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Plastic bags, straws, etc Those are the least likely to degrade into microplastics anyway, unlike clothing fibers and the like, and that is already assuming yo
by userbinator 3y ago
Plastic bags, straws, etc
Those are the least likely to degrade into microplastics anyway, unlike clothing fibers and the like, and that is already assuming you believe that microplastics have any actual effects.
nobody is trying to replace your iPad with a compostable version that disolves in humidity.
The article talks about phone cases and clothing.
- techdmn 3y agoThe phone cases made by RhinoShield are the aftermarket kind that fit over the phone, not the integrated case.
- bee_rider 3y agoMicroplastics are accumulating at pretty high levels all over the food chain, right? The burden of proof should be on the folks who want to run the “let’s all eat this new thing in great quantities” experiment.
- jeltz 3y agoNo the burden of proof is on people who claim this will reduce the release of microplastics. Most plastic pollution comes from a few countries in Asia and from fishing. https://ourworldindata.org/ocean-plastics https://ourworldindata.org/ocean-plastics What we need to do is assist these few countries with better waste management, that is what by far would have the biggest impact. Not saying we shouldn't do other things too like trying to find new materials for fishing nets or reducing fishing but plastic bags in the west is not a significant source.
- Zach_the_Lizard 3y agoThe story of humanity can be summed up as: "what if we changed our environment without understanding it?" with both wonderful and wretched consequences. The same fires that poison the air we breathe also power life saving medical equipment so that we can keep breathing. Micro plastics, endocrine disrupters and more have been unleashed. I am sure their effects will prove to be less than positive on both humans and wildlife. But in trying to snuff out the next great environmental crisis, will we account for the benefits we've derived from the use of these materials when we do our cost-benefit analysis? The effects on innovation? Did curiosity kill the cat, but save cats?
- bee_rider 3y agoWe have think of it differently now, stuff like lead and asbestos were bad, but localized mostly. We’re running the microplastic experiment on everybody simultaneously.
- woodruffw 3y agoThis comment contradicts itself: if microplastics in clothing are a serious issue, then we should be looking seriously at clothes that degrade without producing microplastics. (All clothing degrades; presumably you don’t object to wool or accuse wool sweaters of planned obsolescence.)
- jeltz 3y agoOr we can just burn the clothes. Almost no clothing in Europe, biodegradable or not, ends up in the ocean.
- woodruffw 3y agoMy understanding is that much of the West’s second-hand and overstock clothes ends up in countries like Ghana, where it does end up in waterways[1]. This has presumably increased over time due to fast fashion, which is a large market in Europe (like in the US). [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/05/yvette-yaa-konadu-tetteh-how-ghana-became-fast-fashions-dumping-ground https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/05/y...
- graemep 3y agoFast fashion is horrible. That article really shows on aspect of it. It has turned a large chunk of a recycling process into dumping.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- logtempo 3y agoYou really need to cite a source on this subject, measuring the industrial waste is very difficult and any articles state that "we found this but anyway, it's difficult to track efficiently the industry wastes".
- piaglfgp 3y agoMicroplastics are emitted from clothing and flushed into the waste water system, and from there to oceans, every time you do laundry. This is considered to be the main source of microplastic pollution, including in the EU unless they managed something revolutionary that I'm not aware of. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43023-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43023-x