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Very likely the plastic used by first world people is much more, but much less of it ends up in waterways. At least for me, it’s an order of magnitude easier t
by tnmom 3y ago
Very likely the plastic used by first world people is much more, but much less of it ends up in waterways.
At least for me, it’s an order of magnitude easier to throw plastic into a trash bin than to drive down to the river and dump it in.
- buro9 3y agoWhere do you think your trash goes?
- tnmom 3y agoI really doubt the municipal trash service dumps it in the river.
- foobarian 3y agoYeah they burn it :cry-blood:
- buro9 3y agoExactly this. Waste incineration to create electricity, and also (according to those companies) to reduce emissions from landfills, and the need for land for waste. Even if you think it's going to landfill, a lot is not. And when it's burned, plastics are released into the environment, if not immediately then over shorter time than if they were left intact and buried.
- datadrivenangel 3y agoAppropriate incineration should have exhaust controls that minimize the amount of particulate emissions, including residual plastics.
- buro9 3y agoAgree, but now you have microplastic particulates to dispose of, and containing these long term is a far harder problem than containing the original larger plastics.
- ars 3y agoWhy :cry-blood:? Burning waste is by far the best way to dispose of trash. Like the next best option is not even close. It's best in every single possible way, except for one: Emotional people who don't realize it's the best way.
- margalabargala 3y agoIt goes to the landfill 10 miles from my house. And there it stays. Recycling, who knows. But trash, I know exactly where it goes.
- wedernoch 3y agoWe put it in trash bins. Companies with contracts collect it. It get's shipped to asia or africa for recycling. Job done. Recycled ... It is dumped where ever it is convinient for the contracting company But I totaly undersand your point. For me, it would also be real work to not put waste in the trash bin, but to drive somewhere to dispose it
- margalabargala 3y ago> We put it in trash bins [...] This isn't the case, at least in the US. Trash from trash bins is almost exclusively dealt with locally, whether in landfills or incinerators. Essentially zero US household trash is shipped internationally. Recycling is another matter. Plastic recycling frequently does follow the path you mentioned. For this reason it can sometimes be more environmentally friendly to throw away plastic waste, sequestering it in your local landfill, than "recycling" it into the Pacific ocean.
- wedernoch 3y ago> This isn't the case, at least in the US. Trash from trash bins is almost exclusively dealt with locally, whether in landfills or incinerators. It's exactly the same in Germany. I was talking about plastic. In germany we recycle paper and "some" plastic. But all I've seen/read is, it's a miniscule amount. Like greenwashing. Most of it get's just shipped somewhere else with some super shady "we recycle it for you, so you can can wash you hands in innocence" deals. And IIRC it's the same for the US. During Covid there were numerous chinese container ships waiting on the US coast after unloading, to load "recycling material", because waiting was cheaper than driving back empty. (they just dump it somewhere in the end)
- tomatotomato37 3y agoActually if you look at EU export statistics, so little actual plastic waste gets exported to the Pacific (in contrast to wood chips going to Netherland power plants or cubed cars going wherever) that if 100% of it did end up in the ocean it would only increase the level of plastic outflow by a single percent. One of my earlier comments here has the more proof with links and stuff, it's just really buried and I don't feel like finding it right now
- adonovan 3y agoAbout a third of all marine plastic comes from one country: the Philippines, which has essentially no landfill capacity. One would hope that this concentrated hot spot (to use profiling terminology) makes it "low-hanging fruit" for intervention, but that hasn't happened yet.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- wahnfrieden 3y agoWho would intervene and why?
- phs318u 3y agoPerhaps a global or regional coalition of commercial fishing associations interested in protecting their market. Speaking for myself, I can confirm that I've reduced my intake of ocean-sourced seafood over the last decade precisely because of the increasing prevalence of micro-plastics in the food chain (which seems to be a far greater problem for ocean-sourced food than land-sourced food).
- wahnfrieden 3y agoYou believe in a consumer driven intervention?
- thejazzman 3y agoYou'd be surprised how often your responsibility ends up in the water anyway In the woods near me there is so much trash -- caused by wind storms knocking off recycling bins and carrying the stuff until it's "caught" in the trees and other nature Kinda eye opening