What the hell are we going to do with all the plastic lying around everywhere?

JJJJS January 12, 2018 at 04:37 4675 views 9 comments

Wherever I go I see synthetic polymers.

In the developing countries I've worked in/ visited I don't see any forms of recycling - it's all just thrown away - polluting the land and oceans.

How can we stop producing/ using this stuff when it's ubiquitous everywhere now?

Comments (9)

Marchesk January 12, 2018 at 04:46 #142885 0 likes

Reply to JJJJS The oceanic gyres serve as a large dump for plastics of all kinds. But maybe we can CRISPR some critters into eating it.

JJJJS January 12, 2018 at 04:54 #142888 0 likes

Reply to Marchesk

Then what becomes of the CRISPR critters???

Marchesk January 12, 2018 at 05:13 #142895 0 likes

Reply to JJJJS In all such matters, I refer you to:

🔗 Media content

JJJJS January 12, 2018 at 05:31 #142900 0 likes

Reply to Marchesk maybe they could be rounded up, and then launched into Venus.

JustSomeGuy January 12, 2018 at 05:34 #142902 0 likes

Reply to JJJJS

Recycling isn't all it's cracked up to be. Metal recycling (steel, aluminum, copper, etc.) is very effective, but plastic (and even paper) are a very different story. With plastic the biggest problem is contamination. It also depends on the kind of plastic, because there are many different kinds of plastic with different chemical compositions. This makes it tricky, as well. Really, whether or not we recycle it, plastic is detrimental to the environment. And it's pretty clear that we aren't going to stop producing plastic anytime soon.

So I guess what I'm saying is that we're screwed.

Marchesk January 12, 2018 at 05:36 #142904 0 likes

Quoting JustSomeGuy

And it's pretty clear that we aren't going to stop producing plastic anytime soon.

Can plastic be made out of hemp?

JJJJS January 12, 2018 at 05:45 #142906 0 likes

Reply to JustSomeGuy

Plastic production/ use will be pushed right until we're on the brink of annihilation. As is our style.

JustSomeGuy January 12, 2018 at 05:48 #142907 0 likes

Reply to Marchesk

It's possible, I know there's a kind of plastic that can be made using corn. But the thing is, that would just be one kind of plastic, and there are a large number of different plastics used for many different things. So, looking to a single substance as a plastic alternative wouldn't work. If we actually wanted to replace plastic, we would need many different substances of many different kinds. Economically, plastic is by far the best option right now, so that combined with the fact that our "leaders" don't generally care much about the future of the planet since they won't be alive anymore, means we probably won't be replacing plastic. At least not any time soon.

Reply to JJJJS

Unfortunately I'd have to agree, that seems to be the most likely scenario.

JJJJS January 12, 2018 at 05:51 #142908 0 likes

Can also be made out of mushrooms apparently:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01kv6s6/p01kgj3w