurs in some of the most water scarce areas of the world. And unless we're going organic consider the impacts of eutrophication and other chemical discharge/byproducts. There isn't a silver bullet in material sustainability besides non-consumption. And we usually don't know (or agree) enough to weigh externalities against each other. Its important that we study, assess, and (hopefully) mitigate the release/impact of micro plastics because their isn't a plausible path toward the textile product's industry to reduce it's carbon footprint in line with the UNFCCC without relying on recycled polyester.
- bkrn 7y agoSorry for the typos.
- not_a_cop75 7y agoIt's time to release/engineer the genetics to at least allow ocean life to digest plastics efficiently. Hopefully into carbon sequestered forms!