5 ms·
Or we could stop making plastic. Or at least the 90% of it making junk. Even if we separate it, it still exists, as does basically all the plastic we've ever
by spodek 7y ago
Or we could stop making plastic.
Or at least the 90% of it making junk.
Even if we separate it, it still exists, as does basically all the plastic we've ever produced. Even separated, at the rate we're producing it, wherever we put it will overflow.
- nitrogen 7y agowherever we put it will overflow. The scarcity of landfill space is a myth sparked by the infamous "garbage barge", which nobody accepted because it came from the NY mafia and was getting too much attention, not because there was no room for it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobro_4000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobro_4000 This Planet Money episode is a good listen: https://www.npr.org/2019/07/09/739893511/episode-925-a-mob-boss-a-garbage-boat-and-why-we-recycle https://www.npr.org/2019/07/09/739893511/episode-925-a-mob-b...
- spodek 7y agoIf only it all made it to landfills, but the most polluted spots on Earth include south sea islands thousands of miles from population centers, ocean gyres, and so on. Once you make something unhealthy, to suggest that (leaky) places to put some of them are abundant misses the point. They're unhealthy and the overwhelming majority unnecessary.
- brian-armstrong 7y agoOr we can chill out, enjoy the time we have left here and let nature take its course. There is no promise from nature that humanity need exist, nor that it need keep existing. Yes we can add 10% to our lifespan by getting ourselves all worked up over microplastics and climate change but the universe still wins in the long run.
- hunter2_ 7y agoI'm no expert, but I always figured that environmental sustainability would help humanity a bit more than a 10% boost in lifespan.
- wongarsu 7y agoIn Europe (yes, generalizing an entire continent) we generally avoid landfills and instead burn anything nontoxic that doesn't go to recycling. It's a great way to produce electricity and have all produced gases in one place where you can filter them. Plastic burns just fine. Obviously we try to recycle it first, but a lot of it still ends up burned. The ash that's left over is used in construction, but plastic doesn't even leave ash.
- LastZactionHero 7y agoFrom what I've been told, that's basically the plastic industry's philosophy: it was energy that took a side trip as a bottle on the way to the furnace. But, do what you want with that anecdote (toxic, wasteful, unsustainable, etc)