
Plastic Pollution - sohkamyung
https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution
======
feviskus
Recently, I was campaigning for an environmental NGO in Germany (summer job)
and til now I didn't know that Germany is such a big plastics-user! Why I
wouldn't have thought of that? Every 2nd person we approached answered with
"we already do so much to avoid plastics and protect the environment, you
would not believe!"... But at least we are actively approaching this issue, as
the EU is banning single-use plastics![1]

Another observation (ofc an anecdote): No one did deny the actual existence of
the problem - but the richer the person was (judging from his appearance), the
more did he deny our (western world) contribution to the problem! (at least as
a responsible consumer)

[1][https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-environment-
plasti...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-environment-plastics/eu-
moves-to-ban-single-use-plastics-idUSKCN1IT160)

~~~
phiresky
I'd love to hear reasons why Germany is so horrible in this statistic. Why do
we have 2.5x as much plastic waste per capita as France?

------
RcouF1uZ4gsC
I think this focus on plastics is actually harmful to the environment. _The_
crucial issue of our time is climate change. Unless we can get climate change
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, trying to reduce plastic is sweeping the
deck of the Titanic.

The biggest barrier to climate change is convincing people to act. All this
talk about plastic just consumes bandwidth.

In addition, this reinforces the the worse fears about environmentalists.

1\. Many times the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean are exaggerated.
There is not a huge island made of plastic floating in the ocean.

2\. The amount of plastic that a western first world country contributes
through plastic straws is basically a rounding error.

3\. Plastic straw bans inconvenience the average person while not being a very
efficacious way to reduce overall global plastic consumption.

Many people fear that if they give governments the mandate to regulate carbon,
the government will pass a bunch of regulations that will just inconvenience
them but not actually help with climate change in any meaningful way.

~~~
A2017U1
1\.
[https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june14/mw126-garbagepa...](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june14/mw126-garbagepatch.html)

2\. NAFTA per capita plastic consumption 139 kg

Western Europe 136 kg

Japan 108 kg

Asia (excluding Japan) 36 kg

[https://www.statista.com/statistics/270312/consumption-of-
pl...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/270312/consumption-of-plastic-
materials-per-capita-since-1980/)

3\. Is not having a straw really the struggle people make it out to be? A
simple change in harmful habit multiplied by billions of straws adds up
quickly.

~~~
706f6f70
> Is not having a straw really the struggle people make it out to be?

Counterpoint: are straws really the problem? Last I checked they were a
fraction of a percent of total plastic, whereas things like fishing nets made
up slightly under 50% of total plastic. Haven't seen anyone forego seafood or
demand seafood caught without the use of plastics though.

~~~
sohkamyung
True and not true. By itself, reducing straw use has negligible effects. It's
whether it would lead to a change in behaviour (better management of use of
plastic) that's key, I think.

It's covered as one of the FAQ questions [1]

 _[A]re straws a big deal? Not really. It 's estimated that if all straws
around the world's coastlines were lost to the ocean, this would account for
approximately 0.03 percent of ocean plastics. A global ban on their use could
therefore achieve a maximum of a 0.03 percent reduction. Why have straws in
particular received so much attention? Probably because: (a) for most people
(not all — some people struggle to drink without one), straws are unnecessary;
and (b) it's a quick and low-risk step for businesses to be seen to be taking
active steps in addressing this issue._

 _Reducing plastic straw use is — for the most part — not a bad thing to do.
It can reduce plastic use a little. If this is a first step towards large-
scale commitments to tackling plastic consumption, then it 's a useful
contribution. But as the late David MacKay noted: “If we all do a little,
we’ll only achieve a little”. We must do a lot; we must tackle the high-impact
options that will make a difference at the global level._

[1] [https://ourworldindata.org/faq-on-plastics#are-plastic-
straw...](https://ourworldindata.org/faq-on-plastics#are-plastic-straws-a-big-
deal)

~~~
RcouF1uZ4gsC
So basically, the straw ban is not really doing anything else to help with
plastics in the ocean. In return, it has turned into a meme among some
political groups how the environmentalists are trying to micromanage our
behavior.

------
sohkamyung
See also their FAQ on Plastics [1]

[1] [https://ourworldindata.org/faq-on-
plastics](https://ourworldindata.org/faq-on-plastics)

~~~
exodust
From the FAQ under what can Governments and policy-makers do:

" _As a general sense of magnitude: if all countries had the management
infrastructure of high-income countries (i.e. no mismanaged waste with the
exception of littering), global plastics at risk of entering the ocean could
decline by more than 80 percent._ "

