Our oceans are turning into plastic... Are we?

sr4470 said:
HDPE ;)
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Glass like the good old days. Why not use glass. Governments should tax plastic use for bottles and give tax breaks to glass bottles.

This would mean the price of plastic would be dearer.

From article which is a very good (if frightening read)

“Except for the small amount that’s been incinerated—and it’s a very small amount—every bit of plastic ever made still exists,” Moore says, describing how the material’s molecular structure resists biodegradation. Instead, plastic crumbles into ever-tinier fragments as it’s exposed to sunlight and the elements. And none of these untold gazillions of fragments is disappearing anytime soon: Even when plastic is broken down to a single molecule, it remains too tough for biodegradation.
Truth is, no one knows how long it will take for plastic to biodegrade, or return to its carbon and hydrogen elements. We only invented the stuff 144 years ago, and science’s best guess is that its natural disappearance will take several more centuries. Meanwhile, every year, we churn out about 60 billion tons of it, much of which becomes disposable products meant only for a single use. Set aside the question of why we’re creating ketchup bottles and six-pack rings that last for half a millennium, and consider the implications of it: Plastic never really goes away.
 
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Bit of a scary thought when I stand and watch 600,000 or so plastic Garment hangers produced every twenty four hours at work. Not to mention the massive amounts of plastic pipelines produced each day by the guys next door. :eek:
 
clv101 said:
We legislated against CFCs, against asbestos, for seatbelts etc, it's about time we had legislation against wasteful and damaging packaging.
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For once, I agree.

I've just received an order from an online shop. The box is 75% empty, filled with plastic junk I don't need. It's ridiculous and it must stop.
 
Solari said:
Yeah, I don't understand why we can't go back to using glass bottles for drinks etc - I remember when I was younger we had the Bilco drinks and the guy came around for the returns. I'd rather pay a few pence more for my Ketchup, milk etc for a glass bottle that is easily recyclable.

It makes the shopping a bit heavier but a small price to pay :)
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The thing is though glass is cheaper in some things, Heinz ketchup is cheaper in glass bottles but you cant squeeze it so everyone (including me) buys the plastic ones. But glass bottles for drink I cant see why not. Yes they weigh a little more but I think they would still be cheaper to produce. If the government set up a scheme like that in holland where you take back your bottles to the supermarket and get some money in return (as well as sticking recycling in PSE lessons) then we may get somewhere.
 
I thought this was a really good article.

I think images of these so called "floating dumps" would be good visual aids to start promoting more environmentally friendly packaging/items..

Also a taxation on plastic bags would be fairly simple to implement!
 
I got a micro SD card the other day - the thing is the size of my little finger nail. It came in a box a bit larger than a shoe box, 99.9% full of polystyrene lumps delivered by a transit van. What made things even worse is that I also bought a USB memory stick from the same company (same order) – it also came in a “shoe-box” but 1/2 hour later in another transit van!
 
sr4470 said:
I was going to add that it is one of the types that is recycled,
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Can be, rather than is. IIRC (it's not my field) thermo-plastic polymers like polyethylene can be recycled, but thermo-setting polymers cannot. Much of packaging is thermosetting because it's cheaper and easier to work with, I believe.


M
 
i feel really sad after reading that artical :(


i remember as a kid we could take the empty glass bottles back to the shop and get some money back :) (obviously to be washed and re-used)
 
Amp34 said:
The thing is though glass is cheaper in some things, Heinz ketchup is cheaper in glass bottles but you cant squeeze it so everyone (including me) buys the plastic ones. But glass bottles for drink I cant see why not. Yes they weigh a little more but I think they would still be cheaper to produce. If the government set up a scheme like that in holland where you take back your bottles to the supermarket and get some money in return (as well as sticking recycling in PSE lessons) then we may get somewhere.
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I doubt the are easier to produce, why would the drink companies move away from bottles if that were the case?

You used to be able to take them back to the ice cream van and get 5p on them. Here in Belgium they have started selling BIO milk, it comes in plastic bottles but the bottle is reusable (don't ask me how) aslo you can take your glass beer, wine and even water bottles back to the supermarket to be reused. Most glass products have a deposit so taking them back makes sense.

I'm really going to try to stop my plastic usage or cut back but it's impossible.

Everything is made of plastic. In my office most of the objects contain plastic. Stapler, scissors, chair, table, PC, blinds, door handles, folders, calculator.

The statement that plastic can never be broken down into its component parts is the most frightening discovery for me. Even at molecular level it's still plastic :(
 
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