I wonder if plastic bottles are charged/taxed anywhere? Because I bet they're #2 if not #1 in pollution.
And straws, oh yes. I noticed after covid they're in individual packaging!
mykowebhn · 1h ago
I know these types of comments are frowned upon here, but I find it really sad that posts about video game sales, for example, have many more upvotes than a post about positive efforts to reduce plastic waste. It shows where priorities and interests lie for the majority.
I comment like this because I understand that the struggle is not only to stop this kind of waste--and on a larger scale the environmental destruction of our planet--but also to engage and motivate the public at large to want to make these changes.
yvklxrcv · 29m ago
I believe leisure is the end goal of all technology, so it makes sense that something advertising a form of end result is more appealing than another contributor to realizing them. Consider advertising sweetrolls versus more effective less harmful pesticide. The latter will contribute to the former, but the former is much closer to what you're likely actually interested in.
keybored · 28m ago
> --but also to engage and motivate the public at large to want to make these changes.
Are you raising awareness?
userbinator · 1h ago
We've been exposd to enough "think of the environment" virtue-signaling bullshit by now that many of us have realised the truth.
InsideOutSanta · 23m ago
I always find it oddly unnerving when people use the term "virtue-signaling" because it indicates to me that they genuinely do not understand how other people could want to do good without any direct benefit to themselves.
I am all for complete and absolute ban on plastic bags.
yvklxrcv · 36m ago
I think plastic bags, like most things in life is more nuanced than is or isn't bad. We should look at the whole lifecycle costs and usage patterns of not only the bag itself, but it's effects on the people using them. Does a type of alternative make it hard to carry them by foot or by bike? It could be worse if a bag promotes car usage
I've seen some people start using those durable big bags as disposable ones instead of basic plastics in many areas where normal bags weren't available, causing potentially over a hundred times more energy to be consumed and thrown away, the opposite of what was wanted
i80and · 15m ago
Counter-anecdote, my county banned disposable plastic bags some years back, effectively ending the former plague of feral plastic bags flapping in the wind everywhere, but I basically never see people buying the cheap bags by the checkout counter.
People really did adapt by bringing their own bags.
(I live in suburb hell -- unfortunately, I'm probably the only person who walks to the grocery store, so car use is unaffected)
InsideOutSanta · 18m ago
I think one issue with these plastic bags is that they're very light and not attached to anything. So, even if they end up in a landfill, they can still get blown away and end up in a body of water.
A plastic bag that is used as a garbage bag, on the other hand, will remain where it is because its contents weigh it down.
I'm not sure how to solve this, though. Perhaps standardizing the size of these bags to make them easily usable as garbage bags, and then marking them to indicate reuse, would be helpful.
keybored · 32m ago
They investigated plastic bags specifically and found that plastic bag litter specifically went down (according to reading before the Conclusion).
Yeah why? Because you get the choice to take a plastic bag with you or not at the checkout. That’s why. That’s you choice. You have much less (just indirect) choice when it comes to how much plastic the stuff you buy is wrapped in. But wait. That’s a lot of it. Even most apparently cardboard wrapping makes me second guess if there is a microfilm of plastic over it.
So we have to hyperfocus on this type of plastic. The one that is the consumer’s choice. And plastic straws of course.
Even less of a choice is commercial fishing equipment being dumped in the ocean. Or things being dumped from other commercial activities.
They got data from citizen-scientists from plastic cleanup. Were those volunteers?[1] If so, plastic pollution propaganda is so important that the important work of plastic cleanup is given to concerned citizens as a bleeding heart hazing ritual. Is that how serious we are about the issue?
The nearest small sports arena is made of synthetic grass which is pellets of plastic. But that’s fine. Plastic bags.
[1] Or that might just be a stereotype by me
userbinator · 1h ago
"Let's ban everything that could be remotely harmful" is the way to further rampant authoritarianism, not that we aren't already on that path...
padjo · 1h ago
What about “let’s ban things with demonstrated negative impacts and reasonable alternatives”?
Or should we just sacrifice everything on the alter of vaguely defined “freedom”?
shlant · 22m ago
lazy slippery slope and strawman argument is lazy. If you think banning plastic bags are significantly contributing to authoritarianism then your understanding of the term is probably skewed.
And straws, oh yes. I noticed after covid they're in individual packaging!
I comment like this because I understand that the struggle is not only to stop this kind of waste--and on a larger scale the environmental destruction of our planet--but also to engage and motivate the public at large to want to make these changes.
Are you raising awareness?
I've seen some people start using those durable big bags as disposable ones instead of basic plastics in many areas where normal bags weren't available, causing potentially over a hundred times more energy to be consumed and thrown away, the opposite of what was wanted
People really did adapt by bringing their own bags.
(I live in suburb hell -- unfortunately, I'm probably the only person who walks to the grocery store, so car use is unaffected)
A plastic bag that is used as a garbage bag, on the other hand, will remain where it is because its contents weigh it down.
I'm not sure how to solve this, though. Perhaps standardizing the size of these bags to make them easily usable as garbage bags, and then marking them to indicate reuse, would be helpful.
Yeah why? Because you get the choice to take a plastic bag with you or not at the checkout. That’s why. That’s you choice. You have much less (just indirect) choice when it comes to how much plastic the stuff you buy is wrapped in. But wait. That’s a lot of it. Even most apparently cardboard wrapping makes me second guess if there is a microfilm of plastic over it.
So we have to hyperfocus on this type of plastic. The one that is the consumer’s choice. And plastic straws of course.
Even less of a choice is commercial fishing equipment being dumped in the ocean. Or things being dumped from other commercial activities.
They got data from citizen-scientists from plastic cleanup. Were those volunteers?[1] If so, plastic pollution propaganda is so important that the important work of plastic cleanup is given to concerned citizens as a bleeding heart hazing ritual. Is that how serious we are about the issue?
The nearest small sports arena is made of synthetic grass which is pellets of plastic. But that’s fine. Plastic bags.
[1] Or that might just be a stereotype by me
Or should we just sacrifice everything on the alter of vaguely defined “freedom”?