2 ms·

We're talking about a meaningful fraction of the Earth's surface, and food ingested by billions of people. I don't think it's wise to take a purely reactive sta

We're talking about a meaningful fraction of the Earth's surface, and food ingested by billions of people. I don't think it's wise to take a purely reactive stance on something so important.

pfdietz 3y ago
Are you imagining these plastics are to be used on staple grains or grasslands? I can't imagine these used on other than rather specialized high value crops, and those won't take up much of the land under agriculture.
- stonogo 3y ago
  You don't have to imagine anything. The pictures in the article are of plastics being used in a hayfield. On hay.
  - pfdietz 3y ago
    That's not spread on a field. That's wrapping hay after it's been bailed. It covers a small fraction of the land area.
    - stonogo 3y ago
      Consider reading the article, which is about more than covering land area.
      - pfdietz 3y ago
        > We're talking about a meaningful fraction of the Earth's surface, said the previous poster in this thread I was responding to. And why am I not allowed to rebut individual points?
        stonogo 3y ago
        You didn't rebut points, you invented some kind of additional claim to rebut. This plastic exists in many forms and farmland does indeed take up a ton of real estate. Why are you concluding that this is only a problem if someone is covering every square inch? The point made in the article is that this stuff can shred and get scattered all over the cropland even if nobody is deliberately saran-wrapping the entire farm. I am not telling you what you're allowed or not allowed to do; I am encouraging you to engage with nuance. I apologize for the clearly misguided attempt.
        pfdietz 3y ago
        I was rebutting the claim about plastic on "a meaningful fraction of the Earth's surface". This is a weasel worded claim, but I took it to mean the plastic will be widely used as mulch on common grain crops. Other uses (specialty crops, wrapping hay after harvest) do not affect appear to me to be "meaningful" in the sense intended.

We're talking about a meaningful fraction of the Earth's surface, and food ingested by billions of people. I don't think it's wise to take a purely reactive stance on something so important.

pfdietz 3y ago

Are you imagining these plastics are to be used on staple grains or grasslands? I can't imagine these used on other than rather specialized high value crops, and those won't take up much of the land under agriculture.

stonogo 3y ago
You don't have to imagine anything. The pictures in the article are of plastics being used in a hayfield. On hay.
- pfdietz 3y ago
  That's not spread on a field. That's wrapping hay after it's been bailed. It covers a small fraction of the land area.
  - stonogo 3y ago
    Consider reading the article, which is about more than covering land area.
    - pfdietz 3y ago
      > We're talking about a meaningful fraction of the Earth's surface, said the previous poster in this thread I was responding to. And why am I not allowed to rebut individual points?
      - stonogo 3y ago
        You didn't rebut points, you invented some kind of additional claim to rebut. This plastic exists in many forms and farmland does indeed take up a ton of real estate. Why are you concluding that this is only a problem if someone is covering every square inch? The point made in the article is that this stuff can shred and get scattered all over the cropland even if nobody is deliberately saran-wrapping the entire farm. I am not telling you what you're allowed or not allowed to do; I am encouraging you to engage with nuance. I apologize for the clearly misguided attempt.
        pfdietz 3y ago
        I was rebutting the claim about plastic on "a meaningful fraction of the Earth's surface". This is a weasel worded claim, but I took it to mean the plastic will be widely used as mulch on common grain crops. Other uses (specialty crops, wrapping hay after harvest) do not affect appear to me to be "meaningful" in the sense intended.