
The planet is on edge of a global plastic calamity - richardhod
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/05/the-planet-is-on-edge-of-a-global-plastic-calamity
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sggdfgdfgdfgdf
This really angers me to some extent. Our oceans are not polluted because of
use of plastic straws in the Western world. At the very least, they should
look for the biggest sources of plastic in the Ocean, and try to reduce the
influx there. This is also what software developers learn as a core principle:
avoid premature optimization.

Recently there have been announcements that 10% of the plastic in the oceans
is abandoned fishing nets: [https://www.worldoceanfest.org/new-
blog/2017/6/9/the-impact-...](https://www.worldoceanfest.org/new-
blog/2017/6/9/the-impact-of-abandoned-ocean-fishing-nets-on-marine-life)

Another estimate was that 95% of the plastic comes from just 10 rivers:
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4970214/95-pl...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4970214/95-plastic-
oceans-comes-just-TEN-rivers.html) \- 8 of them in Asia, 2 in Africa.

(those two numbers seem to contradict each other, unless 5% of fishing nets
come from the rivers, but still - then they should focus on getting the right
numbers, and then act on those numbers).

Even the case against plastic shopping bags is not so clear cut. Energy waste
might be much higher for the alternatives. Assumptions that a non-plastic
shopping bag can be used hundreds of times are overly optimistic. They get
broken or lost much sooner.

Plastic packaging might be a huge boon to food hygiene. I don't think food
manufacturers are doing it just for fun.

But no, we have to outlaw drinking straws. I'm sure that will save the planet.

I get it - drinking straws simply seem superfluous. So why not just regulate
them away. But there is another fundamental issue here: why, indeed, simply
regulate every detail of people's lives? There is a fundamentally anti-freedom
attitude at work here.

Lastly, compared to global warming, plastic is not even a real issue. Earth
itself probably doesn't care. Eventually, after a few hundred or thousand
years, it will find a way to break down the plastic. Then again, maybe nature
also doesn't care about global warming.

~~~
orev
You are angering yourself based on a fallacy. Why do we only need to focus on
one area and not others at the same time? It’s not like there’s only one
person doing this and they need to pick and choose where they spend their
effort. All of us can and should do what we can, that makes a difference
locally. A single person of course cannot clean the rivers in Asia, but they
can reduce their own production of waste. A saved straw is a saved straw, no
matter where on the planet you are. In case you haven’t noticed, we live in a
closed ecological system.

Food manufacturers use plastic in packaging because it’s cheaper. That’s it.
It has nothing directly to do with hygiene, though that might also be a
benefit. However, many worry that plastics can leach into the food and affect
it, so it’s not used for altruistic reasons.

