International 414 million pieces of plastic found on remote Australian island

[second sight]

Wow. Title says it all. Absolutely shocking. And conservatives will still argue we are not in the midst of a environmental crisis. We are destroying our earth people. We must come forward with new legislation to protect our world. This level of plastic production is not sustainable. We are heading towards extinction and destruction of our beautiful natural environment.

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/05/16/asia/australia-plastic-islands-intl/index.html?r=https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/06/24/health/plastic-pollution-rivers-oceans-scn-intl/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

you're an idiot

 

[genecop]

yup, I give my women and friends shit for using fucking plastic straws...

why the fu*k do we need plastic straws!??

and plastic cups also really piss me off.

I personally hate soggy paper straws, let’s find another way, but keep the straws..

 

[trident]

I think we've made bacteria that can break it down.

https://www.popsci.com/bacteria-enzyme-plastic-waste/

Part of me is GREAT! and part of me is ice9

 

[Wet Blanket]

I personally hate soggy paper straws, let’s find another way, but keep the straws..

We use metal straws at home.

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

similar to

Part of me is GREAT! and part of me is ice9

Ice9?

 

[trident]

similar to



Ice9?

 

[spamking]

I saw something a an HGTV show yesterday (I think it was yesterday) about this plant near Kansas City that ground up old plastic milk jugs and then pressed/molded them into boards, etc.

We need more of that going on with all types of plastics.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Regardless of your political views, pollution should be seen as a serious issue.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

Only the biggest idiots (right wing conservatives) think we’re not damaging the planet every way possible.

 

[dissectingaorticaneurysm]

Do you have a source on how much plastic pollution is from the US? We do much less than our share from what I'm reading.



We do lead by example in this area. What exactly are you complaining about? In the US, unlike most major Asian and African countries, it has long been illegal to dump plastics in rivers and allow them to flow into the sea. Europe and the Americas together make up less than ten percent of total plastic pollution, and that figure seems to be decreasing.

In North America, less than 1% of plastic waste is mismanaged, meaning dumped into rivers, the ocean, or open landfills. The number for Europe (including parts of Asian Russia) is between three and four percent. For most of the resit of the world the figures are between 8-10%. East Asia, well over half of all plastic waste is improperly disposed of. If you want to talk about islands and mountains of plastic, East Asia is almost the entirety of the problem, with a bit of help from Egypt and central Africa.

While the plastics were coming from China, a lot of it was ultimately American waste:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...ge-patch-where-did-all-trash-come/1133838002/

China has imported about 45 percent of the world’s plastic waste since 1992 for recycling, the study found. In the U.S. alone, nearly 4,000 shipping containers full of plastic recyclables a day had been shipped to Chinese recycling plants.

"It’s hard to predict what will happen to the plastic waste that was once destined for Chinese processing facilities," said Jenna Jambeck, associate professor at the University of Georgia's College of Engineering and co-author of the study. "Some of it could be diverted to other countries, but most of them lack the infrastructure to manage their own waste, let alone the waste produced by the rest of the world."

That decision means the U.S. and other industrialized countries that have been exporting their plastic waste to China for recycling will need to find new ways to handle the disposal of their trash, because much of it is already starting to pile up in landfills.​

It's ridiculous to assume America is some innocent bystander in all this when we are among the biggest polluters both per capita and in absolute numbers.

We are just paying to ship our garbage overseas so our hands appear clean. This is no real solution. Only lowering consumption can solve this. 1st world consumption is destroying the world and the third world is trying to reach our level of waste. For the time being, crippling poverty is the only thing keeping us from living on a planet of trash.

It's easy for someone sitting under a clear sky staring down at a clean sidewalk and point their finger at a less developed nation. Our excess is why they choke. It will eventually come back to us.

 

[1pedestrian]

Don't worry, the sun will become a red giant and destroy the planet anyway.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

While the plastics were coming from China, a lot of it was ultimately American waste:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...ge-patch-where-did-all-trash-come/1133838002/

China has imported about 45 percent of the world’s plastic waste since 1992 for recycling, the study found. In the U.S. alone, nearly 4,000 shipping containers full of plastic recyclables a day had been shipped to Chinese recycling plants.

"It’s hard to predict what will happen to the plastic waste that was once destined for Chinese processing facilities," said Jenna Jambeck, associate professor at the University of Georgia's College of Engineering and co-author of the study. "Some of it could be diverted to other countries, but most of them lack the infrastructure to manage their own waste, let alone the waste produced by the rest of the world."

That decision means the U.S. and other industrialized countries that have been exporting their plastic waste to China for recycling will need to find new ways to handle the disposal of their trash, because much of it is already starting to pile up in landfills.​

It's ridiculous to assume America is some innocent bystander in all this when we are among the biggest polluters both per capita and in absolute numbers.

We are just paying to ship our garbage overseas so our hands appear clean. This is no real solution. Only lowering consumption can solve this. 1st world consumption is destroying the world and the third world is trying to reach our level of waste. For the time being, crippling poverty is the only thing keeping us from living on a planet of trash.

It's easy for someone sitting under a clear sky staring down at a clean sidewalk and point their finger at a less developed nation. Our excess is why they choke. It will eventually come back to us.

1. Switching between plastics pollution and carbon emissions is a bait and switch. Some of you guys seem to use environmental issues either to self-flagellate or to take aim at countries that are actually making reasonable efforts ecologically. That's unconstructive and probably counterproductive. If you want to discuss the problem of plastics building up in our oceans, then the key offender is not the US, in fact, we and Canada may be the least offending nations worldwide and are taking the lead to show others how to properly dispose of plastics.
2. Your point that it is American plastics that the Chinese are irresponsibly dumping into the oceans is irrelevant. The problem isn't the plastics themselves, it's that they are being dumped into the oceans. Almost nothing the US does that doesn't involve putting pressure on China to behave responsibly regarding the environment will make even a tiny dent in the problem.

 

[dissectingaorticaneurysm]

1. Switching between plastics pollution and carbon emissions is a bait and switch. Some of you guys seem to use environmental issues either to self-flagellate or to take aim at countries that are actually making reasonable efforts ecologically. That's unconstructive and probably counterproductive. If you want to discuss the problem of plastics building up in our oceans, then the key offender is not the US, in fact, we and Canada may be the least offending nations worldwide and are taking the lead to show others how to properly dispose of plastics.
2. Your point that it is American plastics that the Chinese are irresponsibly dumping into the oceans is irrelevant. The problem isn't the plastics themselves, it's that they are being dumped into the oceans. Almost nothing the US does that doesn't involve putting pressure on China to behave responsibly regarding the environment will make even a tiny dent in the problem.

Yes, emissions is not equivalent to plastics. That's harder to track because plastic production originates away from the plastic consumption. And the point about China dumping plastics is because their recycling capacity is overwhelmed. Now it's going to SE Asia, and they too are overwhelmed and dumping. If America wanted to take the moral authority on this issue they would process the waste themselves. But they don't because it's too costly. And here we are back to square one.

There is no solution except reduction of consumption. Until YOU are willing to make sacrifices too, don't point fingers at other nations as the culprit. We are all complicit.

 

[Judoka1532]

Wow. Title says it all. Absolutely shocking. And conservatives will still argue we are not in the midst of a environmental crisis. We are destroying our earth people. We must come forward with new legislation to protect our world. This level of plastic production is not sustainable. We are heading towards extinction and destruction of our beautiful natural environment.

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/05/16/asia/australia-plastic-islands-intl/index.html?r=https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/06/24/health/plastic-pollution-rivers-oceans-scn-intl/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

But we can't sit around and blame political parties. We need to take ownership as a whole. It's common sense. Everybody knows not to litter.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

There is no solution except reduction of consumption.

Nonsense. They could use landfills instead of dumping trash directly into the sea. That's an easily implemented solution. Sure, it costs more. But that's because literally anything costs more than dumping garbage directly into the sea. China could both responsibly dispose of plastics and turn a tidy profit from other countries outsourcing their waste to them.

Until YOU are willing to make sacrifices too, don't point fingers at other nations as the culprit. We are all complicit.

This is religious talk, not a attempt to solve a well-defined problem. It's what I was referring to earlier where some folks, evidently including you, make any talk about the environment quickly into self-sacrifice, where the self-sacrifice is more important than the effectiveness of the solution. I don't throw my shit into rivers or the ocean, nor does my city, state, or country. If you want to clean up the ocean, I'm already doing my part.

The problem of plastic garbage in the ocean is obviously caused by the countries dumping plastic garbage into the ocean. Your attempt to put the onus on countries not actively filling the ocean with trash is irrational.

 

[dissectingaorticaneurysm]

This is religious talk, not a attempt to solve a well-defined problem. It's what I was referring to earlier where some folks, evidently including you, make any talk about the environment quickly into self-sacrifice, where the self-sacrifice is more important than the effectiveness of the solution. I don't throw my shit into rivers or the ocean, nor does my city, state, or country. If you want to clean up the ocean, I'm already doing my part.

The problem of plastic garbage in the ocean is obviously caused by the countries dumping plastic garbage into the ocean. Your attempt to put the onus on countries not actively filling the ocean with trash is irrational.

People erroneously believe they can continue their wasteful habits and expect the world to sort out a reasonable solution. What do you think will happen when foreign nations refuse our trash? The market will come up with a miraculous solution?

 

[Skarr]

Do you have a source on how much plastic pollution is from the US? We do much less than our share from what I'm reading.



We do lead by example in this area. What exactly are you complaining about? In the US, unlike most major Asian and African countries, it has long been illegal to dump plastics in rivers and allow them to flow into the sea. Europe and the Americas together make up less than ten percent of total plastic pollution, and that figure seems to be decreasing.

In North America, less than 1% of plastic waste is mismanaged, meaning dumped into rivers, the ocean, or open landfills. The number for Europe (including parts of Asian Russia) is between three and four percent. For most of the resit of the world the figures are between 8-10%. East Asia, well over half of all plastic waste is improperly disposed of. If you want to talk about islands and mountains of plastic, East Asia is almost the entirety of the problem, with a bit of help from Egypt and central Africa.

you cant honestly believe that in the US less than 1% of plastic waste is mismanaged....thats some pretty generous stat building lol
think for a moment about how many people you probably personally know that dont recycle, then consider how skewed the entire perception of "recycling" is to begin with....a good portion of which ends up in the garbage anyway....
burying a bunch of toxic crap in the ground is not being environmentally wise....its not an out of sight out of mind, we win ... game...

1. Switching between plastics pollution and carbon emissions is a bait and switch. Some of you guys seem to use environmental issues either to self-flagellate or to take aim at countries that are actually making reasonable efforts ecologically. That's unconstructive and probably counterproductive. If you want to discuss the problem of plastics building up in our oceans, then the key offender is not the US, in fact, we and Canada may be the least offending nations worldwide and are taking the lead to show others how to properly dispose of plastics.
2. Your point that it is American plastics that the Chinese are irresponsibly dumping into the oceans is irrelevant. The problem isn't the plastics themselves, it's that they are being dumped into the oceans. Almost nothing the US does that doesn't involve putting pressure on China to behave responsibly regarding the environment will make even a tiny dent in the problem.

you want to talk about making reasonable efforts ecologically......then the only discussion is to stop producing plastic with the toxic methods that they use as opposed to the non toxic that they could be using if only everyone's goal wasnt to save as many pennies as possible

no the point of it in part being american plastic that the chinese are dumping is not at all irrelevant...its very relevant, the problem is entirely the plastics themselves....and there is one glaring thing that America could do to make the chinese not dump so much plastic into the ocean....stop fucking sending it there lol....no pressure needed ....no need to try to bully another country into doing what you want them to do.....just handle your own business instead of pawning it off on someone else then acting like america's shit dont stink and that these evil perpetrators are the heart of all evil for what they are doing....

all that said, its rare I find myself with a completely opposing view to yours....and I dont want this all to sound like some kind of personal attack

 

[ElKarlo]

Yes.. The problem is pollution. That is the correct word. We have to stop polluting..

This, concretrating on co2 cheapens the other types of pollutants. I belong to the Isaac Walton league. Water and wetland conversation is key and it's sorely overlooked, and has been for decades.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

People erroneously believe they can continue their wasteful habits and expect the world to sort out a reasonable solution. What do you think will happen when foreign nations refuse our trash? The market will come up with a miraculous solution?

Yes. This is obviously what would happen. If foreign nations refused to take our trash, the market for processing plastics would expand domestically. We export it simply because it is cheaper. It would cost more, but if you think we'd just start tossing our plastics into the sea, I think you are crazy. Ever hear of a landfill? They work well.

 

[dissectingaorticaneurysm]

Yes. This is obviously what would happen. If foreign nations refused to take our trash, the market for processing plastics would expand domestically. We export it simply because it is cheaper. It would cost more, but if you think we'd just start tossing our plastics into the sea, I think you are crazy. Ever hear of a landfill? They work well.

yes, it's exactly what we'd do. Except it would be the poorer rural states that suffer while the cities benefit.

Do you remember what America was like in the 80's?