DailyDirt: Plastic Is Everywhere, Run For Your Lives

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Plastic is a relatively new material in our environment, but many kinds of plastic don't decompose -- so it sticks around for a long, long time. But it's so useful -- and who wants to drag around metal or glass bottles? (Ahem, even if you did, many glass/metal bottles are lined with plastic anyway.) We could do a better job of recycling plastic and making sure plastic doesn't end up in the ocean, but we'll probably never get rid of plastic unless we run out of oil. If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
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Filed Under: bpa, chemistry, estrogenic activity, plastic, polycarbonate, waste


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Feb 2015 @ 6:09pm

    Maybe lightweight ceramics will be better for everything...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Feb 2015 @ 7:33pm

    Rocks have been around for a very long time too...But they don't float nor choke wild life to death which means that the biodegradability of plastics is not the true issue but the way we process the waste.

    However, what I think is the true issue is the fact that China has stopped accepting recyclables from the US due to over-abundance. So the question is, is it better to recycle or not at this point in time? One goes to the landfill (trash) and gets buried while the other gets dumped in the sea (recyclables)...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 19 Feb 2015 @ 7:59pm

    This Was In “New Scientist” Recently

    What happens to plastic after it’s buried in the ground for a long time?

    Why, it turns into carbon and hydrocarbons, of course. Or, in other words, think “anthracite coal” or “graphite”, and “oil”. Or, in other, other words, stuff similar to the original raw materials we made it from.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Feb 2015 @ 8:32pm

    Estrogen...

    is good for you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    orbitalinsertion (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 12:01am

    Re: Estrogen...

    It is? For whom? How much? When in their lives? Note also we are talking about chemical mimicry of estrogen properties, which is another suite of issues. Strontium makes for healthy bones, and phencyclidine is a perfectly good neurotransmitter, right?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    Ninja (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 1:37am

    Re:

    If the plastic structure did not liberate toxics or hormonally active substances I'd say just mill them and use as additions to concrete or to level the terrain. You can also burn them and generate electricity which can be an awesome source of energy if done right (you know, air pollution controls).

    Recycling is awesome and stuff but if you can only use a certain percentage of old plastic in new plastic then it's not a solution.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 20 Feb 2015 @ 5:17am

    Re: Strontium makes for healthy bones

    Doctors have been prescribing it as a bone treatment, yes.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    John Fenderson (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 10:07am

    Re: Re: Estrogen...

    Without estrogen, none of us would exist!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    JoeCool (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 10:43am

    Re: Re: Estrogen...

    My entire life I've been hearing from feminists that more estrogen and less testosterone would make the world into paradise. Can we use these studies on plastics in arguments with them? :)

    link to this | view in thread ]


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