Microplastics

[ignatius]

 

[muttering mouth moth]

37 minutes ago, ignatius said:

 

It's easy not to buy stuff when you barely make a living wage 

Very interesting video.  Also, that bit at the end about buying new stuff to replace old stuff reminded me of Terry Pratchett's economic Boot Theory:  A wealthy man could spend a hundred dollars on a pair of quality boots that last him ten years while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would end up spending over a hundred dollars in the same amount of time, just replacing boots and still having wet feet.

Lately I've noticed that I've been going through a lot of old socks and shirts and underwear very quickly because they keep getting holes in them and wearing out.  Things in general don't seem like they're built to last anymore and it fucking sucks. 

[zlemflolia]

5 hours ago, ignatius said:

had a discussion the other day w/a dude who sees cars as the ultimate form of freedom and see public transportation as the government trying to be everyone's daddy. he contradicted himself many times and i think it's one of those things where if the narrative changes to convince people it's ok to not drive your car everywhere every day and that taking the bus or light rail doesn't make you gay then he'll change his mind but for now he's fixed in the "they will never take our freedom" camp.. even though i pointed out that that freedom is only freedom to sit in traffic and pay for gas/roads/insurance etc when ideally hoping on a train to anywhere and not even having to look at a train schedule because it comes so frequently would be way more 'free'. 

anyway... here in the states it's an uphill climb just to get people to even consider an option to the current way of living. and sure, there's pockets of resistance or people just doing it their way.. a better way.. a healthier way for themselves and the planet but they're the exception not the rule. 

waking mainstream americans up to the idea of what a community actually is is going to take sledgehammers... or a big disaster where we all rely on each other. 

its no surprise

in the core of the empire of capitalism, the propaganda is so deep.  people vote against their own healthcare.  insanity.  but it makes sense when you look at the media and economic incentives people are presented with.

2 hours ago, muttering mouth moth said:

It's easy not to buy stuff when you barely make a living wage 

Very interesting video.  Also, that bit at the end about buying new stuff to replace old stuff reminded me of Terry Pratchett's economic Boot Theory:  A wealthy man could spend a hundred dollars on a pair of quality boots that last him ten years while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would end up spending over a hundred dollars in the same amount of time, just replacing boots and still having wet feet.

Lately I've noticed that I've been going through a lot of old socks and shirts and underwear very quickly because they keep getting holes in them and wearing out.  Things in general don't seem like they're built to last anymore and it fucking sucks. 

one thing I notice is if you buy a specific product one day, then buy the same one again a year later, often that same product with the same serial number has degraded in quality significantly to become thinner or less durable.  it should be illegal and fine specifications on production materials should be part of the product, and substantial changes should requires a whole new product with a descriptive name.  of course, this wont happen under capitalism

[ignatius]

6 hours ago, muttering mouth moth said:

It's easy not to buy stuff when you barely make a living wage 

Very interesting video.  Also, that bit at the end about buying new stuff to replace old stuff reminded me of Terry Pratchett's economic Boot Theory:  A wealthy man could spend a hundred dollars on a pair of quality boots that last him ten years while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would end up spending over a hundred dollars in the same amount of time, just replacing boots and still having wet feet.

Lately I've noticed that I've been going through a lot of old socks and shirts and underwear very quickly because they keep getting holes in them and wearing out.  Things in general don't seem like they're built to last anymore and it fucking sucks. 

yeah. all those things are true. i know the idea is not new and that younger people often have already adopted this as a way of being for a while now.. spend money on experience not consumer goods.. buy the best version of a thing they can afford and hope that it will last long time.. or go to the army/navy surplus store for some long lasting type things for cheap. i have polyfiber tights i wear for when cycling as a base layer in winter and they're the best. got for cheap from army/navy store. they repel water and wind and are breathable somehow. it's magic. 

i sew the small holes i get in my fav pair of boots/shoes because they still have life in them and it's not hard even w/my shitty skills. i have a newer pair of the same shoes and they do fit differently and aren't of same quality. i bought a pair on line last year during black friday sales and returned them immediately because they were completely different fit and were horribly uncomfortable. 

jeans seems less well made too unless you get the cycling fit levi's which have reinforced crotches. they last a long time. i have a pair of standard blue jeans that i had to sew the iron on patches into the crotch after wearing them a few months. 

fixing stuff is satisfying in its own way.. and shopping is generally a detestable experience to me. 

[milkface]

15 hours ago, ignatius said:

had a discussion the other day w/a dude who sees cars as the ultimate form of freedom and see public transportation as the government trying to be everyone's daddy.

This stupid individualistic shit has unfortunately spread to the UK thanks to the Republican Party as of late. People feel that pedestrian and cyclist-friendly infrastructure is a conspiracy to lock people inside of their neighbourhoods (yet the government is investing in nationwide rail infrastructure lol so....)

12 hours ago, muttering mouth moth said:

It's easy not to buy stuff when you barely make a living wage 

Very interesting video.  Also, that bit at the end about buying new stuff to replace old stuff reminded me of Terry Pratchett's economic Boot Theory:  A wealthy man could spend a hundred dollars on a pair of quality boots that last him ten years while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would end up spending over a hundred dollars in the same amount of time, just replacing boots and still having wet feet.

Lately I've noticed that I've been going through a lot of old socks and shirts and underwear very quickly because they keep getting holes in them and wearing out.  Things in general don't seem like they're built to last anymore and it fucking sucks. 

[zlemflolia]

new hakim just dropped

its a banger

 

yes im aware its not related to microplastics but tbh it kinda is since this system of shitty production is whats causing them

[cruising for burgers]

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

 

[cruising for burgers]

I put the blame on@prdctvsmaka productivism...

[milkface]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/mar/13/uk-government-poised-to-block-scottish-bottle-recycling-scheme

One of many - My uni lecturer described the UK government as a mafia and I've never heard anything truer.

[viscosity]

On 7/18/2021 at 1:57 PM, Amen Lare said:

By the way, it is known that certain fungi and toxic bugs digest even the hardest plastic fully (search The Guardian articles for examples). You can then eat the resulted fungi.

But the problem as I understand it is not with plastic per se, but especially toxic components within it, like PFAS, which are used in all types of regular products. This shit is making us infertile and perhaps less man/woman-like too

Read an article in the Guardian that said toilet paper might also have PFAS. Seems too be prevalent everywhere, in our water, food, soil. Here's a list of known health effects from PFAS:

• Reproductive effects such as decreased fertility or increased high blood pressure in pregnant women.
• Developmental effects or delays in children, including low birth weight, accelerated puberty, bone variations, or behavioral changes.
• Increased risk of some cancers, including prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers.
• Reduced ability of the body’s immune system to fight infections, including reduced vaccine response.
• Interference with the body’s natural hormones.
• Increased cholesterol levels and/or risk of obesity.

(source: https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas)

There was a study not long ago that tested Australian firefighters with frequent exposure to these chemicals. They found that compared to a control group, the ones that donated plasma protein showed significant decrease in PFAS levels.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2790905

Seems donating plasma can help both you and others in need of it, there's more information here:

https://www.pptaglobal.org/plasma-protein-therapies

In NY there is a company called Olgam that will take your plasma for about $50 per donation. A good way to make some extra bucks during this high inflation economy.

[sheatheman]

Toxic materials are in everything around you, including you! But, citizen, we are here to remind you that donating plasma will help alleviate the effects. 

[prdctvsm]

[ignatius]

 

[ignatius]

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/huge-amounts-ocean-plastic-building-111741769.html?

Scientists sound the alarm as plastic waste forms rocks off coast of Brazil: ‘New and terrifying’

 

[zlemflolia]

whats the point of even living if there isn't a proletarian dictatorship outlawing everything bad and enforcing everything good

[cruising for burgers]

[cruising for burgers]

Seems like a scam though...

[cruising for burgers]

We don't need to abolish plastic...

We need to abolish human race...

 

[ignatius]

1 hour ago, cruising for burgers said:

We don't need to abolish plastic...

We need to abolish human race...

 

plastic is forming on rocks and stuff.. congealing or something.. in some places. plastics are in everything.. getting rid of humans will get rid of some plastics because we're all part plastic now. also pfas and other forever chemicals. 

wild animals are going away.. pretty small fraction of what they were and getting smaller.. something like 1/10th the biomass compared to the humans on the planet. totally legal and totally cool!

i think humanity will take care of itself indirectly with climate change and various cancers. colon cancer is on the rise in young people.. probably from eating plastics. seems like climate change is not going to be distributed properly though.. like lightning. 

anyway, if we're gonna get rid of human beings can we start white people who have never done psychedelics and the non-weirdos? and people who litter or turn their heat up to 77 when it's only 40 degrees out so they can walk around barefoot in a t-shirt and shorts? 

maybe we should get rid of cars first though. 

[cruising for burgers]

[luke viia]

2 hours ago, cruising for burgers said:

Seems like a scam though...

yar, afaik it doesn't change the source of plastics (crude oil and natural gas, mostly), so I don't know what that ad is on about, it seems to just introduce a treatment to conventional plastic while it's in production so that it degrades faster (in water, i.e., the ocean).

so basically we can make more plastic but it won't stick around so long. that's not really a solution, even if the idea is pretty clever. I guess it turns into paraffin wax. anyway Nestle is investing in them and that's never a good sign. 

I guess most of our ingested microplastics come from drinking water? I suggest we switch to only pure grain alcohol.

Spoiler

edit: okay their website and other websites talking about them are giving me different stories. I have no idea and don't want to read more about them rn, but I don't trust it. hate single-use products in general. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by luke viia

[cruising for burgers]

Don't know if it was here on the forum but I've read somewhere about some animals that eat the plastic and make it bio-degradable or something like that? Just like the famous parrotfish that bites and scrape algae off of rocks and dead corals with their parrot-like beaks, grind up the inedible calcium-carbonate reef material (made mostly of coral skeletons) in their guts, and then poops it as sand.

[ignatius]

15 minutes ago, cruising for burgers said:

Don't know if it was here on the forum but I've read somewhere about some animals that eat the plastic and make it bio-degradable or something like that? Just like the famous parrotfish that bites and scrape algae off of rocks and dead corals with their parrot-like beaks, grind up the inedible calcium-carbonate reef material (made mostly of coral skeletons) in their guts, and then poops it as sand.

some mushrooms and other plants. maybe some kind of Fern too.. can't recall.. i think there was some kind of caterpillar too.. but i'm foggy on that. you'd have to google up an answer. 

there was conspiracy talk back in the late 90s about the flesh eating bacteria that some surfers got in san diego.. one guy died. i guess it got in his wetsuit and stayed there all day. he had an itchy feeling on his arm and when he took his wetsuit off at the end of the day it was a big sore then it became a wound and wouldn't heal. he died i think... 

the conspiracy chatter that it was some chemical used to clean up oil spills and disperse the oil etc.. and it somehow "mutated" and was dissolving people's skin because it was attracted to the skin oils etc.  sounds like an X-files episode. 

only mentioning it because i'm sure if something gets invented to eat plastic and poop out 'harmless' chemicals or inert chemicals or H2O or whatever that it'll be ripe for conspiracy stuff and fears of all kinds. 

 

[may be rude]

plastic is big oil. a fossil fuel product. a byproduct of refining and processing it. that's why it's cheap. 

 

that's the power propping up plastic consumption. they know how to grease wheels and antiphase info 

 

the amount of plastic i generate is disgusting. 

 

we are not on pace to avert the greenhouse worst scenarios and we are treating microplastics as a lower priority. 

 

they will kill all the whales

Edited March 25, 2023 by trying to be less rude

[ignatius]

47 minutes ago, trying to be less rude said:

plastic is big oil. a fossil fuel product. a byproduct of refining and processing it. that's why it's cheap. 

 

that's the power propping up plastic consumption. they know how to grease wheels and antiphase info 

 

the amount of plastic i generate is disgusting. 

 

we are not on pace to avert the greenhouse worst scenarios and we are treating microplastics as a lower priority. 

 

they will kill all the whales

yep. it's petrochemicals.  i read somewhere that the most waste in the oceans is put there by commercial fisheries. massively long fishing nets and lines all tangled up in everything else. tons and tons of fishing lines and nets. i'm sure all the microplastics are doing wonders for fish gills and stuff.