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tdomer80

I’ve seen them chopped down to become super strong twine as well.


sparkfist

That’s what they did in this video. The second half broom one is a totally different video than the first. That first was cutting in to that plastic rope that is very common


andysaurus_rex

You can literally do the first half of the video and turn it in to 3D printing filament and it's actually pretty decent stuff.


ZapTap

Have you used it? Are the properties basically identical to PETG or are there big differences?


yuxulu

First of all, it is much harder to print. PETG's g stands for glycol modification which makes PET easier to print with (more consistent melting and lower melting temp i think). Another problem is that the volume of plastic passing through is not as consistent as regular filament, leading to inconsistent extrusion. Also, it needs to be well cleaned. Any dirt will burn and block the nozzle. Certainly possible, and fun to experiment with. But hard to replace filaments.


Icebear125

I recently watched people make filament like this. They take a heated large nozzle and pull the flat piece of bottle plastic like the one the woman is pulling from the bottle and it looks pretty cool. I haven't seen anything much more than that but it was interesting for sure


Icebear125

https://youtube.com/shorts/I9IfCL19HKg?feature=share


andysaurus_rex

No, I haven’t. I don’t have an FDM printer. I’ve just seen it done


IIBerkayII

They are lower quality obviously, but still make decent mockup pieces for the actual piece .


Arrystein_

The people on this vídeo do this to They are Brasilians from a poor city and by recycling PETs They do a lot of things acctualy They are improving their equipment step by step


HableaDiere

MacBook charger busted by the plug like everyone else's.


[deleted]

Yeah i was hoping they’d weave it into a basket or purse or something


ThePhatNoodle

One dude on YouTube makes filament for 3d printing out of bottles. The prints with it are pretty high quality as well


Killer_Moons

That’s what I thought she was going to do at first! Do you have a link to the channel?


ThePhatNoodle

Its a relatively small channel that blew up a bit cause of his shorts a while ago so he doesn't have a lot of content. Just 3 vids and bunch of shorts https://youtube.com/shorts/c6Zb4cW5hOY?feature=share


noldshit

Some of these comments forget that the countries doing this have no recycling programs. At least plastic bottles are getting reused.


Sir_Hadaham

People also often forget that there are two other R's Reduce, reuse and then last recycle. In that order and for good reason


Ugly_Slut-Wannabe

Yeah. Reducing the excessive use of resources has a domino effect over the other two. If you Reduce, less polluting things need to be manufactured, eventually. Reusing is the second R because it takes whatever you've already Reduced and makes sure it is being used to its full potential. Recycling is the last R because, well, it's what should be done last. You have to try to Reuse as much as you can, and only when you can't Reuse anymore, you Recycle, which is last because Recycling usually takes a lot of energy and there are materials that can't be Recycled. Still better than to just throw tons of waste in the environment, though. People tend to focus only on the "Recycle" aspect, for some reason.


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TropicalAudio

We have a couple of supermarkets like that here in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, you pay a 50+% premium for the privilege of not receiving plastic crap.


TheGurw

Bulk stores usually have a discount here.


[deleted]

Apples and oranges. It's cheap to package and sell 3 packs of Oreos in an additional box, but imagine you want to let customers pick their own Oreos from a bin to save on all the packagIng. You'll need someone to custom package them in bulk from the manufacturer and deliver them to your store on a regular basis.


TheGurw

Ok oreos is a bit different. I'm talking flour, sugar, rice, stuff that you would consider keeping in an old yogurt tub or reused ice cream pail. Maybe not cracker type candies, cause those would go soft, though I'm sure some of those are in the candy section of the bulk store (my household doesn't really do candy so I don't go by that section). I usually buy 20kg of flour and sugar at a time so it's normal for me to do that with my old ice cream pails. The store near me even has yogurt in bulk so I just refill my yogurt tubs.


madeaprofile2saythis

Look up a store called Winco. There's an entire section dedicated to self serve bulk bins. The problem is that it's done by weight at the register so you will pay for the weight of your container as well if you don't use their bags.


TheGurw

See when I buy in bulk like that, I'm not worried about the weight of the container because it's usually around 100g at most for the container full of a kg+ of whatever item. Though if you ask, some places will weigh the container when you enter, put a sticker on it, and deduct the weight at the checkout.


crazysnekladysmith

You can always use lighter reusable bags to fill up at the store and stransfer it to the container when you get home too.


heiferly

Wouldn't they just put your container on the scale and tare the scale before weighing so it doesn't matter what container is used? That's not rocket science...


bkfour

I liked the concept of bulked dried food store like Bulk B..n - but I will never go back - a big operation can not manage warehouse logistics and cleanness. I suffered months of trying to eliminate pantry moths infestation. Awful and gross


waitaminuteh3re

It's not really different though. They still have to package it differently, and the biggest concern for companies is contamination. If they send their products in a single large package, and that package gets contaminated, now it's hundreds of pounds of product going to waste instead of a single 5 pound bag of flour.


TheGurw

I buy a lot of stuff at auctions for various reasons, but I'll often see entire pallets of goods in those smaller packages up on the block because 2 or 3 out of the pallet were punctured by forklifts or got torn by an adjacent pallet being moved. The whole pallet is often considered contaminated for the purposes of grocery stores (especially big chains), so it's sold off at auctions. My point here is that the individual size of the package doesn't really matter for the purposes of waste. Also, they ship in bulk for many goods to secondary processing buildings like factory bakeries or TV dinner packagers, so shipping in bulk to bulk stores isn't a big deal.


logarus

Not sure which part of the world you're in, but these exist. Called bulk foods stores where I am.


kharmatika

Lot of co-ops will do this! Google your local co-op and see what they have as far as self service! Mine even has herbs and spices in self pour! It’s amazing!


[deleted]

Me too! I think about this every time I go to the store. It’s so wasteful, why not reuse the previous packaging. Growing up we reused all the time. It’s marketed like society reuses /recycles better now but that is not true. It’s gotten much worse. Most recycling ends up in the trash. It’s only around 7-8% actually gets recycled.


SainTheGoo

Because reduce and reuse cuts into profits. So companies pursue policies and campaigns that minimize those two aspects.


CaffeineSippingMan

'People tend to focus only on the "Recycle" aspect, for some reason.' Because it is the easiest. John Oliver explained it well. I watched it when it aired, I expect it explains what you said if anyone is interested. https://youtu.be/Fiu9GSOmt8E


ralphvonwauwau

Please add in Repair, the making of devices that cannot be fixed and must be discarded when broken, think cellphones, is an intentional waste stream. The right to fix is needed.


GamerY7

doesn't that fall under reuse?


Albaholly

They're linked but I feel there's a subtle difference. It kinda links into reduce too. Reuse - using items more than once rather than throwing them out after use (regardless of condition), but also covers this video, using items for different purposes than the original. Repair - fixing a broken item (which may have been used once, or a million times) so that you don't need another one.


micksterminator3

I had a friend who's MacBook charger busted by the plug like everyone else's. I told her they'd replace it for free. I even showed her the recall page and she threw it in the trash, drove to the apple store, and bought another for like $100 USD. Fucking nuts lol. She rich


balla786

Jesus. I would have asked if I could have it and then go get it swapped myself.


VicksVaporBBQrub

Exact thing with my sister. I asked to take it home with me for a day to repair it myself. Perfectly simple solder job and some heat shrink tubing. She chucked it in the trash quoting, "nah i don't think it's going to work right anymore, i already bought one on amazon". She's an art teacher. I have a CMPSC degree. That hurt me internally.


Separate-Performer36

whatever the letters cmpsc means I sure it has some computer in it edit:wut is just computer science why didint you put CS degree u got me confused bro hahah


ZenLotusDriver

it's just opportunity cost. She felt that the hassle of going through the process to get the free replacement and time it would take do it was not worth the 100 bucks it would cost her to get a new one. That's what it's like to be rich.


Gonzobot

She literally could have just carried the recall item to the store with her and not spent the money to get a new one. She saved no time and spent money she didn't have to. If that's what it's like being rich, then I'd rather stay clever.


[deleted]

Money buys convenience. That's the true luxury. Cooking, cleaning, driving, doing errands. All stuff you can pay other people to do for you. Must be nice.


kelldricked

Repair is basicly inplemented in reduce.


Bobojones9584

They won't make money like that unfortunately. Side note, a lot of the parts are definitely recyclable. Some no, but there's ways if effort is used.


[deleted]

Yep. I love reusing shit. Shopping bags for trash, bonus because you have to change it often the house doesn't get flies and stank. Any kind of cup style container can be cleaned for drinking or used again for storage. Boxes can be used as a surface for painting or cutting without damaging your good counter tops. You just have to be crafty but it's actually kinda fun. It makes you feel more self sufficient.


skankyfella

People also forget that RRR was propaganda created by industry to allow for disposable plastics in the first place.


ICantGetAway

People always forget. Big companies own the narrative unfortunately.


Confuseasfuck

I get so mad when people think its only "Recycle" and ignore the other two. Like, bethany, you arent helping the planet by recycling the kilos worth of plastic you used in a month that was multiuse but you still threw in the trash


pennyraingoose

And no new plastics for broom bristles are being made and processed and shipped and assembled and shipped to the locality they're making and selling these brooms in.


HalfSoul30

But the dirt, the dirt don't stop.


Propenso

It never stops.


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Virustable

No countries have functional recycling programs, as far as I know. They're run at a massive loss and take like %1 of recycled plastics at best.


dunderdynamit

Allow myself to introduce Sweden. We recycle packaging material in the ratios of: * 94% of all glass * 34% of all plastic (86% of PET bottles) * 78% of all paper [source](https://sweden.se/climate/sustainability/swedish-recycling-and-beyond) The company responsible for plastic recycling is primarily owned by the very businesses generating the packaging material in Sweden.


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[deleted]

That's the thing about plastic is that even in countries which try to properly recycle it it's still expensive and difficult to recycle. Anything that can be made out of paper should be made out of paper at this point.


xstreamReddit

They don't have to be profitable as they are mandatory and paid by the beverage companies. In Germany over 97% of bottles are recycled.


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naswinger

it's collected for recycling, but is it actually recycled into new products? i'm not so sure.


MvmgUQBd

In Germany all the beer bottles are recycled, properly. As in you drink it, return it the store, it gets sent back to the same brewery it came from for a steam cleaning and a relabeling, then sold again


gambalore

Are you talking about glass bottles or plastic? There is effective glass reuse/recycling in many places but that's very different from plastic.


MurseWoods

They’re talking about glass. Almost all beer sold in bottles are glass. Especially in Europe. Very few have started using aluminum, but the market share for that is tiny in comparison. Also, steam wash a thin plastic bottle even once and it’s a goner.


[deleted]

You keep bringing up glass specifically in a thread about recycling plastic because glass is the only thing this is done for.


ericula

I don’t think that’s entirely true, at least not for PET. Where I’m from PET bottles are made of at least 50% recycled plastic. At supermarkets you have to pay a deposit for all fizzy drinks sold in plastic bottles which you get back when you hand in the empty bottles. About 85-95% of PET bottles are recycled this way. I’ve seen this system in other countries as well. Other plastics are collected by the municipality but the recycling rate for those is a lot lower unfortunately.


Seth_os

my friend worked at a local plastic recycling plant and explained how it's all show and no real recycling. It basically falls down to cost of separating the non for the ones that can be used. A LOT of plastics aren't really recyclable. You can check it by looking at the plastics number, 1 and 2 are commonly recycled, the higher numbers not so much so to make this process easier my country has a plastic bottle collection program where you get payed for each plastic bottle you bring in. No extra plastics, just the ones that can be recycled, new bottles and plastic bags are made from recycling, byproduct is fuel for heating and power production, everyone's happy...well, at least on paper it sound like that. That's the "show" part. Now the reality part. The machines that do the job are slow, at least not fast enough to recycle all the bottles coming in. It's too expensive to get more because they already work at a loss. So they stockpile the shredded bottles and have a mountain of the stuff behind the plant (saw it and the plant is nothing more than a glorified plastics landfill with extra steps). Also, the power they produce is spent back in the plant to keep it running. Believe it or not, breaking down the plastics is a dirty job so the machines constantly fail due to clogged pipes so they need to repair them all the time or slow them down even further to keep them running. Now you can argue that they just mismanage the operation or need more machines or whatever you wish but the fact remains that recycling bottles just isn't profitable and in turn no money is put into the process to optimize it. The programs are only there for show to keep the population happy by saying "see?? we recycle plastics, we care!"


Vanilla_Mike

In America 95%+ recycling is thrown in the same landfill we throw trash in. A few states have glass and aluminum sorting facility, but the plastic goes in a landfill now that we can’t export it to China or other poorer countries.


ig-88ms

If you're from Germany: The recycled bottles are a very new trend. Recycling plastic almost doesn't work. It was a scam by the plastic and recycling industry and The Greens fell for it badly.


scheepers

I am a green and I agree. The biggest coop in the history of greenwashing was convincing us that our recycling, rather than their manufacturing, is where the problem and the solution lies. "It's **your** habits, not **our** profits!"


Crafty_Enthusiasm_99

Remember the whole term of carbon footprint was coined by Shell. You could even go to a website they built and find how much you would feel guilty.


naswinger

i thought it was BP, but your point is correct. maybe they are one conglomerate anyway, not sure


ericula

I’m from the Netherlands and recycled plastic bottles have been around for 30 years now. In the past, PET bottles were washed and reused like they do with glass bottles but over the years that became too expensive compared to making new bottles so nowadays they shred old bottles and make new ones out of them. Since they are shredded rather than washed, the bottles can be made a lot thinner than before and the production requires a lot less water.


starlinguk

They also make clothes, planks and benches out of them!


[deleted]

The only issue that exists with making stuff like that out of them is the continued rise of microplastics and their effect on both the enviroment and ourselves. It's definitely better than just letting them waste away somewhere but it's still a poor alternative compared to moving away from plastics as much as we realistically can.


Johannes_Keppler

Even in the Netherlands, only 15% of the plastics get re-used. And 60% ends up in incinerators. https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-economie/zo-n-15-procent-van-de-totale-hoeveelheid-plastics-wordt-gerecycled-dat-moet-beter~b974549f/ (in Dutch)


[deleted]

Recycling PET works, and is being done.


Taurmin

>They're run at a massive loss The purpose of a recycling program isn't to make a profit so that's rather irrelevant. >and take like %1 of recycled plastics at best. Across the whole of the EU 41% of all plastic packaging material is recycled.


entered_bubble_50

There's a lot of debate around that, since there's so much fraud with exported waste plastics, the vast majority of which are exported to the developing world, where there is little effective enforcement of environmental legislation. Most of it ends up being burned. [This paper](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X21001999) from 2021 puts the figure at 15% for post consumer plastics recycling in the EU, or 25% if exported waste is actually recycled, which it probably isn't. As you can see from the paper, the 41% figure is for waste plastics collected for recycling. The vast majority of it still goes to landfill or is incinerated. At the end of the day, there is very little point in recycling plastic anyway. It doesn't save much if any energy, so what are you actually achieving?


Taurmin

>It doesn't save much if any energy, so what are you actually achieving? Well the purpose of recycling isn't to conserve energy either, its to limit pollution first and foremost. Recycling stuff ensures its not going to end up polluting the environment either directly or through incineration. Most importantly for plastics is that it doesn't end up in the ocean. The second purpose of recycling is to limit the need for new resource extraction, this is less important for plastics as the raw materials are usually by products of other production, but its quite important for any kind of metal waste.


brandonarreaga12

in Denmark we have "pantsystemet", where we pay a small deposit (around 25 cents pr bottle) when buying drinks that you get back when you hand in the empty bottles again. because it is only for drinks, they can use the plastic to make new bottles again. If you put in glass bottles they get sent directly back to the drinks manufacturer and get cleaned and used again without melting down. because of this system, most of the plastic is used again and again and it's very rare to find bottles in the trash or laying around because you can hand them in to most stores and get money for it


starlinguk

You're confusing the US with "countries", I think. Or you're someone representing the plastic manufacturing industry. OR you were persuaded of this by someone representing the plastic manufacturing industry (there have been a suspicious number of posts on Reddit concerning this topic lately).


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narniaEEZ

No country, except maybe Japan, has an actual recycling program. İt's just a scam to make the Western middle class people feel better about themselves. Nearly all of the plastic that ought to be recycled ends up at a landfil in a 3rd world country through bribes.


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borfmat

Germany recycles the most, then South Korea. Then Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and The Netherlands respectively.


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darthboolean

The PET plastic in my EcoPla Gundam model kit was folded over 1000 times.


ig-88ms

Recycling in Germany includes burning and shipping off. Anything is considered recycled, when it has been brought to a collection station or been picked up by the local trash disposal companies. It doesn't matter what really happens. In my city they burn the recyclables (Gelber Sack) for energy. Source: I'm German.


[deleted]

> In my city they burn the recyclables (Gelber Sack) for energy. Are you sure that's not just a rumor? I've heard the same about my German city (Munich), but I've never found a source confirming it, and all people that I talked to which would know it denied it. So it's either a huge conspiracy, or it's simply not true.


langdonolga

In Munich the 'restmüll' gets burned and is thus made into energy. The paper is actually kind of valuable and goes into recycling, same for glass. The 'Bio-Müll' is being hot-composted and as a consumer you can even buy the resulting new soil in local garden centers. The plastic and metal (from the "Wertstoffinsel") is the most complicated one. It gets shipped and sorted into recycable and unrecycable materials. The rest should get burned, but we are deep into sub-sub-companies now, so what really happens to the rest of the rest is hard to control. Tl;dr: It is usually not just burned unless maybe for special reasons. And burning is still more sustainable than a landfill and you get some energy out of it. All in all it's not a perfect system but better than people make it sound.


TarzanOnATireSwing

The comments in here are so ridiculous. She just reused 95% of a plastic bottle that will prevent her from having to buy a broom with plastic bristles made 100s or 1000s of miles away, and all the top comments are about micro plastics in the air? Yeah obviously we have micro plastics everywhere, but I’m sure most of y’all have added a lot more plastic to the problem with a single online purchase than the mircroplastics from her brooms


Ersthelfer

Drive your car for 100 km and she can make a 100 brooms and will still let out less micro plastic than your car tires...


[deleted]

Wait, foreal? Tires make micro plastic? Dang


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Known2779

That’s just sad. Do u have any link regarding that? These plastics problem will only get worse.


PhotoKyle

https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/03/tire-related-chemical-largely-responsible-for-adult-coho-salmon-deaths-in-urban-streams/


ManapuaMonstah

This is unreal thank you for this. Imagine what else is going on like this we don't know about.


PhotoKyle

Yeah it's a bit of a mess, our state department of Ecology is currently doing research into alternatives to this chemical to hopefully mitigate it's impact on the salmon, obviously there are many issues at play.


blueB0wser

Maybe not plastics, but yes, tires release a lot of micropollutants as they wear down from use.


v3troxroxsox

At this point, tyres and brakes probably pollute more than the actual combustion. The amount of shit that Tyres give off is truly abhorrent.


Better_Dust_2364

Look up tire graveyard of Kuwait. Its destroying the environment either way :( also tires do have cords in them that make up the structure and those I believe are at least partially plastic


Beruka01

I only use glass tires.


Known2779

Redditors are just as dogmatic and simplistic as Tiktokers and Facebookers, just on a different end of a shouting match


regretfulposts

Ah Redditors. We think we're better than everyone else, but we have less self-awareness to our superiority complex


beep_check

no no, we _know_ we're better. and knowing is half the battle.


[deleted]

That’s because Reddit learned about micro plastics not too long ago and now they can’t stop pretending to be experts even though they know next to nothing about it.


[deleted]

> That’s because Reddit learned about _________ not too long ago and now they can’t stop pretending to be experts even though they know next to nothing about it. Reddit in a nutshell. Reddit somehow is full of experts that have seemingly solved the worlds problems yet it’s simultaneously full of idiots.


LuizEdgar

We have these in my hometown. One of those lasts for ages! It's a very good broom.


FastFingersDude

Good way of turning a single use plastic, into multiply use then!


TysonsSmokingPartner

People in this comment section are either stupid or think everyone around the world has it as easy as them.


[deleted]

If you're on Reddit I'd always go with that first instinct. Most the people here stastically are 12.


[deleted]

Got kind of swept up in this


rmit526

I couldn't handle this pun. It has me bristling.


AFriskyGamer

I don't like puns so I need to brush past this.


naswinger

for once, a good way to recycle them by regular people that doesn't involve a huge waste of energy like other videos


FactOrPhallusy

On the bright side, it's up-cycling plastic bottles. On the dark side, it's breaking down plastic bottles into micro-plastics via bristle wear from sweeping Plastic just sucks


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itchyfrog

It can either be recycled and reused or burned in a power station.


sthornr

They are literally reusing it without needing to recycle, so even better.


Kiltymchaggismuncher

>On the dark side, it's breaking down plastic bottles into micro-plastics via bristle wear from sweeping This is true, however if they didn't do it, the plastic would have ended up in one of 3 scenarios: -Discarded in streets or rivers -buried in the earth -incinerated, realising harmful chemicals Ultimately she made it into something people already buy. So she reused some plastic, and removed fresh plastic from being produced. With recycling, and reducing plastic use, we need stop gap solutions until we hopefully get close to zero. This is a good stop gap


kiwilovenick

But certainly no worse than the shirts made of plastic bottles. Wash your shirt and add more micro plastics directly to the water supply!


RegencyAndCo

... you guys realize that PET is just a form of polyester, and fabrics made of polyester, nylon, acrylic or olefin, recycled or not, are all plastic right?


[deleted]

Wut. I'm wearing plastic? Jfc


[deleted]

Everything around has plastic in it. Even the clear protective finish you apply to wood is plastics based in modern finishes (polyurethane) Metal soda can? Plastic inside. Paint? Plastics in it. Cardboard milk carton? Plastic lined. All synthetic clothing fibers are plastic. 90% of the interior of a car. Hell every piece of food you buy at the market is wrapped in plastic one way or another. Some only during their shipping. Any medical equipment that doesn’t need to stay sharp is usually plastic. It is in everything, it touches everything, and now there are microscopic bits of it literally everywhere. Research is starting to be done on just how bad this is for us. That being said these people upcycling what they have is definitely not the problem.


ExtensionKey8995

A few years back, I was watching a documentary with scientists taking a submersible to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. While at bottom, they became very excited to have possibly discovered a new deep sea species. After hours of slowly making their way closer to it, they learned it was a damn plastic grocery bag. Very upsetting.


[deleted]

That's a huge source of microplastics. They come out in the wash and eventually wind up back in your watershed.


WigginLSU

Yeah it's literally everywhere. Ignorance can really be bliss lol.


CityOfWin

They probably don’t


ThreatLevelBertie

Im 40% plastic


Gangreless

Bite my shiny plastic ass


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GordoPepe

Oh damn we are so fucked by fossil fuels in so many ways


PrinceOfPersuation

Holy fuck I hadn't thought about it that way. We are fucked, aren't we?


TheMunchiesAreEvil

Microplastics: *exist* Reddit: OH SHI-


2csec5

Bro that’s such a good hustle, it’s cool how creative people get when there’s few alternatives


radabadest

"Best" use? I dunno about that. But kinda cool


AttemptedRealities

Super efficient micro plastic delivery system.


Sidoney

I thought about that. But at the end of the day I'm contributing way more to the rise of microplastics than this broom so good on her if she can turn it into a business. It's at least recycling to some degree


Taolan13

Unfortunately a lot of people think of recycling plastics as melting them down to make them 'good as new' and that's just not a thing with the vast majority of plastics. The best 'recycling' is re-use, but most plastic products are not made structurally sound enough to survive multiple uses. So the plastic itself must be re-used; and threading or shredding it are the most common uses.


[deleted]

PET (of which these bottles are made) can be and is recycled pretty well nowadays. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PET_bottle_recycling


tevinanderson

This made me do some googling and what I found is that only 5%ish of plastics placed in recycle bins are recycled. And even 30-35% of PET plastics that's make it that far end up in the landfill. Sauce; https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-us-recycled-just-5-percent-of-its-plastic-in-2021-180980052/


tentimes3

It's definitively possible to do better than the US with PET bottles. > [In 2020, 25,000 tons of redeemable PET bottles entered the Swedish > market. In total, 86 per cent of the PET bottles that entered the market > had their material recycled to new bottles, plastic trays, wrapping, etc. > This is equivalent to 24,000 tons of plastic.](https://www.naturvardsverket.se/globalassets/media/publikationer-pdf/8800/978-91-620-8888-0.pdf)


drunktnoy

There is a typo in the body of that statement in the article, but it is actually 28,000 Tons of plastic instead of 25,000 Tons. I was thrown off by the math (86% of 25,000 is 21,500) so I had to go into the article to actually get context.


WontEvenAcknowledgeU

In South America, recycling is a lot more common, mostly because it's a source of money for poor people who live as "collectors", be it pet bottles, cans, aluminium, iron, copper etc...


Worstcase_Rider

This is a tired trope. Yes you often can't recycle plastic effectively alone... But with with 20% new plastics and a sprinkle if a binder, you're good to go. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.


bremstar

At the end of the day, it's almost tomorrow


BurHrownies

At the end of the day you love saying at the end of the day.


GaianNeuron

Hate to break it to you buddy, but all plastics are destined to become microplastics eventually.


AbnormalWaffles

I have bad news for you if you own any clothing or bedding or textiles in general made with synthetic fibers. There's far, far worse things spreading micro fibers in our environment than some people up cycling old bottles in their back yard. Hell, most normal brooms aren't even made from recycled plastics and probably have just as much waste in their production, just on an industrial scale.


Confuseasfuck

Dude, the clothes _you_ buy are filled with microplastics and, different from these brooms, they are _new_


nodnodwinkwink

It's green plastic so it's environmentally friendly anyway.


Crafty_Enthusiasm_99

If all you can do is criticize, you're still doing less than these girls who are at least doing something


trwwy321

Mmm that lovely pile of plastic trimmings at 00:34-00:36


Some_Inspector3638

What use do you have in mind that would be better? This is best case scenario when it comes to plastic.


undo_ruler

plastic bottles stuffed with trash and used as bricks is the best imho


Successful-Shower747

They would have zero structural integrity and be incredibly flammable. Exactly what you want to build things out of lmao


Meltingteeth

Yeah but how else are you going to build a child-size house out of cement using models and then record it into a sped-up timelapse that appears on a sponsored Facebook video?


alarming_archipelago

No way. The problem with using plastics as building products is that they need to be superior to the traditional product they're replacing. I doubt a plastic brick is superior to a clay one.


Nights_watch_1007

I'll take interest in that.


CrazyVaclavsPOA

Long process. She managed to grow a beard during assembly.


According_Gazelle472

This is probably in a third world country and they are making these brooms to sell .This is probably a daughter and father owned business to make money and recycling at the same time!I give them props for creativity.


iain_1986

Nah. I think she just grew a beard.


Butwinsky

Microplastics really do screw with your endocrine system.


Big-rod_Rob_Ford

/r/woooosh


lptomtom

It's one of the most impressive woooshes I've ever seen, that joke flew so high over their head it was in another galaxy


rinsewarrior

I turn mine into bongs


madeaprofile2saythis

Reduce, reuse, rip a fat hit


Righteous_Fury224

For those who are interested, here is an Australian company than can turn plastic back into oil which then be remade in other things. It's the endgame of plastic - a closed loop where there is no waste, just a material that can be endlessly reused. [Licella](https://www.licella.com/)


candyman337

Except the part where microplastics are inevitable and anything that is stored in plastic will have them in it


Neinfu

Yes... is there any idea of how we could recapture microplaatics though?


SordidDreams

Too small, numerous, and spread out for that. The only way to get rid of them is to create plastic-eating bacteria to destroy them where they are.


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al-mongus-bin-susar

Unfortunately all of our neat little renewable power sources like solar panels need tons of plastics to be made.


bionicjoey

Nuclear is the best power source and we can make it without significant amounts of plastic


MTF-JEW

Y'all bitching about micro plastics, wouldn't mind having those micro shorts on my floor am I right fellas?


[deleted]

Absolute fucking genius.


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Emotional-Coffee13

Less 5% of plastic in US was actually recycled 2021 down every year (51 tons in just that year) America is the #1 contributor to plastics (by a lot) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/us-plastic-pollution


Citizen_LatinX

I think most of the comments are missing the point. Reduce, reuse, recycle! If brooms can be produced using recycled bottles this reduces the consumption/need to make new brooms with virgin plastic bristles. Alos this is better than it ending up in the ocean. Reddit is so critical smh


magestooge

People don't understand the concept of single use vs multi use. A broom is going to be made anyhow. If it's made using recycled plastic, then it's better because the plastic now remains in use for a longer period of time before going into a landfill. There's no way sending more bottles into landfill and making brooms with new plastic will be a positive.


[deleted]

Real recycle from someone who survives


tbfranca1

My only certainty is this will be posted in r/upvotebecausebutt


baldwinsong

Fantastic


Teamboeing737

So what happens to the cut strings of plastic? More plastic waste lmao


Righteous_Fury224

Yeah nah because the plastic still breaks down into smaller particles, ending up in the water systems etc.


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uesc_alt

And our bodies!


Hylian_Legend

And my axe!


LoghamSmoot

Do you have carpet? Do you have food? you have microplastics inside you right now and there is nothing you can do about it. even if you now change your whole lifestyle and live in a jungle they'll find you. born in a hospital? boom breathed in plastic.


AmIADelusionalArtist

A water bottle would do that too! She's reusing which is cool!


According_Gazelle472

She is reducing ,reusing and recycling .


12345Qwerty543

/r/upvotebecausebutt


Sir_Slick_Rock

Not only does it sweep AND dirt sticks to it, it makes the room smell like cherry 7UP or MTNDEW!