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To my recollection, plastic straws aren't anywhere near as prevalent or damaging in oceans as discarded fishing nets. That's the usual comparison here IIRC. Bu
by spcebar 3y ago
To my recollection, plastic straws aren't anywhere near as prevalent or damaging in oceans as discarded fishing nets. That's the usual comparison here IIRC.
But it seems to me it's a case of "we can do both", and in this case conservation of helium might not be a bad idea in addition to changing mining practices to capture it.
- petesergeant 3y agohttps://ourworldindata.org/ocean-plastics https://ourworldindata.org/ocean-plastics Suggests otherwise and is a fascinating read
- bagels 3y agoThe word "straw" do not appear in this article. The consumer plastic that is in the ocean is largely put there by large cities in Asia as the article points out. My plastic straws are going in to a landfill, not in to the ocean.
- PlunderBunny 3y agoI know you’re talking about oceans, but I see straws in the grass by the side of the road, in the garden beds in the park etc. up until recently (in NZ) they were plastic straws. Now they’re paper, and they will biodegrade if no-one picks them up. That’s a win. I also haven’t seen a plastic shopping bag stuck in a tree for a few years (because they were also banned here). Another win.
- colechristensen 3y agoOcean plastics primarily come from cities in less developed countries that don’t have any government waste management (and by that i mean garbage pickup) that just dump their trash in the local river. Your plastic straw doesn’t end up in the ocean unless you litter on a beach trip. Guilt tripped Americans eating fast food make up an unimaginably tiny amount of ocean plastic waste. It isn’t a “we can do both” situation for either matter. It’s a popular deception that makes people feel like they’re helping which almost entirely distracts from the actual issues. The “thoughts and prayers” response that is worse than useless.