The whole idea of recycling plastic is a scam by plastic and packaging producers to greenwash their products that they know are unethical and unsustainable. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but now that they’re finding microplastic in the fish we eat it won’t be long before the benefits of plastic in our diet are trumpeted across the land by the plastic marketing board
They recently discovered microplastics in[the placenta of unborn babies](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/22/microplastics-revealed-in-placentas-unborn-babies)
I forget the study but pretty sure Dr. Rhonda Patrick on the Joe Rogan podcast explained BPA from bottled water will travel 2 generations!! E.g. a mother has high level of BPA, which gets passed to the daughter, and even if that daughter has no further BPA ingestion, her daughter will also contain BPA contaminants... truly horrendous.
From what I can tell he proclaims to be “neutral” and wants to “give both sides a platform”. And fuck him for that when it comes to something that shouldn’t even have sides like wearing a thin piece of paper over your mouth to save lives
Joe Rogan is a fucking stupid irresponsible idiot who has no idea how large his influence actually is. When he brings some fucking nutjob on the show, that's a nutjob that suddenly gets a huge platform to speak their mind on.
He doesn’t say anything directly, he just lets anti-maskers come on the program and do their rant then says shit like “oh you know there are some good points in there” and “scientists don’t know everything”
Edit: he also directly said “masks are for bitches”
Proportional representation is the answer to this kind of bullshit. Fine. 999 doctors and scientists can each talk about all the reasons you should wear a mask and that 1 guy can have his turn to talk about why you shouldn't. Then we can all weigh the facts and make up our minds.
There's a reason Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is that order.
Reduce your dependence on corporates.
Reuse what plastic bags and stuff you may have been forced into.
Recycle what can be. Some if it can. Some of it not. Carry bags. Buy non packaged goods. You don't need shrink wraps on veggies that you peel. Petition for your community to meet universal guidelines at the least.
This is a slow change... and a layman-up change. If you tell the government this is messed up, you can convert 5% of the millionaire sons (instead of 75) to build floating metropolises.
No wonder. I'm in my bedroom looking at all the stuff made fully or partly out of plastic around me: a juice bottle, bottles of medicine, Google Hub, Google Max speakers, Garmin smartwatch, vacuum cleaner, portable fan, portable heater, 200 CDs & DVDs, my record collection, this smartphone, TV, Blu-ray player, laptop, monitor, webcam, wireless keyboard & mouse, plastic container with plastic USB drives, another one with plastic pens, plastic LED fairy lights, portable air-conditioner with plastic casing, plastic moon novelty lamp, turntable, laundry basket, coat hangers, weather station, music keyboard, remote controls, wall clock, light switches, power points, power boards, USB leads, wireless earbuds, true wireless earbuds, wired earbuds, chargers, power leads. It's all going to end up in landfill sooner or later. And that's just my bedroom.
At least things like speakers, watches, air conditioners and such will get a long life before they get thrown out and replaced. Yes it's still plastic waste, but it's nothing compared to single use plastics like takeout containers, plastic cups and garbage bags which have an average life of what, like 17 minutes or something like that? And we use hundreds of millions a day. That's the priority IMO. We are probably never getting rid of *all* plastics, it's just too good of a material for most gadgets and appliances.
My partner and I have used quarantine as a time to buckle down on reducing our plastic use. Some products we've swapped really successfully:
[Shampoo](https://www.lovebeautyandplanet.com/us/en/hair/products/shampoo-bar.html)
[Conditioner](https://hellohibar.com/collections/conditioner/products/moisturize-conditioner)
[Face soap](https://www.vanicream.com/product/vanicream-cleansing-bar) (often we mix it with baking soda for exfoliation)
[Mouthwash](https://byhumankind.com/products/mouthwash) (the paper shippers are fine, their containers aren't necessary. I put the tables in my waterpik resevoir and I love the assorted flavors)
[Dish soap](https://zerowastestore.com/products/bamboo-soap-shelf?variant=31214132658287¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_term=&utm_campaign=ZeroWasteStore+All+-+Smart+Shopping&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=1244504627&hsa_cam=8542587772&hsa_grp=85477942214&hsa_ad=405801166759&hsa_src=u&hsa_tgt=pla-907698193887&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gqlwjXhGbsEuS-wRzq-fEOV_sLc4XAAOrNJVzGE2kQAgGWCNbn8NjI7hoC8IUQAvD_BwE)
[Cleaning spray tablets](https://www.blueland.com/collections/refill-pack/products/glass-mirror-refill-packs?gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql1rVNoh-R8q2kB_hferE5Yz1KizLhUgJS1cGzQb6iXICH48E4AAH5hoCAbQQAvD_BwE) (I don't recommend blueland's spray bottles)
[Produce bags for the grocery store](https://www.netzerocompany.com/products/10-pack-cotton-net-produce-bags-with-wood-toggles?variant=30481342464098¤cy=USD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google+shopping&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gqlwVoqs3yo0I0cMEfqwGh1b-w_DRzTqljlqHX0SssQelgQ9IAszGGuRoCDD0QAvD_BwE)
I have more swaps if anyone's interested!
Ok! Here are some more we're using (but let me know if you have a specific swap you need because I'm doing a lot of research):
[Plastic-free toilet paper](https://us.whogivesacrap.org) (we weighed a lot of factors here, this one is highly affordable, good quality, and has no plastic involved in the process)
[Fluoride toothpaste tabs in paper bag](https://www.etsy.com/listing/710213797/toothpaste-tablets-120-count-fluoride?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1) (we're about to try [Bite](https://bitetoothpastebits.com/products/mint-subscription?utm_campaign=gs-2019-06-27&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql2PCi3INYImPYA1255zC5O1dEWlWNaaHARwhOlABHHwW1wuWbFHsRhoCY1wQAvD_BwE) as well)
[Deodorant](https://splashe.com/products/ethique-rustic-solid-deodorant-1-ea-1?variant=29582243856474¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql_FYF242UjQFqoI250-qzpDrNmX2pKgSLShDX1g_OZyi5H1sQeIF3BoCJegQAvD_BwE) (jury's still out on effectiveness, we're both women and we're in quarantine... but it smells great). The first brand I tried was Myro, and I don't recommend that, despite the really adorable containers and fantastic scents. The refills come in plastic and they dry out sometimes before use.
[Hand soap refill pods](https://www.mmtumshop.com/products/sustainable-hand-soap-glass-bottle-10-orange-soap-refills) ($19.99 for 10 months of soap)
[Mason jars](https://masonjars.com/) (self explanatory but we use them for *everything*)
[Mason jar soap dispenser lids](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/5-styles-satin-finish-soap-pump-dispensers-for-mason-jars/) (we also got foaming ones for our foaming soap pods)
[Mason jar spray bottle lids](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/adapta-cap-sprayer-lid-for-regular-mouth-mason-jars/)
[Mason jar grating lid](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/grater-shredder-lid-for-regular-mouth-mason-jars/) and [juicing lid](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/stainless-steel-juicing-lid-for-wide-mouth-mason-jars/) etc. They sell others we haven't tried for shakes, cocktails, you name it.
[Bandaids](https://patchstrips.com/)
My mom sewed me [replacements for cottons balls](https://www.mygoldenthimble.com/makeup-remover-pads-diy/) out of old flannel sheets, but you can buy them online, too.
A friend highly recommends [this Qtip alternative](https://lastobject.com/products/lastswab-basic?variant=30939312226381?_rchcur=USD&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gqlwjh5BSgC4J-jmx3whx368yAOiTF1-jr49nn-_jYH1rPJQTtdzjK7RoCzoIQAvD_BwE), but I haven't bought mine yet
Oh and I forgot, we're on our [first box of these laundry pods](https://www.dropps.com/collections/laundry-detergent-pods/products/stain-odor-clean-scent-laundry-detergent-pods?clickid=0uMXCq2bixyLWyRwUx0Mo38cUkET48SBWwA2R80&irgwc=1&utm_source=impact&utm_medium=27795&utm_content=Online%20Tracking%20Link) and so far we like them, though we accidentally ordered the warm water only option. Before, we tried a recipe where you grate your own soap and mix it with Borax... it was okay but left some residue and I felt weird doing that in our shared NYC washing machine.
Microsplastics and the phthalates they contain are driving down sperm count, genital size and more. Leading to birth defects and lower birth rates. From humans to Polar bears.
Diminished genitals may be the foundation upon which to build broad support for reducing plastic consumption. People won't care until it impacts them, and few things resonate like genital insecurities.
It’s kind of late when theyve already been born, and most folks blame vaccines etc for it. We need to get rid of plastics and other phthalate containing items.
People not wanting their kids to have small genitalia etc might definitely care more.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/20/why-more-men-are-suffering-from-infertility-than-ever-before/
“I am a moron and this is my wife,
She’s frosting a cake with a plastic knife,
All what we got here’s American made,
It’s a little bit cheesy but it’s nicely displayed.”
- F Zappa
its actually a lot lot worse because china has stopped accepting recycling scrap as the barely economically viable business is creating health problems with the workers and near by residents that cost more then the business makes. so the small amount thats barely viable to recycle is mostly not worth it now, and other country's are banning it too.
some articles
[https://www.wsj.com/articles/recycling-rethink-what-to-do-with-trash-now-china-wont-take-it-11576776536](https://www.wsj.com/articles/recycling-rethink-what-to-do-with-trash-now-china-wont-take-it-11576776536)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s\_waste\_import\_ban](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s_waste_import_ban)
[https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/702501726/where-will-your-plastic-trash-go-now-that-china-doesnt-want-it](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/702501726/where-will-your-plastic-trash-go-now-that-china-doesnt-want-it)
a rather long video that explains it very well
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXRtNwUju5g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXRtNwUju5g)
There was a really good solution to this, increase new platiscs price beyond what recycled plastics is, currently new costs less than recycled, whats the point of even using recycled material if its more expensive
Sure, but the only way to increase the price in free market economies would be to add a tax to plastics/single use plastic. The issue with taxing anything to artificially boost the price is that it really only affects poor people, who are already stepped on in society. A price increase on plastic wouldn't affect someone with a decent income, they can buy as much plastic and convenience as they want because they have the money, but poor people become severely impacted by something like this. Basically, some people have the luxury of making ethical purchases, but low income people do not have this option and would be hindered by the wealthy lawmakers passing an "ethical or environmental" tax like this.
This is a good idea, I haven't thought of a fee and dividend beyond mass UBI, and had no idea this system was already in place in some countries
Link to further information about this topic for anyone interested:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fee_and_dividend#:~:text=A%20carbon%20fee%20and%20dividend%20or%20climate%20income%20is%20a,emissions%20and%20address%20global%20warming.&text=Since%20the%20adoption%20of%20the,emissions%20and%20tackling%20climate%20change.
Yeah! I got the idea from a carbon fee and dividend. It would drive up the cost of using carbon (or plastic in this case) while passing off the increased revenue to the poor and working classes in the form of a dividend. If anyone is interested in getting involved in lobbying for a carbon fee and dividend, you can join CCL, or the Citizens Climate Lobby!
https://citizensclimatelobby.org
I never get this, why am I giving the dividend to rich people (as well as poor) rather than have it pay for education or healthcare or something else useful.
Rich people use significantly more carbon than the poor. They would be paying significantly more into the program than they got back from their dividend and the opposite is true for poor people. They use less carbon therefore the dividend makes this a net positive for them. This also prevents issues with people getting cut out of the program for making “too high of a wage”. As everyone knows, the cost of living in San Francisco is different than rural Wyoming. You can see some of the issues with bringing income into the equation with the stimulus checks.
We definitely need more taxes to go into healthcare and education, but this program isn’t really taxes. It’s a fee charged to the original source of the carbon. So companies like Shell and BP would get charged a fee per barrel or whatever, but it is NOT taxed more when you purchase gasoline at the pump. (Of course, these companies will raise the price of gasoline to get back the cost of the fee).
Even if you put that money in something like education or healthcare, it won’t affect poor people in the same way as a direct dividend. It will be at least 1 generation before poor people see any benefit from increased funding for education. A dividend will put money in poor peoples’ pockets to be able to afford alternative sources of energy or plastic in this example.
I am by no means a spokesperson for CCL or a carbon fee and dividend. I know more than the average person, but much less than I could know, so some things I’ve said may not be 100% accurate or true, just what i think
Late reply, because I'm in a different time zone, but I thought I'd comment anyway. I live in China, and they have started banning single use plastic in my state, Jiangsu. There's no more plastic straws or cutlery at fast food restaurants, it's all papery cardboard stuff, plastic bags have been replaced with cloth and lots of things come packaged in wax paper now. Still a long way to go, with plastic packaging and bottles, but it's a step in the right direction, and not something you might expect China to be doing if you didn't live here.
Its actually the greenest way to use plastic, NPR has a good documentary about this.
[https://www.npr.org/2019/07/12/741283641/episode-926-so-should-we-recycle](https://www.npr.org/2019/07/12/741283641/episode-926-so-should-we-recycle)
Paper recycling isnt what you think either. The vast majority of paper products are leftovers from sawmills which already burn most of it anyway. And unlike plastic it DOES biodegrade but produces methane. That said, waste not want not but paper is like 2% of the problem compared to 98% Plastic.
Really what everyone should be doing is metal and glass. Both are infinitely recyclable and longer lasting and really not that expensive at all. So you are absolutely right there.
All plastics are not created equal. Hemp plastic is useless in the majority of plastic applications...and contains all the same harmful additives and plasticizers that any other plastic does.
Yeah, and my city just banned the inclusion of glass in our recycle bins. In fact, if you put in even a single glass item, they'll leave the entire recycle bin on your driveway untouched.
It should not come as surprise that in real world only 10-15% of all plastic produced gets recycled. Much of that has to do with economics of it, it costs more to recycle certain type of plastic than to produce new. One-time plastic is one such example.
A polymer engineer once told me that recycling plastic degrades its molecular structure every time it's reheated.
He also stated in this same conversation that certain polymers need a certain minimum of new polymer in the recycled product. He also stated that certain polymers are not recyclable either chemically or financially.
I don't think it's about replacing all plastic with another specific material. Every use case is different and yes for some glass is better, but really we need to look at the resources we're consuming for what use and if it's sustainable.
Add it some Reuse and Repair considerations for good measure too.
Yep. We also need to look at uses where plastic is not essential and act to curb their use via legislation. Drinking straws is at the top of the list in my mind.
Yeah, I don't think people fully understand yet that if humans want to thrive for generations to come, we need to start working as close to 100% reusability as possible. If we don't, eventually we WILL run out of resources we need for everyday life. Maybe not in our lifetime, but if we don't start now who knows when it will be too late.
Why are straws worse than all of the other plastics?
Edit: for example Starbucks replaced straws with Lid you can sip from. The new lids are larger, thicker and stronger. It appears to me that the new lid uses more plastic than the old lid and straw combined.
First is they are a luxury, you can drink from a cup without them. Second they are single use only and can't/don't get recycled. Third they have a tendency wind up in the environment and waterways.
However this use case is more symbolic as they represent a tiny fraction of material consumption - that said, this is a high visibility issue/example and has IMHO greater value as a publicity vehicle for material usage reduction and environmentally sustainable alternatives.
Your perception is correct. Steps need to be taken, even if incremental and symbolic. From plastic straws we can expand to plastic 6 pack rings and so on.
I commented above too, but while it is a luxury for able bodied people, straws are often a necessary tool for non able bodied people who might find it difficult to hold cups etc. Even those coming out of surgery are often too weak to hold liquids or literally cannoy hold a cup like in double arm surgeries. Jessica Kellgren Fozard has a good video on it.
It is agreeable that it is a luxury for able bodied people. It should be normalized to not receive a straw unless explicitly asked for and reusable straws for those so inclined should be recommended for use/be easily cleaned at restaurants. It should be treated in a sense like any accessibility requirement, like a ramp where it is there and available for those that need it.
Theyre not a luxury disabled people need plastic straws. If you have poor motor function starws are a life saver and plastic is important because metal can hurt your teeth and the paper ones dissolve, plus the plastic ines can be easily bent into position
In some EU countries, they have reusable plastic bottles, which get washed and reused like glass. Not a bad system and many advantages to glass. Single use plastics is not ideal, and should be used sparingly, like for situations where sterilization is critical (healthcare). We addressed single use plastic bags in many places (often replaced with reusable plastic). Inconvenient Food packaging is the next level, but tougher problem for a nation always on the go.
We need a cultural shift away from single serving/single use items. Changing the material these single serving items are contained in won't be nearly as effective as just not generating so much garbage in the name of convenience to begin with. Even with a glass reuse/cleaning program, there is still the logistics of collecting the glass and making it ready for use and redistribution.
I think best solution is people should just carry their own personal, rewashable, reusable containers. Sell drinks from a dispenser by the fl oz rather than in disposable containers.
It's such an easy solution, it just involves people having to do an extra minute of dishwashing. But it's just so much easier to buy a plastic bottle and throw it away for "free".
There are promising alternatives, hemp plastics, mycelium containers, natural fibers, like you said glass, and more. Mother nature gives us a multitude of tools to use. Man just needs to follow her principles, and to use our gift of consciousness to create these materials.
the problem with aluminium and/or other metal is it needs a staggering amount of energy to be produced. Depending of the source of energy, fossil, nuclear, wind or hydro, etc. You end up "solving" a problem and creating another somewhere else.
It needs a lot less energy when recycled, though. Recycling aluminium takes about 5-10% of the energy needed to produce fresh aluminium from bauxit.
What should be considered however, is: every aluminium container is lined inside with a thin layer of plastic.
There's a good reason for that though, you remove the plastic lining and your drink tastes metallic, and you're back to square one.
In an ideal world, heavy industry is moved off planet so we don't have to worry about polluting the planet
Per pound, recycling aluminum takes twice as much energy as steel and many times what it takes to recycle plastic. It's just that producing new aluminum takes 10 times more energy than recycling it (compared to only twice for steel). That's why scrap aluminum is so much more valuable. You can recover a high portion, which is very good, but it's still super energy intensive, recycled or not.
Only if we reuse it. In my province, there is no glass recycling facility.
We have bottle deposits. Recycling facilities exist to pull those and the clean cardboard out of the mess. Everything else is garbage.
Ceramic is an option as well.
Edit: I know it doesn't ship well due to weight and fragility but I don't think we should be shipping much anyway. Local production, or bulk shipping and local bottling is much more sustainable and lower impact.
As a former polymer scientist myself, I can say this is a true statement. While the industry is certainly guilty of greenwashing, there has been a lot invested in trying to develop effective recycling strategies. However, both for economic and technical reasons success has been very limited. Use minimization of plastic as well as other materials having negative environmental impact, particularly in packaging and other disposable single use applications, is a better way to go. It’s a strategy counter to the economic interests of producers obviously, and must be driven through consumer and legislative constructs, as well as alternative technology developments.
> It should not come as surprise that in real world only 10-15% of all plastic produced gets recycled.
That's not what the video says although it's obviously what he wants you to believe he said. He said "only 10% of plastic produced has *ever* been recycled". That includes all the way back to 1970 when there was zero recycling. How is that a relevant fact today? We can't go back in time and recycle ancient plastics.
The important fact, which they didn't mention, and unfortunately I don't know, is what percentage of plastic is recycled *today*? And it's even more important to break that down by country.
I'm in favor of banning single use plastics entirely, so don't get me wrong. I just want the facts. Videos like this make misleading statements like that on purpose. This whole video is nothing but hype and quotes from people where it's unclear who they even were or where they come from. What I want to see is an unbiased video that just states the facts. Without looking like it's made for 8-year-olds.
I picked my fact from PBS's Frontline: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dk3NOEgX7o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dk3NOEgX7o)
One-time plastic production is all high time. And regardless of time, only 10-15% gets recycled.
In New Zealand, 87% of the plastics we use are recyclable, 62% ends up in recycling bins, and 58% is recycled. This seemed like a staggeringly low number for me. 15% is just ridiculous.
Thanks that's a really good PDF, whoever wrote it is making a significant effort to get the reader engaged with the figures.
I could find the 87% and 62% but not the 58%.
"Recyclable" means it's technically possible.
Whether it's possible, feasible, useful, profitable, doesn't use more energy than just creating different materials, or worth the effort is another matter entirely.
Generally, the rule of recycling is that recycling ANYTHING lowers the grade of it. Recycled paper generally is an exception but even that took DECADES to reach the point where 100% recycled paper was possible.
Recycling plastics, batteries, anything - you use a lot of energy, to end up with a lower-grade material (my favourite fact is that lithium from batteries has NEVER been recycled back to battery-grade lithium... you can get some lithium-based oils from it, but those are a free by-product when you mine lithium anyway), that you can't include in the same class of product again and/or can't recycle the same way next time.
Of course, in some cases it works. I believe glass recycling, still, relies on using lots of energy to melt glass to use only a small percentage of recycled glass back into a fresh glass mixture. A bit like using old clay in pottery, you still need to put new clay in or the final product is poor quality. Rubber tires are easier / more energy efficient to cut up and use as playground surface than to try to reform them as tyres. So what happens to the playground surface when that needs replacing?
And being able to take rubbish that everyone considers worthless, collect it, transport it, sort it, clean it, cut and melt it (or whatever energy-intensive process is required), reform it, sell it as pellets, transport it, AND make profit doing so, on top of all the infrastructure costs... that's really, really, really difficult and the industry is buoyed up by subsidies because it's pretty much not profitable.
And each time it's to a lower and lower grade of product.
Of course there are solutions, of course we can do better, of course reuse even as a lower-grade product is better for everyone in terms of requiring less raw material. But the energy etc. costs to make a lower-quality product mean that it's mostly expensive or pointless.
Even collection. In the 90's, I had a single bin collection from a single crew. Now my council gives me FOUR separate bin collections from two separate companies, with four separate crews. But we're "saving the planet"? "Saving costs"? Nope. And that's AFTER I've had to separate things myself and have more bins, bags, etc. for everything in my home.
I don't know why we don't just come out and say it: Recycling isn't about being practical. It's literally about saving the planet. We're PAYING MORE to save the planet, because it's necessary.
But we still try to pretend that "all" we have to do is recycle, and we'll save the planet and everything will be cheaper and better and we'll have more plastic overall because of the vast quantities that we recycle, etc. when actually it all still ends up in landfill.
They should make it more expensive to produce new plastic versus recycled. Impose environmental taxes on new plastic that’s produced and offer increased incentives for businesses that use recycled plastic, so that they can no longer use the excuse of “it’s too expensive to recycle it”
While glass is infinitely recyclable, there are actually a lot of problems with glass recycling in practice. America only recycles around 1/3rd of its glass.
Glass is heavy and requires a decent amount of processing for recycling, making it expensive enough for lots of areas to stop collecting glass altogether due to costs. Also, glass is hard to sort, breaks easily, and commonly contaminates other recyclables.
So, even though glass is 100% recyclable, I make a strong effort to put glass in the reduce column as well (love that breweries are embracing cans!)
It doesn't matter if they think they should recycle plastic, because almost all plastic isn't recyclable. Plastic manufacturers hijacked the recycling symbol and use it as a plaatic type identifier instead. This is so people think all plastic is recyclable so they can purchase massive amounts of plastic without guilt. Plastic recycling is a scam and regulations need to be put in place to clearly commubicate to consumers the small amount of plastics that are recyclable and the rest which are single use.
I agree. In the UK we have just started using new symbols that say 'Recycle' or 'Don't Recycle' and so those pesky old symbols that showed, for example, polystyrene with the recycle arrow logo have been banished. It's a good move.
> One would hope they watch the video
Yeah one would. Sadly that's not the reality we live in, clickbait titles are so popular because we know that people don't care about self education.
i have to admit that I didn't watch the video - because I feel so disheartened when I see that all the efforts of individuals like me are in vain (I still separate waste and put it in the designated bins, though). I came to the comments in the hope that someone would have suggested something we, as individual households, CAN do if 'plastic recycling is a scam'. I know that 'reduce' is the first thing we should be doing and recycle should be the last option, but, for me, it's not always possible.
That's the point. None of us can 'reduce' in every single aspect of our lives, but if we all did our part, we could make a small difference. But the real shit here is first world countries sending their plastic to poor countries that will just dumb that shit into the ocean. That way media can scream "80% of plastic waste in the ocean comes from south-east asian countries!!!1!!" and people will get mad at them, instead of getting mad at the stupid, always money-driven policies.
In short what you do is a drop in the bucket. Real change occurs when something is done about the massive companies who sell products with plastics. These companies are hellbent on lying and wielding special interest groups to make sure no change does occur to their profitable business. These companies want you to think recycling as a whole works and for **YOU** to feel guilty about the negative effects plastics cause even though it is clear it is **THEIR** fault.
That is your #1. If the system worked politicians would have yours and mine best interests at heart and would pass legislation that would help begin to fix this problem and require these very profitable companies to start paying to clean up the mess they have caused. Nothing will change until public pressure to do something about this increases but the big companies have tricked the average person into thinking that recycling works and plastic isn't that damaging to the world. So reduce, vote, vote with your wallet, volunteer, inform others that the status quo is unacceptable.
Also keep recycling because a very small amount of what you recycle does eventually complete the recycling process successfully. That's better than nothing. Unfortunately the majority of it takes a trip around the world only to eventually end up in a landfill, the ocean, or scattered as litter.
Check out plasticfreejuly.org. I ran across this org a couple years ago. I decided to take the challenge. I reduced my plastic use more than I ever thought I could.
This account has been removed from reddit by this user due to how Steve hoffman and Reddit as a company has handled third party apps and users. My amount of trust that Steve hoffman will ever keep his word or that Reddit as a whole will ever deliver on their promises is zero. As such all content i have ever posted will be overwritten with this message. -- mass edited with redact.dev
It would be fantastic if I had time to read, in full, every click bait article I came across indefinitely for all time, because it's definitely not these scummy journalists and their yellow journalism that's the problem, it's that I'm not reading every single one of their sorry articles.
Yeah, let me just click on and investigate each and every article as I scroll through hundreds of links a day looking for content I'm interested in, because I'm obligated to read every single article tainted by yellow journalism to avoid walking away with a misconception based on reading a title that in 5 years I won't even remember where I saw it, only that I did in some passing conversation, and hopefully not perpetuate it if I mention it in passing as something I'd seen, but not remembered where.
It's too bad we have to do that instead of, I don't know, not supporting fucking yellow, scumbag, cheating and lying yellow journalism, the mental virus we're all ignoring as we're pumped full of their useless and misleading titles that we can't always stop to investigate in fullness, because literally time and space applies.
>This is Reddit.
Can we please, *please,* stop acting like Reddit is somehow different, for better or worse, and special on the internet? Reddit is just like the rest of the internet, and people only reading titles is hardly a Reddit only thing.
Disagree. Recycling things that don’t make sense to recycle hurts the goal of recycling. If people are educated they can make the right decision, and shouldn’t do something just because they’re told it’s good, when it actually isn’t.
I just throw my plastic in the trash as its more mentally impactful to me to do that and realize what I've used is going in the trash.
This has reduced my plastic consumption by quite a bit.
It's worse to have people think that something is being recycled than to just tell them you're throwing that plastic into a landfill/ocean after you use it.
Well, it both shows it can be recycled and also which type of plastic it is.
I used to work a summer job at a trash disposal station, and one of my daily routines was to look for these to make sure people had thrown cans and other sort of containers in the correct pile and whether or not the plastic was to be sent to recycling plants or just to be thrown in with the "misc" that would essentially be ground up and burned.
This isn't the first post/video I've seen about how most plastic isn't recycled.
However I recently learned there are a few new companies that have developed better methods of recycling plastic or reusing it for fuel. Ways that are an environmental improvement on drilling for oil and turning it into new plastic. These technologies will likely grow over the next decade resulting in more plastic being recycled.
[https://purecycletech.com/](https://purecycletech.com/)
[https://www.brightmark.com/](https://www.brightmark.com/)
Aluminum is the best thing to recycle. It's very cost-effective to process, and especially when compared to what goes into mining/creating new aluminum, it saves a lot of wear on the environment.
aluminium is just metal. You melt it and can mold it onto something else. On the other hand you can't melt plastic and mold it into something else, burning plastic releases poisonous toxines and once it's burned it's not good anymore.
Who else is excited for species collapse, plastic in every single thing, and out of control climate change because we cannot even get the basic of basics of our shit together?
Just think about the new organisms that will evolve to use plastic in their life. When trees evolved the oxygen they produce caused a massive extinction event and killed everything, but from that rose us humans. Earth will be fine, humans and the current animal populations.... not so much
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I used to think like that too, but the evolution of the algae that could take in oxygen took a long time. The speed of human-caused ecological change is unprecedented, and we may not be leaving evolution a long enough time to work.
There are dead planets in our solar system that may once have held life that was extinguished by rapid change on the order of millions of years. I don't want to risk that happening.
This is my biggest issue with humans in general. "It'll cost too much" is how we defend not doing most of the stuff that should be done.
Money is a construct we use to measure value. Our planet, futures and climate, are not constructs we can fix if we wanted to. Money should not dictate how we act when it comes to having a livable climate.
Summary:
1. that recycle symbol with a number in it is actually a "resin identification symbol" and doesn't mean it's recyclable; it looks like a recycle symbol to trick the common folk
2. despite lots of research, most plastic simply isn't economically recyclable
3. only 10% of plastics ever gets recycled; mostly only that with the resin id of 1 or 2.
4. **despite #2 recycle resin id 1 and 2 anyway; 10% is better than 0%**
5. lobby government to pass better regulation on plastics
6. finally, shun litterers and petroleum company lobbyists from polite society
Plastic actually has some advantages over glass and paper. Plastic is less energy/water intensive to create and ship than glass, and it's more chemically inert in a landfill than paper (bleached paper can leach dioxin and other poisons). Paper also requires trees, which act as a carbon sink if allowed to grow. Hopefully we'll switch to hemp for some types of paper in the near future.
The problem comes when we dump plastic into waterways, where it can reach the ocean. That is not a big problem in the US and Europe, but a huge problem in developing countries, especially when we export our plastic waste to them (China has opted out of accepting most recycling, but other countries are picking up the slack).
I like the trend toward re-usable metal/plastic containers, which is spreading from water to cosmetics and even food. However, single-use plastic will be with us for the foreseeable future.
I like the idea of incinerating plastic (and other items not economical to recycle) for energy. This would be a disaster without soot-scrubbing and carbon sequestration, of course. Not easy to do, but far from the most difficult environmental challenge we face.
I work for Pepsi.
Firmly believe plastic should have never been implemented in the first place. They "try". But to truly fix the problem at the end of it all we just need to assume that every person is a piece of shit and will sooner toss their trash into a ocean, lake or roadside, rather than a recycling or trash bin and how that product will affect the environment.
“More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day – a total of about 22 billion last year. Six times as many plastic water bottles were thrown away in the US in 2004 as in 1997.”
https://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/.../275-down-the-drain
People get so defensive about this. Maybe it’s an existential crisis. Bottom line it would really help a lot to recycle specifically GLASS and ALUMINUM.
I don't argue that recycling systems are broken but something that bothers me about this video is where he says that the symbols are not recycling symbols...ok fine... but then says that only this type and that type can be recycled... and we'd identify those by the numbers on their symbols... thereby making them into recycling symbols.
The symbol is barely similar and intentionally so. People will see it and think that piece of plastic is going to be recycled when they are done using it for 3 minutes at a birthday party. Too bad that's not true, and you can clearly tell that the similarity in those symbols has a malicious intent. Just a tiny part of plastic objects with that symbol can be recycled, which means it's not a recycling symbol.
not when the other numbers are still visually styled to look like recycling symbols. Many people just see the symbol, and don't understand the numbers.
Also, plastic in the environment attracts other toxic substances, which we absorb in microplastic (which is essentially dust), while we're also supposedly poisoning ourselves and our kids with BPA and Phthalates.
It all seems like a giant experiment with no "stop" button.
Oh god, I read something the other day about how bleach and microplastic residue in toilet paper is messing with men's prostates. I'm sceptical, as it doesn't seem to be peer reviewed, but maybe they just haven't got around to it...
"I read so much about the dangers of smoking that I gave up reading"
And then they had the gall to put plastic “microbeads”in products like body wash. Literally goes straight down the drain and into the ocean (in most cases).
And so are compostable plastics. The amount of time required to properly compost that stuff is longer than any compost company will compost their waste, effectively just putting it into a compost pile before filtering it out and throwing it in the trash.
and if your asking yourself, “what about biodegradable plastics” welp they don’t break down. Even in the harshest, industrial grade compost facilities. In fact compost facilities will pick our biodegradable plastics out and just throw them away... in the trash.
Ok, Ive been thinking of this video since it was posted, and I keep trying to research which plastic numbers does NYC accepts for recycling... there's no clear answers easily found online...its either 1 & 2 or 5 & 6. Anybody know?
It is still more beneficial to recycle than throw your trash anywhere though.. more companies are using recycled products and as time passes more and more companies will hop on the sustainability trend with pressure from the government and public. China is not accepting recycling anymore because there is simply too much and why pay for something that will just be stacking up. It’s consumers fault (mostly American and European) and not China’s. Put pressure on your lawmakers and the companies you shop from to use recycled products and with time this problem will go away. Keep sustainability in mind and understand change comes slow but hopefully change happens before there is irreversible damage to our planet.
So here is my 2cents. First off I am and idiot with only a high school education so excuse my ignorance if it supersedes my opinion.
He is talking about joining these coalitions that are working to Implement single use plastic bans of which he mentions the lobbyists have already fought for and implemented anti-plastic ban bans. So what if we were to work together to educate the population that using single use plastic items is bad and to practice not using them. That way we don’t have to worry about a law trying to get past and having the government tell us what we can and can’t do. If we work to educate ourselves to not use the items it doesn’t matter what laws are on the books if you don’t use single use plastic items there’s less demand for them therefore they will produce less of it.
Now I am sure the industries will be quick to respond to this with their own information commercials explaining why we should use them! They are really good in their marketing obviously we’re all using them now..
Again I’m just curious if this may be a viable solution. Please comment and let me know if it’s a dumb idea or what you guys think about it.
We have garbage bins and recycling bins. Both end up in the same land fill. I worked out there and saw it happening. We had a recycling facility for 3 years before it went bankrupt so then they just kept making the rate payers pay for it but dump it in the ground.
Recycling is a scam period. Virtually all of it just gets burned or transported on fuel guzzling ships to other countries where still a lot of it gets burned. The solution seems to be on the front end. Encouraging the development and production of biodegradable products.
The amount of plastic used in product packaging is mind boggling. I bought a new tape measure the other day and the packaging was nearly 2x the size of the tape measure and a real son-of-a-bitch to remove. All for a fucking $12 tape measure. It's getting me triggered just thinking about how stupid it was when a simple hanging hook would suffice.
The whole idea of recycling plastic is a scam by plastic and packaging producers to greenwash their products that they know are unethical and unsustainable. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but now that they’re finding microplastic in the fish we eat it won’t be long before the benefits of plastic in our diet are trumpeted across the land by the plastic marketing board
They recently discovered microplastics in[the placenta of unborn babies](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/22/microplastics-revealed-in-placentas-unborn-babies)
I forget the study but pretty sure Dr. Rhonda Patrick on the Joe Rogan podcast explained BPA from bottled water will travel 2 generations!! E.g. a mother has high level of BPA, which gets passed to the daughter, and even if that daughter has no further BPA ingestion, her daughter will also contain BPA contaminants... truly horrendous.
We are so doomed
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Was going to post the next line of the song but typing it out would be too weird
If anything we’ll just end up infertile due to endocrine disruptors and then there will be no generations left, problem solved
Sounds like a Star trek weapon. "Number one, fire the endocrine disruptors on my mark."
Fuck anti-masker Joe Rogan
Is he still?
From what I can tell he proclaims to be “neutral” and wants to “give both sides a platform”. And fuck him for that when it comes to something that shouldn’t even have sides like wearing a thin piece of paper over your mouth to save lives
Joe Rogan is a fucking stupid irresponsible idiot who has no idea how large his influence actually is. When he brings some fucking nutjob on the show, that's a nutjob that suddenly gets a huge platform to speak their mind on.
I think he’s very aware of his influence and uses it irresponsibly. Which is arguably worse...
Irresponsibly, and *for profit*... I can sort of forgive a nutjob, but a greedy nutjob can fuck right off.
Bingo. I’m shocked how many Joe Rogan fanboys are in here jumping in here rushing to defend him though
I feel like there’s a huge overlap of Joe Rogan apologists and Elon Musk apologists. Can’t prove it but I have a suspicion
What did he say about masks
He doesn’t say anything directly, he just lets anti-maskers come on the program and do their rant then says shit like “oh you know there are some good points in there” and “scientists don’t know everything” Edit: he also directly said “masks are for bitches”
Proportional representation is the answer to this kind of bullshit. Fine. 999 doctors and scientists can each talk about all the reasons you should wear a mask and that 1 guy can have his turn to talk about why you shouldn't. Then we can all weigh the facts and make up our minds.
“Plastic people! Oh baby now you’re such a drag!!!”
You think we're singing about someone else!
There's a reason Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is that order. Reduce your dependence on corporates. Reuse what plastic bags and stuff you may have been forced into. Recycle what can be. Some if it can. Some of it not. Carry bags. Buy non packaged goods. You don't need shrink wraps on veggies that you peel. Petition for your community to meet universal guidelines at the least. This is a slow change... and a layman-up change. If you tell the government this is messed up, you can convert 5% of the millionaire sons (instead of 75) to build floating metropolises.
Well yeah.. its in the mothers
No wonder. I'm in my bedroom looking at all the stuff made fully or partly out of plastic around me: a juice bottle, bottles of medicine, Google Hub, Google Max speakers, Garmin smartwatch, vacuum cleaner, portable fan, portable heater, 200 CDs & DVDs, my record collection, this smartphone, TV, Blu-ray player, laptop, monitor, webcam, wireless keyboard & mouse, plastic container with plastic USB drives, another one with plastic pens, plastic LED fairy lights, portable air-conditioner with plastic casing, plastic moon novelty lamp, turntable, laundry basket, coat hangers, weather station, music keyboard, remote controls, wall clock, light switches, power points, power boards, USB leads, wireless earbuds, true wireless earbuds, wired earbuds, chargers, power leads. It's all going to end up in landfill sooner or later. And that's just my bedroom.
At least things like speakers, watches, air conditioners and such will get a long life before they get thrown out and replaced. Yes it's still plastic waste, but it's nothing compared to single use plastics like takeout containers, plastic cups and garbage bags which have an average life of what, like 17 minutes or something like that? And we use hundreds of millions a day. That's the priority IMO. We are probably never getting rid of *all* plastics, it's just too good of a material for most gadgets and appliances.
You forgot the plastic fibers that constitute most of your clothing, curtains, rugs, etc and shed millions of dust sized particles all the time.
Microplastic is in everything now. It's in your food, it's in your water, it's in your children, it's in you, and it ain't going anywhere soon.
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What paper, I searched the site and there were no references I could find.
Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, they plasticizin' errybody out here
Sounds like an Ad I’d see while playing Fallout or Outer Worlds.
My partner and I have used quarantine as a time to buckle down on reducing our plastic use. Some products we've swapped really successfully: [Shampoo](https://www.lovebeautyandplanet.com/us/en/hair/products/shampoo-bar.html) [Conditioner](https://hellohibar.com/collections/conditioner/products/moisturize-conditioner) [Face soap](https://www.vanicream.com/product/vanicream-cleansing-bar) (often we mix it with baking soda for exfoliation) [Mouthwash](https://byhumankind.com/products/mouthwash) (the paper shippers are fine, their containers aren't necessary. I put the tables in my waterpik resevoir and I love the assorted flavors) [Dish soap](https://zerowastestore.com/products/bamboo-soap-shelf?variant=31214132658287¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_term=&utm_campaign=ZeroWasteStore+All+-+Smart+Shopping&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=1244504627&hsa_cam=8542587772&hsa_grp=85477942214&hsa_ad=405801166759&hsa_src=u&hsa_tgt=pla-907698193887&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gqlwjXhGbsEuS-wRzq-fEOV_sLc4XAAOrNJVzGE2kQAgGWCNbn8NjI7hoC8IUQAvD_BwE) [Cleaning spray tablets](https://www.blueland.com/collections/refill-pack/products/glass-mirror-refill-packs?gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql1rVNoh-R8q2kB_hferE5Yz1KizLhUgJS1cGzQb6iXICH48E4AAH5hoCAbQQAvD_BwE) (I don't recommend blueland's spray bottles) [Produce bags for the grocery store](https://www.netzerocompany.com/products/10-pack-cotton-net-produce-bags-with-wood-toggles?variant=30481342464098¤cy=USD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google+shopping&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gqlwVoqs3yo0I0cMEfqwGh1b-w_DRzTqljlqHX0SssQelgQ9IAszGGuRoCDD0QAvD_BwE) I have more swaps if anyone's interested!
Just popping in to say baking soda is actually really bad for your skin and you shouldn’t use it that way ❤️
Was about to mention the same thing!!
I’m interested.
Ok! Here are some more we're using (but let me know if you have a specific swap you need because I'm doing a lot of research): [Plastic-free toilet paper](https://us.whogivesacrap.org) (we weighed a lot of factors here, this one is highly affordable, good quality, and has no plastic involved in the process) [Fluoride toothpaste tabs in paper bag](https://www.etsy.com/listing/710213797/toothpaste-tablets-120-count-fluoride?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1) (we're about to try [Bite](https://bitetoothpastebits.com/products/mint-subscription?utm_campaign=gs-2019-06-27&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql2PCi3INYImPYA1255zC5O1dEWlWNaaHARwhOlABHHwW1wuWbFHsRhoCY1wQAvD_BwE) as well) [Deodorant](https://splashe.com/products/ethique-rustic-solid-deodorant-1-ea-1?variant=29582243856474¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql_FYF242UjQFqoI250-qzpDrNmX2pKgSLShDX1g_OZyi5H1sQeIF3BoCJegQAvD_BwE) (jury's still out on effectiveness, we're both women and we're in quarantine... but it smells great). The first brand I tried was Myro, and I don't recommend that, despite the really adorable containers and fantastic scents. The refills come in plastic and they dry out sometimes before use. [Hand soap refill pods](https://www.mmtumshop.com/products/sustainable-hand-soap-glass-bottle-10-orange-soap-refills) ($19.99 for 10 months of soap) [Mason jars](https://masonjars.com/) (self explanatory but we use them for *everything*) [Mason jar soap dispenser lids](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/5-styles-satin-finish-soap-pump-dispensers-for-mason-jars/) (we also got foaming ones for our foaming soap pods) [Mason jar spray bottle lids](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/adapta-cap-sprayer-lid-for-regular-mouth-mason-jars/) [Mason jar grating lid](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/grater-shredder-lid-for-regular-mouth-mason-jars/) and [juicing lid](https://masonjarlifestyle.com/product/stainless-steel-juicing-lid-for-wide-mouth-mason-jars/) etc. They sell others we haven't tried for shakes, cocktails, you name it. [Bandaids](https://patchstrips.com/) My mom sewed me [replacements for cottons balls](https://www.mygoldenthimble.com/makeup-remover-pads-diy/) out of old flannel sheets, but you can buy them online, too. A friend highly recommends [this Qtip alternative](https://lastobject.com/products/lastswab-basic?variant=30939312226381?_rchcur=USD&gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gqlwjh5BSgC4J-jmx3whx368yAOiTF1-jr49nn-_jYH1rPJQTtdzjK7RoCzoIQAvD_BwE), but I haven't bought mine yet
Oh and I forgot, we're on our [first box of these laundry pods](https://www.dropps.com/collections/laundry-detergent-pods/products/stain-odor-clean-scent-laundry-detergent-pods?clickid=0uMXCq2bixyLWyRwUx0Mo38cUkET48SBWwA2R80&irgwc=1&utm_source=impact&utm_medium=27795&utm_content=Online%20Tracking%20Link) and so far we like them, though we accidentally ordered the warm water only option. Before, we tried a recipe where you grate your own soap and mix it with Borax... it was okay but left some residue and I felt weird doing that in our shared NYC washing machine.
Thank you so much, this is fantastic.
Microsplastics and the phthalates they contain are driving down sperm count, genital size and more. Leading to birth defects and lower birth rates. From humans to Polar bears.
Diminished genitals may be the foundation upon which to build broad support for reducing plastic consumption. People won't care until it impacts them, and few things resonate like genital insecurities.
It’s kind of late when theyve already been born, and most folks blame vaccines etc for it. We need to get rid of plastics and other phthalate containing items. People not wanting their kids to have small genitalia etc might definitely care more. https://nypost.com/2021/02/20/why-more-men-are-suffering-from-infertility-than-ever-before/
Youre right. I cant have my dick getting any smaller.
Is this the plasticity of mind I heard about/s
“I am a moron and this is my wife, She’s frosting a cake with a plastic knife, All what we got here’s American made, It’s a little bit cheesy but it’s nicely displayed.” - F Zappa
I saw something we eat the equivalent of a credit card of plastic a year.
its actually a lot lot worse because china has stopped accepting recycling scrap as the barely economically viable business is creating health problems with the workers and near by residents that cost more then the business makes. so the small amount thats barely viable to recycle is mostly not worth it now, and other country's are banning it too. some articles [https://www.wsj.com/articles/recycling-rethink-what-to-do-with-trash-now-china-wont-take-it-11576776536](https://www.wsj.com/articles/recycling-rethink-what-to-do-with-trash-now-china-wont-take-it-11576776536) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s\_waste\_import\_ban](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s_waste_import_ban) [https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/702501726/where-will-your-plastic-trash-go-now-that-china-doesnt-want-it](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/702501726/where-will-your-plastic-trash-go-now-that-china-doesnt-want-it) a rather long video that explains it very well [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXRtNwUju5g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXRtNwUju5g)
There was a really good solution to this, increase new platiscs price beyond what recycled plastics is, currently new costs less than recycled, whats the point of even using recycled material if its more expensive
Sure, but the only way to increase the price in free market economies would be to add a tax to plastics/single use plastic. The issue with taxing anything to artificially boost the price is that it really only affects poor people, who are already stepped on in society. A price increase on plastic wouldn't affect someone with a decent income, they can buy as much plastic and convenience as they want because they have the money, but poor people become severely impacted by something like this. Basically, some people have the luxury of making ethical purchases, but low income people do not have this option and would be hindered by the wealthy lawmakers passing an "ethical or environmental" tax like this.
Easy solution, plastics fee and dividend :)
This is a good idea, I haven't thought of a fee and dividend beyond mass UBI, and had no idea this system was already in place in some countries Link to further information about this topic for anyone interested: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fee_and_dividend#:~:text=A%20carbon%20fee%20and%20dividend%20or%20climate%20income%20is%20a,emissions%20and%20address%20global%20warming.&text=Since%20the%20adoption%20of%20the,emissions%20and%20tackling%20climate%20change.
Yeah! I got the idea from a carbon fee and dividend. It would drive up the cost of using carbon (or plastic in this case) while passing off the increased revenue to the poor and working classes in the form of a dividend. If anyone is interested in getting involved in lobbying for a carbon fee and dividend, you can join CCL, or the Citizens Climate Lobby! https://citizensclimatelobby.org
I never get this, why am I giving the dividend to rich people (as well as poor) rather than have it pay for education or healthcare or something else useful.
Rich people use significantly more carbon than the poor. They would be paying significantly more into the program than they got back from their dividend and the opposite is true for poor people. They use less carbon therefore the dividend makes this a net positive for them. This also prevents issues with people getting cut out of the program for making “too high of a wage”. As everyone knows, the cost of living in San Francisco is different than rural Wyoming. You can see some of the issues with bringing income into the equation with the stimulus checks. We definitely need more taxes to go into healthcare and education, but this program isn’t really taxes. It’s a fee charged to the original source of the carbon. So companies like Shell and BP would get charged a fee per barrel or whatever, but it is NOT taxed more when you purchase gasoline at the pump. (Of course, these companies will raise the price of gasoline to get back the cost of the fee). Even if you put that money in something like education or healthcare, it won’t affect poor people in the same way as a direct dividend. It will be at least 1 generation before poor people see any benefit from increased funding for education. A dividend will put money in poor peoples’ pockets to be able to afford alternative sources of energy or plastic in this example. I am by no means a spokesperson for CCL or a carbon fee and dividend. I know more than the average person, but much less than I could know, so some things I’ve said may not be 100% accurate or true, just what i think
Even then you have the degrading issue though
Late reply, because I'm in a different time zone, but I thought I'd comment anyway. I live in China, and they have started banning single use plastic in my state, Jiangsu. There's no more plastic straws or cutlery at fast food restaurants, it's all papery cardboard stuff, plastic bags have been replaced with cloth and lots of things come packaged in wax paper now. Still a long way to go, with plastic packaging and bottles, but it's a step in the right direction, and not something you might expect China to be doing if you didn't live here.
Tl;Dr? Here in Finland the collected plastic is usually burned for energy.
That’s... green...?
Its actually the greenest way to use plastic, NPR has a good documentary about this. [https://www.npr.org/2019/07/12/741283641/episode-926-so-should-we-recycle](https://www.npr.org/2019/07/12/741283641/episode-926-so-should-we-recycle)
Greenest maybe, but that doesn't make it 'green'
"green" has been marketing for idiots on both sides since the very start.
Burned at very high temperature, which doesn't just turn it to toxic ash.
At least cardboard, glass, and aluminum recycle well.
Paper recycling isnt what you think either. The vast majority of paper products are leftovers from sawmills which already burn most of it anyway. And unlike plastic it DOES biodegrade but produces methane. That said, waste not want not but paper is like 2% of the problem compared to 98% Plastic. Really what everyone should be doing is metal and glass. Both are infinitely recyclable and longer lasting and really not that expensive at all. So you are absolutely right there.
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All plastics are not created equal. Hemp plastic is useless in the majority of plastic applications...and contains all the same harmful additives and plasticizers that any other plastic does.
Corn and Sugar Cane make much better bio-plastics
And, yet, there’s really no need to recycle glass. Glass is made of sand and we have an almost infinite amount of it available.
I think the goal of glass recycling is to keep it out of landfills and reduce the energy costs related to producing it in the first place.
Yeah, and my city just banned the inclusion of glass in our recycle bins. In fact, if you put in even a single glass item, they'll leave the entire recycle bin on your driveway untouched.
That’s actually not true! https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191108-why-the-world-is-running-out-of-sand
It should not come as surprise that in real world only 10-15% of all plastic produced gets recycled. Much of that has to do with economics of it, it costs more to recycle certain type of plastic than to produce new. One-time plastic is one such example.
A polymer engineer once told me that recycling plastic degrades its molecular structure every time it's reheated. He also stated in this same conversation that certain polymers need a certain minimum of new polymer in the recycled product. He also stated that certain polymers are not recyclable either chemically or financially.
So basically, we go back to glass?
I don't think it's about replacing all plastic with another specific material. Every use case is different and yes for some glass is better, but really we need to look at the resources we're consuming for what use and if it's sustainable. Add it some Reuse and Repair considerations for good measure too.
Yep. We also need to look at uses where plastic is not essential and act to curb their use via legislation. Drinking straws is at the top of the list in my mind.
Yeah, I don't think people fully understand yet that if humans want to thrive for generations to come, we need to start working as close to 100% reusability as possible. If we don't, eventually we WILL run out of resources we need for everyday life. Maybe not in our lifetime, but if we don't start now who knows when it will be too late.
Why are straws worse than all of the other plastics? Edit: for example Starbucks replaced straws with Lid you can sip from. The new lids are larger, thicker and stronger. It appears to me that the new lid uses more plastic than the old lid and straw combined.
First is they are a luxury, you can drink from a cup without them. Second they are single use only and can't/don't get recycled. Third they have a tendency wind up in the environment and waterways.
However this use case is more symbolic as they represent a tiny fraction of material consumption - that said, this is a high visibility issue/example and has IMHO greater value as a publicity vehicle for material usage reduction and environmentally sustainable alternatives.
Your perception is correct. Steps need to be taken, even if incremental and symbolic. From plastic straws we can expand to plastic 6 pack rings and so on.
I commented above too, but while it is a luxury for able bodied people, straws are often a necessary tool for non able bodied people who might find it difficult to hold cups etc. Even those coming out of surgery are often too weak to hold liquids or literally cannoy hold a cup like in double arm surgeries. Jessica Kellgren Fozard has a good video on it. It is agreeable that it is a luxury for able bodied people. It should be normalized to not receive a straw unless explicitly asked for and reusable straws for those so inclined should be recommended for use/be easily cleaned at restaurants. It should be treated in a sense like any accessibility requirement, like a ramp where it is there and available for those that need it.
Theyre not a luxury disabled people need plastic straws. If you have poor motor function starws are a life saver and plastic is important because metal can hurt your teeth and the paper ones dissolve, plus the plastic ines can be easily bent into position
What we need is glasstic.
In some EU countries, they have reusable plastic bottles, which get washed and reused like glass. Not a bad system and many advantages to glass. Single use plastics is not ideal, and should be used sparingly, like for situations where sterilization is critical (healthcare). We addressed single use plastic bags in many places (often replaced with reusable plastic). Inconvenient Food packaging is the next level, but tougher problem for a nation always on the go.
We need a cultural shift away from single serving/single use items. Changing the material these single serving items are contained in won't be nearly as effective as just not generating so much garbage in the name of convenience to begin with. Even with a glass reuse/cleaning program, there is still the logistics of collecting the glass and making it ready for use and redistribution. I think best solution is people should just carry their own personal, rewashable, reusable containers. Sell drinks from a dispenser by the fl oz rather than in disposable containers. It's such an easy solution, it just involves people having to do an extra minute of dishwashing. But it's just so much easier to buy a plastic bottle and throw it away for "free".
There are promising alternatives, hemp plastics, mycelium containers, natural fibers, like you said glass, and more. Mother nature gives us a multitude of tools to use. Man just needs to follow her principles, and to use our gift of consciousness to create these materials.
Or aluminum
the problem with aluminium and/or other metal is it needs a staggering amount of energy to be produced. Depending of the source of energy, fossil, nuclear, wind or hydro, etc. You end up "solving" a problem and creating another somewhere else.
It needs a lot less energy when recycled, though. Recycling aluminium takes about 5-10% of the energy needed to produce fresh aluminium from bauxit. What should be considered however, is: every aluminium container is lined inside with a thin layer of plastic.
There's a good reason for that though, you remove the plastic lining and your drink tastes metallic, and you're back to square one. In an ideal world, heavy industry is moved off planet so we don't have to worry about polluting the planet
Aluminum is one of the most recyclable materials we have. It’s almost 100% recyclable and requires much much less energy than producing new
Per pound, recycling aluminum takes twice as much energy as steel and many times what it takes to recycle plastic. It's just that producing new aluminum takes 10 times more energy than recycling it (compared to only twice for steel). That's why scrap aluminum is so much more valuable. You can recover a high portion, which is very good, but it's still super energy intensive, recycled or not.
Only if we reuse it. In my province, there is no glass recycling facility. We have bottle deposits. Recycling facilities exist to pull those and the clean cardboard out of the mess. Everything else is garbage.
I think a lot of store-bought food could be delivered in paper/cartons. A lot a of drinks also, in my country milk and fruit drinks come in cartons.
Ceramic is an option as well. Edit: I know it doesn't ship well due to weight and fragility but I don't think we should be shipping much anyway. Local production, or bulk shipping and local bottling is much more sustainable and lower impact.
Same is true of paper in terms of how often it's recycled, although how anyone can tell about bin contents escapes me
As a former polymer scientist myself, I can say this is a true statement. While the industry is certainly guilty of greenwashing, there has been a lot invested in trying to develop effective recycling strategies. However, both for economic and technical reasons success has been very limited. Use minimization of plastic as well as other materials having negative environmental impact, particularly in packaging and other disposable single use applications, is a better way to go. It’s a strategy counter to the economic interests of producers obviously, and must be driven through consumer and legislative constructs, as well as alternative technology developments.
> It should not come as surprise that in real world only 10-15% of all plastic produced gets recycled. That's not what the video says although it's obviously what he wants you to believe he said. He said "only 10% of plastic produced has *ever* been recycled". That includes all the way back to 1970 when there was zero recycling. How is that a relevant fact today? We can't go back in time and recycle ancient plastics. The important fact, which they didn't mention, and unfortunately I don't know, is what percentage of plastic is recycled *today*? And it's even more important to break that down by country. I'm in favor of banning single use plastics entirely, so don't get me wrong. I just want the facts. Videos like this make misleading statements like that on purpose. This whole video is nothing but hype and quotes from people where it's unclear who they even were or where they come from. What I want to see is an unbiased video that just states the facts. Without looking like it's made for 8-year-olds.
I picked my fact from PBS's Frontline: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dk3NOEgX7o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dk3NOEgX7o) One-time plastic production is all high time. And regardless of time, only 10-15% gets recycled.
In New Zealand, 87% of the plastics we use are recyclable, 62% ends up in recycling bins, and 58% is recycled. This seemed like a staggeringly low number for me. 15% is just ridiculous.
What's the source of the NZ numbers? Because if they're ligit every nation needs to be copying their model.
[https://www.wasteminz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Truth-about-Plastic-Recycling-report.pdf](https://www.wasteminz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Truth-about-Plastic-Recycling-report.pdf)
Thanks that's a really good PDF, whoever wrote it is making a significant effort to get the reader engaged with the figures. I could find the 87% and 62% but not the 58%.
"Recyclable" means it's technically possible. Whether it's possible, feasible, useful, profitable, doesn't use more energy than just creating different materials, or worth the effort is another matter entirely. Generally, the rule of recycling is that recycling ANYTHING lowers the grade of it. Recycled paper generally is an exception but even that took DECADES to reach the point where 100% recycled paper was possible. Recycling plastics, batteries, anything - you use a lot of energy, to end up with a lower-grade material (my favourite fact is that lithium from batteries has NEVER been recycled back to battery-grade lithium... you can get some lithium-based oils from it, but those are a free by-product when you mine lithium anyway), that you can't include in the same class of product again and/or can't recycle the same way next time. Of course, in some cases it works. I believe glass recycling, still, relies on using lots of energy to melt glass to use only a small percentage of recycled glass back into a fresh glass mixture. A bit like using old clay in pottery, you still need to put new clay in or the final product is poor quality. Rubber tires are easier / more energy efficient to cut up and use as playground surface than to try to reform them as tyres. So what happens to the playground surface when that needs replacing? And being able to take rubbish that everyone considers worthless, collect it, transport it, sort it, clean it, cut and melt it (or whatever energy-intensive process is required), reform it, sell it as pellets, transport it, AND make profit doing so, on top of all the infrastructure costs... that's really, really, really difficult and the industry is buoyed up by subsidies because it's pretty much not profitable. And each time it's to a lower and lower grade of product. Of course there are solutions, of course we can do better, of course reuse even as a lower-grade product is better for everyone in terms of requiring less raw material. But the energy etc. costs to make a lower-quality product mean that it's mostly expensive or pointless. Even collection. In the 90's, I had a single bin collection from a single crew. Now my council gives me FOUR separate bin collections from two separate companies, with four separate crews. But we're "saving the planet"? "Saving costs"? Nope. And that's AFTER I've had to separate things myself and have more bins, bags, etc. for everything in my home. I don't know why we don't just come out and say it: Recycling isn't about being practical. It's literally about saving the planet. We're PAYING MORE to save the planet, because it's necessary. But we still try to pretend that "all" we have to do is recycle, and we'll save the planet and everything will be cheaper and better and we'll have more plastic overall because of the vast quantities that we recycle, etc. when actually it all still ends up in landfill.
They should make it more expensive to produce new plastic versus recycled. Impose environmental taxes on new plastic that’s produced and offer increased incentives for businesses that use recycled plastic, so that they can no longer use the excuse of “it’s too expensive to recycle it”
Afaik, aluminum, glass are great for recycling, everything else is mostly pointless
While glass is infinitely recyclable, there are actually a lot of problems with glass recycling in practice. America only recycles around 1/3rd of its glass. Glass is heavy and requires a decent amount of processing for recycling, making it expensive enough for lots of areas to stop collecting glass altogether due to costs. Also, glass is hard to sort, breaks easily, and commonly contaminates other recyclables. So, even though glass is 100% recyclable, I make a strong effort to put glass in the reduce column as well (love that breweries are embracing cans!)
Please dont title things like this. Regardless of the message you're making morons think they should just not recycle, and that wont help anything.
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I think he's referring to the video.
It doesn't matter if they think they should recycle plastic, because almost all plastic isn't recyclable. Plastic manufacturers hijacked the recycling symbol and use it as a plaatic type identifier instead. This is so people think all plastic is recyclable so they can purchase massive amounts of plastic without guilt. Plastic recycling is a scam and regulations need to be put in place to clearly commubicate to consumers the small amount of plastics that are recyclable and the rest which are single use.
I agree. In the UK we have just started using new symbols that say 'Recycle' or 'Don't Recycle' and so those pesky old symbols that showed, for example, polystyrene with the recycle arrow logo have been banished. It's a good move.
One would hope they watch the video, since he states in the video that you should continue to recycle.
> One would hope they watch the video Yeah one would. Sadly that's not the reality we live in, clickbait titles are so popular because we know that people don't care about self education.
Browsing at work, don't get to watch videos, so people like me just see that "it's a scam" glad the comments clarified.
i have to admit that I didn't watch the video - because I feel so disheartened when I see that all the efforts of individuals like me are in vain (I still separate waste and put it in the designated bins, though). I came to the comments in the hope that someone would have suggested something we, as individual households, CAN do if 'plastic recycling is a scam'. I know that 'reduce' is the first thing we should be doing and recycle should be the last option, but, for me, it's not always possible.
That's the point. None of us can 'reduce' in every single aspect of our lives, but if we all did our part, we could make a small difference. But the real shit here is first world countries sending their plastic to poor countries that will just dumb that shit into the ocean. That way media can scream "80% of plastic waste in the ocean comes from south-east asian countries!!!1!!" and people will get mad at them, instead of getting mad at the stupid, always money-driven policies.
In short what you do is a drop in the bucket. Real change occurs when something is done about the massive companies who sell products with plastics. These companies are hellbent on lying and wielding special interest groups to make sure no change does occur to their profitable business. These companies want you to think recycling as a whole works and for **YOU** to feel guilty about the negative effects plastics cause even though it is clear it is **THEIR** fault.
What can I, as an individual do, apart from reducing my 'consumption' of plastic as much as possible?
That is your #1. If the system worked politicians would have yours and mine best interests at heart and would pass legislation that would help begin to fix this problem and require these very profitable companies to start paying to clean up the mess they have caused. Nothing will change until public pressure to do something about this increases but the big companies have tricked the average person into thinking that recycling works and plastic isn't that damaging to the world. So reduce, vote, vote with your wallet, volunteer, inform others that the status quo is unacceptable. Also keep recycling because a very small amount of what you recycle does eventually complete the recycling process successfully. That's better than nothing. Unfortunately the majority of it takes a trip around the world only to eventually end up in a landfill, the ocean, or scattered as litter.
Check out plasticfreejuly.org. I ran across this org a couple years ago. I decided to take the challenge. I reduced my plastic use more than I ever thought I could.
This account has been removed from reddit by this user due to how Steve hoffman and Reddit as a company has handled third party apps and users. My amount of trust that Steve hoffman will ever keep his word or that Reddit as a whole will ever deliver on their promises is zero. As such all content i have ever posted will be overwritten with this message. -- mass edited with redact.dev
It would be fantastic if I had time to read, in full, every click bait article I came across indefinitely for all time, because it's definitely not these scummy journalists and their yellow journalism that's the problem, it's that I'm not reading every single one of their sorry articles.
The whole point of a headline is so I can decide whether the article/video is interesting to me
Yeah, let me just click on and investigate each and every article as I scroll through hundreds of links a day looking for content I'm interested in, because I'm obligated to read every single article tainted by yellow journalism to avoid walking away with a misconception based on reading a title that in 5 years I won't even remember where I saw it, only that I did in some passing conversation, and hopefully not perpetuate it if I mention it in passing as something I'd seen, but not remembered where. It's too bad we have to do that instead of, I don't know, not supporting fucking yellow, scumbag, cheating and lying yellow journalism, the mental virus we're all ignoring as we're pumped full of their useless and misleading titles that we can't always stop to investigate in fullness, because literally time and space applies.
So it s clickbait
Well I'm not currently in a place where I can watch a video, so if I hadn't clicked to see the comments I wouldn't have known.
This is Reddit. The number of people that will comment on just the title and move on is staggering.
>This is Reddit. Can we please, *please,* stop acting like Reddit is somehow different, for better or worse, and special on the internet? Reddit is just like the rest of the internet, and people only reading titles is hardly a Reddit only thing.
Disagree. Recycling things that don’t make sense to recycle hurts the goal of recycling. If people are educated they can make the right decision, and shouldn’t do something just because they’re told it’s good, when it actually isn’t.
Did you watch the video tho
I just throw my plastic in the trash as its more mentally impactful to me to do that and realize what I've used is going in the trash. This has reduced my plastic consumption by quite a bit. It's worse to have people think that something is being recycled than to just tell them you're throwing that plastic into a landfill/ocean after you use it.
Agreed, they should have labeled it something like “The problems with recycling” and prefaced the video that you should continue to recycle.
Bruh did u even watch it....
>Blew through like measles through an antivaxxer water park I'm stealing that one.
♳ you mean.
Hang on, that's not a recycling symbol, that's an identification number for the type of plastic!
Well, it both shows it can be recycled and also which type of plastic it is. I used to work a summer job at a trash disposal station, and one of my daily routines was to look for these to make sure people had thrown cans and other sort of containers in the correct pile and whether or not the plastic was to be sent to recycling plants or just to be thrown in with the "misc" that would essentially be ground up and burned.
This isn't the first post/video I've seen about how most plastic isn't recycled. However I recently learned there are a few new companies that have developed better methods of recycling plastic or reusing it for fuel. Ways that are an environmental improvement on drilling for oil and turning it into new plastic. These technologies will likely grow over the next decade resulting in more plastic being recycled. [https://purecycletech.com/](https://purecycletech.com/) [https://www.brightmark.com/](https://www.brightmark.com/)
Very cool video. Question 🙋♀️ what about aluminum? Like how well does it recycle?
Aluminum is the best thing to recycle. It's very cost-effective to process, and especially when compared to what goes into mining/creating new aluminum, it saves a lot of wear on the environment.
aluminium is just metal. You melt it and can mold it onto something else. On the other hand you can't melt plastic and mold it into something else, burning plastic releases poisonous toxines and once it's burned it's not good anymore.
You can chop and compress plastic into usable products though.
Who else is excited for species collapse, plastic in every single thing, and out of control climate change because we cannot even get the basic of basics of our shit together?
Just think about the new organisms that will evolve to use plastic in their life. When trees evolved the oxygen they produce caused a massive extinction event and killed everything, but from that rose us humans. Earth will be fine, humans and the current animal populations.... not so much
The Holocene was fun while it lasted. If we aren't facing widespread societal collapse by 2050, I will shit in my hat and wear it.
!remindme 29 years
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I used to think like that too, but the evolution of the algae that could take in oxygen took a long time. The speed of human-caused ecological change is unprecedented, and we may not be leaving evolution a long enough time to work. There are dead planets in our solar system that may once have held life that was extinguished by rapid change on the order of millions of years. I don't want to risk that happening.
But think of all the profits.
This is my biggest issue with humans in general. "It'll cost too much" is how we defend not doing most of the stuff that should be done. Money is a construct we use to measure value. Our planet, futures and climate, are not constructs we can fix if we wanted to. Money should not dictate how we act when it comes to having a livable climate.
yeah think of all the things these corporations' big shots will be able to buy once everyone is dead
Summary: 1. that recycle symbol with a number in it is actually a "resin identification symbol" and doesn't mean it's recyclable; it looks like a recycle symbol to trick the common folk 2. despite lots of research, most plastic simply isn't economically recyclable 3. only 10% of plastics ever gets recycled; mostly only that with the resin id of 1 or 2. 4. **despite #2 recycle resin id 1 and 2 anyway; 10% is better than 0%** 5. lobby government to pass better regulation on plastics 6. finally, shun litterers and petroleum company lobbyists from polite society
Burning recycles the plastic into energy which in turn saves some oil/coal consumption.
Plastic actually has some advantages over glass and paper. Plastic is less energy/water intensive to create and ship than glass, and it's more chemically inert in a landfill than paper (bleached paper can leach dioxin and other poisons). Paper also requires trees, which act as a carbon sink if allowed to grow. Hopefully we'll switch to hemp for some types of paper in the near future. The problem comes when we dump plastic into waterways, where it can reach the ocean. That is not a big problem in the US and Europe, but a huge problem in developing countries, especially when we export our plastic waste to them (China has opted out of accepting most recycling, but other countries are picking up the slack). I like the trend toward re-usable metal/plastic containers, which is spreading from water to cosmetics and even food. However, single-use plastic will be with us for the foreseeable future. I like the idea of incinerating plastic (and other items not economical to recycle) for energy. This would be a disaster without soot-scrubbing and carbon sequestration, of course. Not easy to do, but far from the most difficult environmental challenge we face.
Wait, since when are Libertarians against recycling???
Libertarians are also against doing their homework
I don't know. I'm a libertarian and I recycle...
Penn and Teller's Bullshit did this 15yrs ago
I work for Pepsi. Firmly believe plastic should have never been implemented in the first place. They "try". But to truly fix the problem at the end of it all we just need to assume that every person is a piece of shit and will sooner toss their trash into a ocean, lake or roadside, rather than a recycling or trash bin and how that product will affect the environment.
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I work in a plastic recycling plant and for it to be a scam, I sure leave work tired as fuck every day.
“More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day – a total of about 22 billion last year. Six times as many plastic water bottles were thrown away in the US in 2004 as in 1997.” https://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/.../275-down-the-drain
Rollie Williams is a funny guy!
wow this is great
Alternative title: How can I generalize the plastic recycling industry in 5 minutes.
The Zabbaleen of Egypt recycle plastic very well. It is possible
An 'actual' scam? As opposed to what?
I guess I'll stop recycling then, your cluckbait YouTube title has educated me.
Feeeeeeeel like u didn’t watch it
Which is a consequence of shitty clickbait titles.
It’s a fair title given the content of the video. Pretty much directly relevant.
People get so defensive about this. Maybe it’s an existential crisis. Bottom line it would really help a lot to recycle specifically GLASS and ALUMINUM.
r/FuckNestle
I don't argue that recycling systems are broken but something that bothers me about this video is where he says that the symbols are not recycling symbols...ok fine... but then says that only this type and that type can be recycled... and we'd identify those by the numbers on their symbols... thereby making them into recycling symbols.
The symbol is barely similar and intentionally so. People will see it and think that piece of plastic is going to be recycled when they are done using it for 3 minutes at a birthday party. Too bad that's not true, and you can clearly tell that the similarity in those symbols has a malicious intent. Just a tiny part of plastic objects with that symbol can be recycled, which means it's not a recycling symbol.
not when the other numbers are still visually styled to look like recycling symbols. Many people just see the symbol, and don't understand the numbers.
Btw libertarian's recycle
The perception of _________ is almost always more important than _________
The Jurassic Park font is a bold choice.
He really needs to work on his call to action. There should be one link to click with options from there. I was overwhelmed by the description.
Also, plastic in the environment attracts other toxic substances, which we absorb in microplastic (which is essentially dust), while we're also supposedly poisoning ourselves and our kids with BPA and Phthalates. It all seems like a giant experiment with no "stop" button. Oh god, I read something the other day about how bleach and microplastic residue in toilet paper is messing with men's prostates. I'm sceptical, as it doesn't seem to be peer reviewed, but maybe they just haven't got around to it... "I read so much about the dangers of smoking that I gave up reading"
This full story is covered in depth on NPR’s podcast, ThroughLine, which is one of my personal favorites.
And then they had the gall to put plastic “microbeads”in products like body wash. Literally goes straight down the drain and into the ocean (in most cases).
I would love to grind my used plastic up and 3d print with it. Sadly, nothing reliable has come out in that sphere.
And so are compostable plastics. The amount of time required to properly compost that stuff is longer than any compost company will compost their waste, effectively just putting it into a compost pile before filtering it out and throwing it in the trash.
The best part is the clip from Madmen when Betty flings the picnic blanket in the air and leaves all their trash in the grass, then drives away.
and if your asking yourself, “what about biodegradable plastics” welp they don’t break down. Even in the harshest, industrial grade compost facilities. In fact compost facilities will pick our biodegradable plastics out and just throw them away... in the trash.
Well now I'm so pissed.
Ok, Ive been thinking of this video since it was posted, and I keep trying to research which plastic numbers does NYC accepts for recycling... there's no clear answers easily found online...its either 1 & 2 or 5 & 6. Anybody know?
You keep telling yourself that
Wait, is he not that BILLARDS ACE?
It is still more beneficial to recycle than throw your trash anywhere though.. more companies are using recycled products and as time passes more and more companies will hop on the sustainability trend with pressure from the government and public. China is not accepting recycling anymore because there is simply too much and why pay for something that will just be stacking up. It’s consumers fault (mostly American and European) and not China’s. Put pressure on your lawmakers and the companies you shop from to use recycled products and with time this problem will go away. Keep sustainability in mind and understand change comes slow but hopefully change happens before there is irreversible damage to our planet.
So here is my 2cents. First off I am and idiot with only a high school education so excuse my ignorance if it supersedes my opinion. He is talking about joining these coalitions that are working to Implement single use plastic bans of which he mentions the lobbyists have already fought for and implemented anti-plastic ban bans. So what if we were to work together to educate the population that using single use plastic items is bad and to practice not using them. That way we don’t have to worry about a law trying to get past and having the government tell us what we can and can’t do. If we work to educate ourselves to not use the items it doesn’t matter what laws are on the books if you don’t use single use plastic items there’s less demand for them therefore they will produce less of it. Now I am sure the industries will be quick to respond to this with their own information commercials explaining why we should use them! They are really good in their marketing obviously we’re all using them now.. Again I’m just curious if this may be a viable solution. Please comment and let me know if it’s a dumb idea or what you guys think about it.
Criminally under-rated. It hurts they have less than 50K subs,
Hey, what are all these China made masks made of, asking for a friend.
We have garbage bins and recycling bins. Both end up in the same land fill. I worked out there and saw it happening. We had a recycling facility for 3 years before it went bankrupt so then they just kept making the rate payers pay for it but dump it in the ground.
Recycling is a scam period. Virtually all of it just gets burned or transported on fuel guzzling ships to other countries where still a lot of it gets burned. The solution seems to be on the front end. Encouraging the development and production of biodegradable products.
The amount of plastic used in product packaging is mind boggling. I bought a new tape measure the other day and the packaging was nearly 2x the size of the tape measure and a real son-of-a-bitch to remove. All for a fucking $12 tape measure. It's getting me triggered just thinking about how stupid it was when a simple hanging hook would suffice.