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"There's an obvious solution to the plastic problem...recycle more plastic." No. The obvious solution is to use less plastic. There is low hanging fruit such a

"There's an obvious solution to the plastic problem...recycle more plastic." No. The obvious solution is to use less plastic. There is low hanging fruit such as single-use items that can be made from other materials. Most plastics aren't recyclable.

riggsdk 6y ago
Also even if you have two recyclable plastics, if you mix them together they can become un-recyclable.
TylerE 6y ago
Yes, this was literally the mantra drilled into us... "reduce, reuse, recycle". in that order
spodek 6y ago
Future generations will look at most of the plastic we create the way we look at asbestos or second-hand smoke. Yes, there's some benefit but not worth the cost. They will recoil at how long we took to wean ourselves from the addiction, especially since their bloodstreams will contain more plastic than ours. If we make it.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  They will use abundant cheap energy to clean the environment, recycling plastic at a chemical level.
aphroz 6y ago
What about this project: https://m.facebook.com/WeArePLASTICPeople/ https://m.facebook.com/WeArePLASTICPeople/ They collect all kind of plastic, melt it together and make furniture out of it.
throwawaysea 6y ago
I almost feel like we're slowly reverting back to the "old ways". If people really want something disposable, they need to look at what used to be practiced in places like Asia and Africa - for instance using banana leaves as plates (https://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Food-on-a-Banana-Leaf https://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Food-on-a-Banana-Leaf) or clay cups for beverages (https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2016/10/26/kolkatas-age-old-tradition-of-bhar-clay-cups-of-tea/ https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2016/10/26/kolkatas-age-ol...). Or, they should not seek the disposable and use more durable items. But that may require a bit of a culture shift - for instance, maybe grocery stores should let you bring your own containers to fill up with things like oil, grains, milk, etc. This will run into our overly strict health codes and societal risk aversion, but we need to perhaps consider that there is less risk through that lifestyle than with filling oceans with plastic.
- hahamrfunnyguy 6y ago
  Moving away from packaging things that don't need packing would be a good start. One of the grocery stores I shop at moved a lot of the smaller bulk produce items into shrink wrapped packages in poly-styrene trays. Consumers can also stop buying pre-peeled fruit and vegetables (corn on the cob, oranges, melon, etc).
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
_Microft 6y ago
We can use less of it, make it easier to separate and then recycle :) Here in Germany we start seeing containers for e.g. yoghurt, margarine, ... that are made out of thin, un-colored plastic and then reinforced by a paper wrap with the print for the product info and design. This paper wrap is only glued on at a few points. It also has a perforated section and a label saying to please pull there to separate paper from plastic. You can then proceed to put paper and plastic into different recycling bins (waste separation is very widespread here. You're basically being a dick if you don't do it). Here is a picture: https://www.online-lebensmittel-lieferservice.de/wp-content/uploads/plastik-verpackung-joghurt-4404.jpg https://www.online-lebensmittel-lieferservice.de/wp-content/...
- DoingIsLearning 6y ago
  Plastic is a material that can sit in a landfill for 500 years, it should only be used where you need a _long_ term application that also requires a weight/shape/durability that is not easily manufacturered with other materials. A yogurt container will have a typical 15 to 30 days shelf life, this is not a good use of plastic, it also interacts with an acidic medium (Which absolutely breaks down a fraction of the plastic structure). It really should always be made of glass, the only reason it isn't so is purely cost driven. Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pepsico, Procter&Gamble, Danone, Mars have all pretty much externalized the huge environmental cost of plastic and reduced their operational costs at ours and our environments expense. We are damaging ourselves and our waterways for the sake of an illusionary convenience and the profit margins of a few giants. Glass recycling is also energy intensive but it doesn't even have be recycled, people need to stop being disgusted and go the same way as beer bottles. Glass can be high power washed or autoclaved and reused by the manufacturer. Glass transportation costs also become marginal once we transition to EV logistics delivery in the next 15/20 years.

riggsdk 6y ago

Also even if you have two recyclable plastics, if you mix them together they can become un-recyclable.

TylerE 6y ago

Yes, this was literally the mantra drilled into us... "reduce, reuse, recycle". in that order

spodek 6y ago

Future generations will look at most of the plastic we create the way we look at asbestos or second-hand smoke. Yes, there's some benefit but not worth the cost. They will recoil at how long we took to wean ourselves from the addiction, especially since their bloodstreams will contain more plastic than ours. If we make it.

maxerickson 6y ago
They will use abundant cheap energy to clean the environment, recycling plastic at a chemical level.

aphroz 6y ago

What about this project: https://m.facebook.com/WeArePLASTICPeople/ https://m.facebook.com/WeArePLASTICPeople/ They collect all kind of plastic, melt it together and make furniture out of it.

throwawaysea 6y ago

I almost feel like we're slowly reverting back to the "old ways". If people really want something disposable, they need to look at what used to be practiced in places like Asia and Africa - for instance using banana leaves as plates (https://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Food-on-a-Banana-Leaf https://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Food-on-a-Banana-Leaf) or clay cups for beverages (https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2016/10/26/kolkatas-age-old-tradition-of-bhar-clay-cups-of-tea/ https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2016/10/26/kolkatas-age-ol...). Or, they should not seek the disposable and use more durable items. But that may require a bit of a culture shift - for instance, maybe grocery stores should let you bring your own containers to fill up with things like oil, grains, milk, etc. This will run into our overly strict health codes and societal risk aversion, but we need to perhaps consider that there is less risk through that lifestyle than with filling oceans with plastic.

hahamrfunnyguy 6y ago
Moving away from packaging things that don't need packing would be a good start. One of the grocery stores I shop at moved a lot of the smaller bulk produce items into shrink wrapped packages in poly-styrene trays. Consumers can also stop buying pre-peeled fruit and vegetables (corn on the cob, oranges, melon, etc).

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

_Microft 6y ago

We can use less of it, make it easier to separate and then recycle :) Here in Germany we start seeing containers for e.g. yoghurt, margarine, ... that are made out of thin, un-colored plastic and then reinforced by a paper wrap with the print for the product info and design. This paper wrap is only glued on at a few points. It also has a perforated section and a label saying to please pull there to separate paper from plastic. You can then proceed to put paper and plastic into different recycling bins (waste separation is very widespread here. You're basically being a dick if you don't do it). Here is a picture: https://www.online-lebensmittel-lieferservice.de/wp-content/uploads/plastik-verpackung-joghurt-4404.jpg https://www.online-lebensmittel-lieferservice.de/wp-content/...

DoingIsLearning 6y ago
Plastic is a material that can sit in a landfill for 500 years, it should only be used where you need a _long_ term application that also requires a weight/shape/durability that is not easily manufacturered with other materials. A yogurt container will have a typical 15 to 30 days shelf life, this is not a good use of plastic, it also interacts with an acidic medium (Which absolutely breaks down a fraction of the plastic structure). It really should always be made of glass, the only reason it isn't so is purely cost driven. Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pepsico, Procter&Gamble, Danone, Mars have all pretty much externalized the huge environmental cost of plastic and reduced their operational costs at ours and our environments expense. We are damaging ourselves and our waterways for the sake of an illusionary convenience and the profit margins of a few giants. Glass recycling is also energy intensive but it doesn't even have be recycled, people need to stop being disgusted and go the same way as beer bottles. Glass can be high power washed or autoclaved and reused by the manufacturer. Glass transportation costs also become marginal once we transition to EV logistics delivery in the next 15/20 years.