Killing our planet with plastics

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I looked up that google link and found this photo. I thought it looked staged.
Then a bit more searching found the article header below.
Damn it, fake photos do not help the cause!!!


Headline: "Sperm Whale Stuffed with 64 Pounds of Plastic Washes Up Dead In ..."
Byline: The Inertia
A representation created by Greenpeace Philippines. While it's not real, it's getting....

[Hearth.com] Killing our planet with plastics
 
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IV been there and they need to find uses for recycling plastic more than we do. If there is even the smallest price paid for waste plastic the asian population would clean up their environment quickly as even the lowest paying jobs are quickly filled there. People will work for a dollar a day cuz the govt does not act as everyones nanny like here. Not saying thats right or wrong but thats the reality.
 
CaptSpiff said:
I looked up that google link and found this photo. I thought it looked staged.
Then a bit more searching found the article header below.
Damn it, fake photos do not help the cause!!!


Headline: "Sperm Whale Stuffed with 64 Pounds of Plastic Washes Up Dead In ..."
Byline: The Inertia
A representation created by Greenpeace Philippines. While it's not real, it's getting....

View attachment 234901
Click to expand...
It was done to draw attention to an issue that is happening around the planet. There are many cases showing up of beached whales with bellies full of plastics. Birds too.
https://www.theinertia.com/environm...und-dead-with-stomachs-full-of-plastic-trash/
 
begreen said:
It was done to draw attention to an issue that is happening around the planet. There are many cases showing up of beached whales with bellies full of plastics. Birds too.
Click to expand...
Yup, no doubt done with the best intentions. But this photo is also being "shopped" around to support the cause without letting viewers know it is staged. Sometimes this leads to more harm than good. You know how it goes, making a strong argument against plastic pollution and someone points out the photo is fake and you just lost half the room. Just my POV.
 
Yes, truth in advertising is important. The situation is terrible and needs no exageration, even if some people need a sledgehammer to the head to wake up.
 
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BBC World News America (I try to watch news that isn't people talking over each other :) ) had a piece this past summer on plastic pollution in some Asian countries. Literally rivers that are completely covered by plastic.

This was the story. "Content Unavailable" in my locale.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p069vjw6
 
It stinks that it seems so many say the answer is government regulation because industry and social responsibility it too slow to pick up on the issue at hand. So we claim we need more regulation, more government, less freedom, more constraints on the free economy, less capitalism, more socialism, more recycling, less consumerism. It seems that a general statement could be made that most things that are good for the economy are bad for the environment. So much technology that makes our lives “better” also makes the long term livability of the planet shorter. Is a huge meteor or volcano more likely to destroy life as we know it, or will it be man, or will we be able to save this planet until it is ultimately swallowed up by our sun in a supernova?

These questions leave me wondering if picking plastic plates and cups out of the trash at parties, and carefully sorting trash from less environmentally responsible people is worth it. And what recyclable materials that I’m trying to clean with tap water are worth the tap water I’m using clean them. Are they helping or hurting the recycling facility’s profitability?

How should I be spending my life’s time here to try and extend the livability of this planet? I pick up the trash and recycle what I can almost everywhere I go. I use everything I can to it’s fullest extent. I’m a recycler, but not a great consumer. I still drive a gasoline vehicle, use natural gas to heat my home, run multiple computers at once, leave lights on, and even have several incandescent bulbs in my house. Heck, there are many parts of my home that need better insulation.

Is plastic the problem? Or is it just what is most in our faces at the moment. It seems global warming and the constant killing of green spaces that turn CO2 into Hydrocarbons and O2 are what we need the most. It makes me think I should go live in the woods, but then I’d probably end up killing more trees. Maybe instead I should try to buy green space to preserve. Can we buy portions of the ocean to make ocean farms?

Who will save this planet?
 
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It will take some Govt intervention simply because large swaths of the population will not just "do the right thing" like so many here on this forum will. But a lot can be done with small changes. Either way I wont lose any sleep about things i cant control.
 
I long for a reliable organization that can rate our individual and corporate levels of “green” that would allow us as consumers to also easily see the levels of “green” in various products we use or buy. I understand the action itself would not cover small things like how much extra gasoline it costs me to get locally grown produce from the co-op, farmers market, or the cost of buying soil and water to grow my own as opposed to buying from the grocery store a few blocks away. But it could be a start.

With a closer relation to this thread, any improperly disposed of garbage floating into our oceans, or even natural human sewage is bad for our oceans.

We can be hyper-sensitive ourselves in our affluent world, but the people of lesser means will be struggling to get to a more comfortable current lifestyle before they can worry about the world as a whole. That’s where the whole argument comes full circle. Those plastic bottles that are economically providing life sustaining water may be ruining the planet on the one hand, but on the other hand, they are helping people also come to a higher level of lifestyle and awareness.

So you have to look at all angles.


One thing that bothers me as a Parent is watching the tons of plastic toys that aren’t really recyclable go to the landfill. I’ve disassembled toys to minimize the quantity that goes to the landfill. Do I not buy those toys? Or does the educational value for my children out-weight the landfill cost?


I would love to spend my career working towards a more efficient and simpler solution to help others understand what they SHOULD be doing to save our planet. The problem is that even though I care, I don’t myself know.
 
Seasoned Oak said:
It will take some Govt intervention simply because large swaths of the population will not just "do the right thing" like so many here on this forum will. But a lot can be done with small changes. Either way I wont lose any sleep about things i cant control.
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Government is corrupt and full of special interests. You also can’t trust that lawmakers know what is best for our environment. What they can do is implement incentives to comply or penalties for not. The methods they use to do this may not always result in the best results for our planet. VW diesels proved this. You thought you were green buying that new VW diesel, but you actually just pollutedthe environment, wasted your money, and now have another car to stuff in the landfill.
 
mnowaczyk said:
It stinks that it seems so many say the answer is government regulation because industry and social responsibility it too slow to pick up on the issue at hand. So we claim we need more regulation, more government, less freedom, more constraints on the free economy, less capitalism, more socialism, more recycling, less consumerism. It seems that a general statement could be made that most things that are good for the economy are bad for the environment. So much technology that makes our lives “better” also makes the long term livability of the planet shorter. Is a huge meteor or volcano more likely to destroy life as we know it, or will it be man, or will we be able to save this planet until it is ultimately swallowed up by our sun in a supernova?

These questions leave me wondering if picking plastic plates and cups out of the trash at parties, and carefully sorting trash from less environmentally responsible people is worth it. And what recyclable materials that I’m trying to clean with tap water are worth the tap water I’m using clean them. Are they helping or hurting the recycling facility’s profitability?

How should I be spending my life’s time here to try and extend the livability of this planet? I pick up the trash and recycle what I can almost everywhere I go. I use everything I can to it’s fullest extent. I’m a recycler, but not a great consumer. I still drive a gasoline vehicle, use natural gas to heat my home, run multiple computers at once, leave lights on, and even have several incandescent bulbs in my house. Heck, there are many parts of my home that need better insulation.

Is plastic the problem? Or is it just what is most in our faces at the moment. It seems global warming and the constant killing of green spaces that turn CO2 into Hydrocarbons and O2 are what we need the most. It makes me think I should go live in the woods, but then I’d probably end up killing more trees. Maybe instead I should try to buy green space to preserve. Can we buy portions of the ocean to make ocean farms?

Who will save this planet?
Click to expand...
I struggle with some of the same questions and also try to "live green" within reason (whatever "reason" means).
I truly believe that humans should save the planet for our own needs and that those needs can be complementary with those of other inhabitants. One thing is for sure though, human's are having a detrimental impact on the planet that would be diminished if there were less of us.
Our own species' quality of life would almost certainly increase if we were able to tap our superior intellect and exercise some self control.
 
Ashful said:
For me, the biggest hurtle would be keeping a set of bags in each car, so I had them with me when the wife called and asked me to swing by the grocery store,
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I've found this to be a pretty low hurdle to get over. Now I'm working on remembering to get the bloody things out of the trunk before I hike into the store. (Although a few experiences of going back out to the car have been helpful in jogging my memory, lol!)
 
Connecticut Yankee said:
I've found this to be a pretty low hurdle to get over. Now I'm working on remembering to get the bloody things out of the trunk before I hike into the store. (Although a few experiences of going back out to the car have been helpful in jogging my memory, lol!)
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I picked up a reusable shopping bag from Home Depot some years back use the heck out of it. I like it better than the flowered ones my wife got. ;)
 
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mnowaczyk said:
It stinks that it seems so many say the answer is government regulation because industry and social responsibility it too slow to pick up on the issue at hand.
Click to expand...
But that's human nature. The logic of self-interest is based on greed and sloth. 'Twas ever thus. The solution is not to complain that people won't pick up after themselves, but to structure the rules of the game to make the path of least resistance lead to the best outcome (assuming we can figure out what that might be, of course). Often this action has to take place at the level of the entire society, which means government. This does not negate the role of individual responsibility, because every little bit helps, and someone has to set an example, but large-scale problems often need large-scale (and sometimes coercive) solutions.

Like taxes, government is inevitable. We don't have to like it, but we do have to accept it. If there were a better way to run and pay for society, surely someone would have come up with it at some point over the past twelve or fourteen thousand years, no?
 
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True. My state banned smoking in restaurants, and I thought it was unjust, but I love the outcome. My state apparently just banned plastic bags at grocery stores too. Back to paper! It seems unjust, but I like it.

Thank you for you wise comment.
 
........Ashful said: ↑
If the costs of managing the waste from packaging were somehow placed back onto manufacturers (or importers) of these products, you would see a revolution in packaging design. Yes, the cost is ultimately passed on to the consumer, but by incentivizing manufacturers to reduce that overall cost (to remain competitive), the overall costs (and waste) would be lowered......

Seasoned Oak said:
Same result as a tax or surcharge or deposit. Levying a tax on Mfg for single use non biodegradable products they produce will quicky lead to that same Mfg finding a way to make it biodegradable or at least easily recycled. The old adage applies:Whenever you tax something you get less of it, subsidize it, you get more.
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I've included both quotes for clarity-

I'd think that placing the responsibility for the full lifecycle of a product on the manufacturer would be a much better deterrent/incentive to be more responsible overall. Yes, the costs are still passed on to the consumer, but the manufacturer can wash their hands once the product leaves their control. Their only concern would be to remain less expensive overall than their competitors.

Making them responsible for the end of life cycle means they have to make sure their products and services are actually more sustainable, and not just less expensive.
 
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In our linear economy we pay at least twice for the privilege of consumption. Once to buy the item and then again as our tax dollars pay for the ever more costly means of collection and disposal. Often we pay even more due to increased pollution and health issues. In a circular economy disposal is eliminated or minimal at worst case. Can this work? Visit the Netherlands and Germany as good examples. They still buy beer and yoghurt and still recycle vigorously but the number of landfills has dramatically been reduced and single-use plastics are getting phased out.
 
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begreen said:
In our linear economy we pay at least twice for the privilege of consumption. Once to buy the item and then again as our tax dollars pay for the ever more costly means of collection and disposal. Often we pay even more in increase pollution and health issues. In a circular economy disposal is eliminated or minimal at worst case. Can this work? Visit the Netherlands and Germany as good examples. They still buy beer and yoghurt and still recycle vigorously but the number of landfills has dramatically been reduced and single-use plastics are getting phased out.
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I mentioned this in another topic, but I think doing this is pretty critical for being able to move to a future where AI and automation will begin replacing the need for humans to work.

If we become more efficient and sustainable, such a future would be far more likely to work.

I also believe that the focus on climate change as an issue is one of the biggest hurdles getting in the way, since it's an easy thing for corporations and politicians to use and keep us arguing with each other, rather than actually moving forward and improving things for everyone.

Can you imagine a politician telling people that clean air, water, and soil isn't really that big of a deal like they are currently getting away with in regards to climate change?
 
begreen said:
It's a horrific mess. Microplastics are showing up in the bloodstreams of most fish now.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-humans-a-microplastic-invasion-may-be-taking-a-toll/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/05/microplastics-impact-on-fish-shown-in-pictures/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6132564/
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When we found out the "exfoliates" in many liquid soaps are simply small plastic beads we stopped using them. We have a septic tank, so theoretically they can't escape into the ground water, but it's the thought that counts, right?
 
SpaceBus said:
When we found out the "exfoliates" in many liquid soaps are simply small plastic beads we stopped using them. We have a septic tank, so theoretically they can't escape into the ground water, but it's the thought that counts, right?
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It is a big enough problem that legislation was put in place to ban them. It's an issue for septic systems too, but not as much as microfibers from synthetic clothing, especially fleece. Microbeads and fibers can pass thru to the soil distribution where they may eventually plug when your septic drain field filter. Also, when a system tank is pumped, where is it dumped?

https://pumpgrump.com/tiny-terrorists-in-your-septic-system/
https://wilsonservices.com/microfibers-septic-care-new-wastewater-treatment-challenge/
 
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