Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

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llondel
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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#221 Post by llondel » Fri Feb 08, 2019 2:34 am

No elephant in the room, someone flogged it off at a handsome profit.

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#222 Post by Mrs Ex-Ascot » Mon Mar 11, 2019 6:34 am

From todays Daily Wail; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... boost.html

It will be interesting to see if this funding and approach to dealing with plastic waste getting into the sea actually works or has any impact at all. :-?
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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#223 Post by Slasher » Tue Mar 12, 2019 6:03 am

If Miss Mordaunt cares to show herself off in skimpy underwear I'd be quite willing indeed to donate 10 quid to the cause! :)

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#224 Post by Capetonian » Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:12 pm

I sometimes buy milk in glass bottles, and sometimes plastic.

I prefer the former on the basis that the milk is usually better, but from an environmental point of view, I am not sure which is the lesser of two evils, the production and destruction of the plastic, or the production, transport, sterilising and re-use of the glass.

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#225 Post by BenThere » Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:34 pm

I would think that glass bottles that are actually reused multiple times is the best alternative. Some research, though, should be done to determine the costs involved with reusing the glass bottle, washing, handling, transport, etc. vs. how the plastic container is recycled and handled. There have been some studies done about the issue of banning plastic shopping bags and replacing them with paper or reusable cloth bags. From what I've read, counter-intuitively, plastic shopping bags when biodegradable are the best overall alternative, though not popular with our greenie friends.

As I think of it, a lot of the material pollution we have is related to the containment of food and liquids. We should be able to marginally improve with biodegradable and cost-effective recyclable materials used for those purposes.

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#226 Post by Mrs Ex-Ascot » Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:41 pm

I wonder if this idea will work; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... waste.html :-? I guess that some art work will be required to make these coffee cups more attractive to the paying public. :D
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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#227 Post by Alisoncc » Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:58 pm

Dead whale found with 40 kilograms of plastic bags in its stomach

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/18/asia ... index.html

Not the first, and definitely won''t be the last.


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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#228 Post by Rwy in Sight » Mon Mar 18, 2019 8:54 pm

Slasher wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 6:03 am
If Miss Mordaunt cares to show herself off in skimpy underwear I'd be quite willing indeed to donate 10 quid to the cause! :)


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Completely agreed although I would limit the amount to 10 €.

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#229 Post by G-CPTN » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:43 pm

Capetonian wrote:
Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:12 pm
I sometimes buy milk in glass bottles, and sometimes plastic.

I prefer the former on the basis that the milk is usually better, but from an environmental point of view, I am not sure which is the lesser of two evils, the production and destruction of the plastic, or the production, transport, sterilising and re-use of the glass.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the 'dairy' was just around the corner.
Milk arrived from the farms in tankers and was then pasteurised and bottled - I used to walk around and watch (and cadge the cardboard discs used to seal the bottles - to use as 'quoits' in the school playground).
The cardboard discs were flicked towards a wall with 'targets' - the closest disc won and collected the other discs.

Nowadays the milk comes from dairies a hundred miles away.

In earlier days the bottles travelled less than five miles from the dairy to the house and back to the dairy for washing and re-use.
Nowadays the bottles would travel two hundred miles . . .

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#230 Post by Slasher » Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:04 am

Like Carlin I wonder sometimes if the purpose of our specie is to have plastic embedded in Nature and eventually absorbed by it to become another natural element. That means our job is done and there's no need for us to exist anymore.



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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#231 Post by ExSp33db1rd » Tue Mar 19, 2019 4:36 am

(and cadge the cardboard discs used to seal the bottles - to use as 'quoits' in the school playground).

Brought back memories ! Completely forgotten about those, didn't they have a little "pressed" circle in the centre, to stick ones' finger through in order to remove it, and squirt milk all over the kitchen top ? Never used them as quoits tho' ( good idea )

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#232 Post by Mrs Ex-Ascot » Sat May 11, 2019 3:47 pm

An interesting article from the Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -except-us

One thing that puzzles me, is why any country would allow the importation of plastic that cannot be recycled and is going to be left in landfill. :-?
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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#233 Post by ian16th » Sat May 11, 2019 8:27 pm

Mrs Ex-Ascot wrote:
Sat May 11, 2019 3:47 pm
An interesting article from the Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -except-us

One thing that puzzles me, is why any country would allow the importation of plastic that cannot be recycled and is going to be left in landfill. :-?
The 'country' doesn't, but the 'authorities', by means of a few well greased hands do the 'allowing'.
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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#234 Post by Fliegenmong » Tue May 14, 2019 11:30 am

They found 'plastic debris' at the bottom of the Mariana trench...apparently..this week...meanwhile the Oz supermarkets charging for plastic bags (like elsewhere) refuse to do anything about the rest of their plastic...even their 'recycable' bags (.15c a pop) turn up in huge amounts of landfill...so nothing has changed...just a lot more landfill taking a lot longer to breakdown ...but hey a HUGE marketing campaign to make themselves out to look like theyare doing 'something'....pathetic...& I don't even go in for 'green' stuff'
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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#235 Post by Capetonian » Tue May 14, 2019 11:52 am

A very apposite article by Sir David Attenborough in this morning's DT.

I refuse plastic bags and I refuse to buy water in plastic bottles other than in places where other water is clearly inadvisable. I get some filthy looks and sarcastic remarks in restaurants when I take this stance, and all it achieves is to spur me on to greater efforts.

I found out on a recent trip to Belgium that apparently it is considered 'bad manners' to ask for tap water in restaurants, they serve you their own water, although admittedly it's usually in glass rather than plastic. I was very pleased to note that on recent flights on Swiss/Edelweiss, they give a plastic bottle of water on departure but if you ask for more, they refill the used bottle. There's an example many should follow.
We need an urgent global response to the plague of plastic
David Attenborough

14 May 2019 • 6:01am

The impact of plastic on the environment and marine life is well-documented – but, for the first time, its effects on human health are revealed Credit: Acevedo/UPY 2019

Today, it has become clear that plastic is having a devastating effect not only on wildlife but on ourselves. It is now polluting every corner of our planet. I have seen first-hand, how it is choking our oceans and rivers.

It entangles animals with lethal effect. It causes perforated stomachs and starvation. Mammals, birds, fish and marine invertebrates – over 180 different species in all – have been identified accidentally eating it.

But the impact on humans is less well known. Now a report published jointly by the conservation organisation Fauna & Flora International and others highlights for the first time the effect of plastic waste on the health of the world’s poorest people.

It shows that 400,000 to one million people are dying every year as a result of mismanaged waste. If the upper end of this estimate is correct, then one person is dying every 30 seconds as a consequence of this dreadful pollution.

A lack of waste collection in developing countries creates dumps of rubbish that provide ideal breeding grounds for rats, flies and disease-carrying mosquitoes. Rain collecting in plastic food packaging is considered notorious for the breeding of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Dengue is rarely fatal but it is an unpleasant disease leading to high fever and aching joints. Better management of water and waste could lead to an estimated 95 per cent reduction in the incidence of dengue.

Many communities resort to burning waste releasing toxic chemicals and increasing air pollution.

This toxic cocktail includes black carbon, dioxins and mercury – all of which are direct threats to human health. They increase the risk of diseases such as heart disease and cancer, respiratory ailments such as asthma and emphysema, skin and eye diseases, nausea and headaches and damage to the reproductive and nervous systems.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are 3.7million premature deaths every year as a result of air pollution – and open burning is thought to contribute to around a fifth of these.

As well as these impacts on human health, there are also huge economic costs.

The United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that the damage to developing economies caused by plastic pollution of the oceans amounts to $13 billion each year.

Plastic packaging in poorer countries is increasing at an alarming rate and the sheer quantity is overwhelming the ability of these countries to manage it. If production continues unabated, global production will double over the next ten to fifteen years. In sub-Saharan Africa, plastic and waste production is projected to treble by the year 2050. Growth is fastest in the countries that are least able to deal with it.

This global problem can only be solved if there is an urgent global response. First and foremost, we need leadership from the companies and governments that are responsible for introducing plastic into countries where it cannot be properly managed.

Multinational corporations are now packaging more and more of their products in single-use plastic. These companies should be required to disclose the number of single-use plastic items they sell in developing countries and to reduce this by half by the year 2025.

The throwaway culture supported by wealthy countries is worsening this crisis. Plastic is cheap because the fossil fuels used to produce it are heavily subsidised.

In the G7 alone, this amounts to more than $100 billion. A more circular model of plastic production and use must be developed if we are to reduce this pressure on the planet.

Wealthy countries must also take more responsibilities for the waste they produce. In 2017, Europe exported one sixth of all the plastic waste it created to Asia. The UK exports 650,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year. Until recently, over half of this was sent to China. China closed its borders to this traffic last year, and now we are dumping on other countries our rubbish, our dangerous rubbish.

History is witness to the fact that when we put our minds to it, we can use our collective intelligence to solve our most pressing problems. It is now time for governments, companies and citizens to work together to find solutions to a crisis that is entirely of our own making, a crisis that now threatens the collective well-being of all the inhabitants, animal and human, that live on this planet.

Sir David Attenborough is a vice-president of Fauna & Flora International

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#236 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue May 14, 2019 12:05 pm

I refuse to buy water in plastic bottles other than in places where other water is clearly inadvisable.
I much prefer it from glass bottles and generally flavoured with malted barley and hops.

I believe Denmark has banned local retail of canned beers and insist that their brewers use glass bottles. Beer 'wrappers' can also pollute.

In the US you can buy 'slabs' of beer - 24 cans on a cardboard tray overwrapped in plastic. In UK you buy 4 or 6 cans secured with a plastic ring binding. Interesting that many continental ales come in cardboard boxes.

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#237 Post by ian16th » Tue May 14, 2019 12:13 pm

Cardboard tray of 4 x 6 pack, the six packs are plastic wrapped.

I must admit, I buy 500ml cans because they stack in the fridge easier than bottles.

We had returnable 375ml bottles, but they went off the market in favour of 340ml none returnable ones. 2 swigs and they've gone.
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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#238 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue May 14, 2019 5:06 pm

We have 250 and 330. I find 250 too small, 2x250 often too big.

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#239 Post by Capetonian » Tue May 14, 2019 5:55 pm

250 ml is the ideal size for me, in fact yesterday I was delighted to find Sagres, one of my favourites, in 250ml bottles and I bought a couple of 4 x 6 packs.

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Re: Should we be more worried about plastic than global warming?

#240 Post by Rwy in Sight » Tue May 14, 2019 6:48 pm

ian16th wrote:
Tue May 14, 2019 12:13 pm
Cardboard tray of 4 x 6 pack, the six packs are plastic wrapped.

I must admit, I buy 500ml cans because they stack in the fridge easier than bottles..

That might be true but the 500 ml bottles are cheaper and returnable.

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