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"I'm afraid we'll be called the plastic generation", why are you afraid? Plastics are a hallmark of an era, like clay, bronze, bones, etc... . Social and regu
by c048 7y ago
"I'm afraid we'll be called the plastic generation", why are you afraid?
Plastics are a hallmark of an era, like clay, bronze, bones, etc... .
Social and regular media is currently making plastic out to be this big boogie man, intentionally ignoring the good sides of plastic, to sell you tweets/articles about the benefits of plastics (and will point out how you should suddenly feel bad for not using them already) in a few years anyway. They're not about a balanced discussion anymore.
- kingkawn 7y agoCause it’s gonna kill us, in spite of the good it’s done
- c048 7y agoWhere do you get that from? It's simply not harmless in every context, just like basically anything out there. Do you realize what it would mean if we'd stop using all the things that can be harmful when used in certain ways? It's a nice headline, though.
- kingkawn 7y agoYes, we need to stop using so many harmful things. It is becoming clearer by the day that the trade-offs are untenable. It is true, it will require a significant recalibration of our current methods. But engineering challenges are fun, interesting, and beneficial. The chance to improve our survival and give ourselves the chance to thrive. Why turn down this opportunity for the sake of empty pedantry?
- c048 7y agoBecause you can break your neck by stepping out of bed. Despite that threat, the benefits of stepping out of bed are unquestionably worth it. When done properly.
- wongarsu 7y agoHow would plastic kill us? The only issues I'm aware of are 1) the pollution of oceans, which seems very fixable with much less effort than replacing plastic (filtering water at river outlets and in coastal waters, preventing ships from just dumping their stuff everywhere). 2) microplastics. In marine environments that seems solvable by solving point 1, and while a cause for concern I don't think any negative effects outside marine environments or food chains containing marine animals have been shown? Of course particulate matter is somewhat related, but wheels on asphalt will cause tiny airborne particulates no matter what material we use to make tires, so we might be better off just filtering our air in any case.
- eljimmy 7y agoYou're forgetting the most important issue: 3) Human apathy. Our ecosystems will collapse well before we change our cancerous existence on this planet.
- JohnJamesRambo 7y agoMainly because plastic is not nearly as cool as stone or bronze. Plastic also has connotations of disposability and superficial qualities that unfortunately seem to describe the worst of this era also.