Ending plastic pollution: an opportunity for health

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01018-3/fulltext

by musha68k • 2 years ago

2 2 2 years ago

jimswhims2• 2 years ago

YES! They could start immediately with items for which there's an alternative, e.g. cellulose kitchen sponge vs. the plastic ones. That should be at least as doable as the carrier bags and plastic straws and knives/forks that are finally getting replaced.

This should be right up there with global warming. At least with this, the problem is easier for anyone to understand and care about because of the direct threat to our own health. Just you'd have a lot of pushback from the industry.

jimswhims2• 2 years ago

I saw this article years ago and a switch flipped in my brain regarding plastic. https://izismile.com/2009/10/20/to_know_why_albatrosses_die_...

It's egregious the way plastic is thrown at every problem. Diligently cultivated by decades of industry marketing, it seems the meanest transient need by a human seems to justify some plastic container, which could have a much longer and more meaningful useful lifetime, that gets thrown away immediately and will be floating around in the environment for centuries after. A bottle of water, mouthful of yogurt, A thimbleful of cosmetic cream or sunscreen, a single meal etc.

Even the longer use stuff is appalling when you think of the relative time-scales of use and breakdown. Toothpaste tubes, toothbrush, floss dispenser, one or two months, then centuries in the environment. All those tech gadgets and kitchen appliances, CDs, monitors, furniture. Our species has too high a regard for itself in some ways. On the one hand we consider ourselves the only species with the capability for empathy, love etc, are undoubtedly one of the most conscious, but somehow completely blind to the suffering we cause.

Ending plastic pollution: an opportunity for health

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