Microplastics

[prdctvsm]

On 3/19/2023 at 10:00 AM, zlemflolia said:

proletarian dictatorship outlawing everything bad and enforcing everything good

[cruising for burgers]

1 hour ago, trying to be less rude said:

the amount of plastic i generate is disgusting. 

[cruising for burgers]

1 hour ago, ignatius said:

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. 

 

ಥ⁠╭⁠╮⁠ಥ

[ignatius]

1 hour ago, cruising for burgers said:

 

i haven't watched season 2 in a while. should dive into the series again. 

[cruising for burgers]

U shouldn't, apart from some scenes, it's annoying af...

[ignatius]

8 hours ago, cruising for burgers said:

U shouldn't, apart from some scenes, it's annoying af...

but still better than that american remake staring john cusack

[cruising for burgers]

Guess so...

[milkface]

On 3/18/2023 at 11:00 PM, zlemflolia said:

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

Noooo freedom = the freedom to destroy the planet!!!!!

CAPITALISM!!!!!

[prdctvsm]

[marf]

On 3/25/2023 at 12:18 AM, cruising for burgers said:

 

The American version

 

 

[auxien]

1 hour ago, marf said:

The American version

 

 

[ignatius]

Well done video from scientist who was part of a team doing a long study. 
 

 

[milkface]

[prdctvsm]

Recycling can release huge quantities of microplastics, study finds (guardian)

[iococoi]

Quote

Finally, a solution to plastic pollution that’s not just recycling

Countries are negotiating a new global treaty to drastically reduce the plastic waste that has been poisoning the world.

https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/6/7/23743640/plastic-pollution-un-treaty-oceans-waste

[iococoi]

[milkface]

Some French youtubers organised an event where volunteers picked up 1 million cigarette ends in 3 hours across France. Whilst this is only a tiny dent in the problem, hopefully people will start to realise the effect that cigarettes have on the environment (they say that if 1 million cigarette ends were picked up every day for a year, that would account for only 2% of all cigarette ends thrown on the floor worldwide) - I've read many times that 1 cigarette end pollutes 500 litres of water with microplastics and other chemicals.

[ignatius]

2 hours ago, milkface said:

Some French youtubers organised an event where volunteers picked up 1 million cigarette ends in 3 hours across France. Whilst this is only a tiny dent in the problem, hopefully people will start to realise the effect that cigarettes have on the environment (they say that if 1 million cigarette ends were picked up every day for a year, that would account for only 2% of all cigarette ends thrown on the floor worldwide) - I've read many times that 1 cigarette end pollutes 500 litres of water with microplastics and other chemicals.

When I moved to San Diego in 1997 there were many intersections, freeway off-ramps etc that have stoplights at the then where people would dump their car ash tray or flick their butts out the window. It was gross. If ya happened to get stuck at the light and be first in line the ground would be obscured by cigarette butts. They banned smoking at all the beaches because of people flicking their butts into the sand/surf. 
 

some company created a filter that’s biodegradable and has some seeds or something so if it’s discarded it will either breakdown or potential turn into some kind of moss or plant if conditions are right. But I don’t think it ever was adopted by any cigarette maker. 

[milkface]

15 hours ago, ignatius said:

When I moved to San Diego in 1997 there were many intersections, freeway off-ramps etc that have stoplights at the then where people would dump their car ash tray or flick their butts out the window. It was gross. If ya happened to get stuck at the light and be first in line the ground would be obscured by cigarette butts. They banned smoking at all the beaches because of people flicking their butts into the sand/surf. 
 

some company created a filter that’s biodegradable and has some seeds or something so if it’s discarded it will either breakdown or potential turn into some kind of moss or plant if conditions are right. But I don’t think it ever was adopted by any cigarette maker. 

That sounds horrible lol

That's interesting - in the video they speak of how the cigarettes in the video intend to be disposed of and one method included cleaning the filters and for them to be turned into house insulation. I agree with the video's sentiment though that it's better to not produce in the first place than to recycle.

[iococoi]

Quote

First evidence of microplastics in Antarctic snow – new NZ research

https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/news/2022/first-evidence-of-microplastics-in-antarctic-snow.html

[iococoi]

[hoggy]

A lot of the posts in this thread seem to be moralising the issue, or getting depressed about it, which is an understandable but counterproductive approach I think - like, isn't the best thing to try to reduce your plastic use as much as you can and encourage others to do the same, and spread political ideas that will make change to the best of your ability - and at present, as someone mentioned, some plastic use is currently unavoidable, but I imagine there's a much larger proportion that is avoidable to some degree, in fast fashion and food packaging for example. Plastic has been incredibly instrumental in human development, and while it's true that there was a lack of foresight there - I don't see that as a moral failing or a sign of stupidity in humans, but just an unfortunate aspect of our animal brain - we have difficulty conceptualising certain things, such as statistics, or imagining new futures, simply because that's not (at least historically) part of how our brain served us. Our brain might be better at reactionary fear or simplification for the purpose of decision making.

Personally I don't think humans will save ourselves or the planet (I'm happy to be proven wrong), but if that is the case, can we imagine creating a loving and creative response in the meantime - I love the scene in Melancholia where the world is literally about to end, and Justine finds the only correct answer - she makes the kid feel safer, she becomes more honest with her sister, and in the very end, she finally shares a moment of genuine empathy with her. For me this was a happy ending, as much as it can be.

[ignatius]

8 hours ago, hoggy said:

For me this was a happy ending, as much as it can be.

if you reduce the destruction of the world to just her story then sure.. but for me it was sorta difficult not to think about the 8 billion other stories happening simultaneously and how every possible scenario was running down at the same time. but then i guess maybe that's also part of the story.. about we can only control our little small part of things so do what we can. seems naive to me or something or maybe i'm just too cynical. i suspect if i kids or a dog i'd feel different because of course people would try to insulate their children from all the things. 

but it's been said many times, that making climate change the problem of the individual is the result of a media campaign by the people who have caused the problem. do we have some responsibility to do the right thing when we can? sure i'd argue we should try but that the real drivers of all this are mega corporations and a handful of people sitting in board rooms deciding our fate based solely on their own desire for profits at the expense of everything. 

 

 

[Walter Ostanek]

9 hours ago, hoggy said:

Plastic has been incredibly instrumental in human development,

Obviously we misuse it and overuse it in myriad ways but plastic, as a material, is an absolute blessing. The real outrage is thinking that we pump this amazingly useful building material out of the ground only to burn most of it, and waste half of the rest.

[MadameChaos]

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