Time to ban disposable plastics?

[cwegescheide]

doesn't the butt biodegrade though? I guess from now on I will eat my butts :smokin:


In the article I posted about marine trash they said for every pound of plankton in the area of the south pacific there was 6 lbs of marine trash. He want on to say that no matter where he looked in the middle of the pacific he could see junk everywhere. Pretty sad.

 

[mflamb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12827101#post12827101 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cwegescheide
doesn't the butt biodegrade though?

No.

 

[forddna]

Mike, there are also quite a few piece of crap people who own boats and throw their trash right into the bay. Then there's boaters who have things accidentally fly out..been there a few times.

The biggest problem is the mentality of people now - if they can't see it, it isn't a real problem. Then if/when they do see it, it's too big to fix. So nobody cares.

 

[LauraCline]

If we ban everything that the "environmentalists" say is harmful to the environment, then we have to ban breathing and farting.

More media sensationalism, this is part of the problem of why people think the problem is too big to tackle. We are bombarded with so much crap it is hard to glean the truth. Everybody has heard the nonsense about humans and cows farting being a major cause of methane which contributes to the depletion of earth's ozone layer which results in global warming.

The truth is that the methane produced by all humans and cows etc. is a tiny fraction of what is produced by anearobic microbes called methanogens. They are a class of microbes called extremophiles that occur everywhere but typically in places like undersea volcanic vents, tar pits, under permafrost, etc. There is nothing we can do to wipe out them out. But the warmer the earth gets the more permafrost melts, the more trapped methane is released, etc. Also, fossil evidence shows that the earth has gone through warming and ice ages in the past similar to what we are observing now.

What we can do is minimize our contribution to the earth's normal warming cycle mainly through controlling CFC's, burning of "fossil fuels", pollution, and preservation of important buffers such as the ocean, rainforests, etc. We can also face the fact that this is going to occur to a degree regardless of what we do and start preparing for what is going to happen.

Sorry about the rant, it just annoys me when the media creates these widely held misbeliefs that take focus away from the real problems. Hope that made sense.

 

[WarDaddy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12828517#post12828517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LauraCline
Also, fossil evidence shows that the earth has gone through warming and ice ages in the past similar to what we are observing now.

Great rant, worthy of the discussion. The thing I think that needs to be pointed out is that the Glacial Evidence shows that while the earth has gone through warming and cooling trends before there are some distinctions in the climate change that we are encountering now.

First, never in the history we can gleam from fossil, glacial, geologic records have we ever seen such rapid changes int weather patterns and the over all temperature of the globe.

Second, the rise of CO2 and other Green House Gasses, but CO2 primarily, has never increased at the rates we are seeing. Since the industrial revolution in the late 1800's we are seeing CO2 concentrations going up, up, up. These levels are already at levels well above the highest levels seen in the glacier ice that gives us samples dating back 1000's of years.

I think we all can accept that the earth is warming. I think that now the vast majority of scientists also believe that the increase is infarct not just a natural progression of cycles, but in fact a result of our polluting the world we depend on.

I remember when I was a young kid in grade school. We were being told back then that the Earth current cycle the earth was on was a cooling trend and that the permafrost would extend well south of the Canadian borders. The population would be forced to migrate to the tropics, where we would have the best chance of survival. It is amazing how the story has changed in 20 years. The normal cycle that the earth was on swung from cooling to warming, to what appears to be overheating. It is amazing what 20 year of increased scientific study and better technique has shown us. Question is if we are to stubborn to change our ways, or if we can actually make a change while we have time to effect the outcome.

 

[WarDaddy]

I am still curious...what do we do about plastic and our oceans?

Do we continue with the status quo and ignore the pollution and wait to see if species are eliminated? Do we attempt to change our habits, the products we choose to produce and use or not? Is there another solution? Is there any solution?

Is it in the way we make the plastic?

I have no answers, I have lots of questions. I wish I had answers.

 

[LauraCline]

I think we all can accept that the earth is warming. I think that now the vast majority of scientists also believe that the increase is infarct not just a natural progression of cycles, but in fact a result of our polluting the world we depend on.

Exactly my point, maybe I didn't emphasize it all that well.

Do we continue with the status quo and ignore the pollution and wait to see if species are eliminated? Do we attempt to change our habits, the products we choose to produce and use or not? Is there another solution? Is there any solution?

We can't ignore it if we want to thrive as a species. I certainly don't have the answers but I think it starts by doing what we can individually and talking to as many others as we can to get them doing what they can and hope for serious momentum from there. People are starting to catch on very slowly about plastic. At Wally world, I am seeing alot more people asking to forego bags when possible and bringing their own cloth/leather bags. We also get an occassional person bring bags back for addition to our bag recycling program.

 

[mflamb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12828815#post12828815 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WarDaddy


It is amazing how the story has changed in 20 years. The normal cycle that the earth was on swung from cooling to warming, to what appears to be overheating. It is amazing what 20 year of increased scientific study and better technique has shown us. Question is if we are to stubborn to change our ways, or if we can actually make a change while we have time to effect the outcome.

Or was it "media hype" back then, or is it "media hype" now???
I have a good friend who is a flight director and college educated meteorologist for NOAA. He regularly tells me how exagerated ocean temperature change reports are. I agree that we are on a warming cycle, and human/industry contributes to that, so if you really want to help with that consider shutting down your computers, TVs, AQUARIUMS, recreational motorcycles and boats, start taking the bus or carpooling, turn off your A/C and swimming pool pump, get a manual push mower, etc, etc, etc,...

 

[WarDaddy]

I am working to reduce my carbon foot print.

nearly 100% of our lights bulbs are CF. I have cut the aquariums down to one, and it will be as energy efficient as I can make it. (man has to have his vices). Our AC is set to 80, that is as close to off as I can run it here in FL. I have joined a Van Pool, I share a ride to work with 9 other people. Computers are only on when in use.

Over all I think for a family of four, we do a pretty darn good job at keeping out energy usage to a minimum. I am not suggesting we build Grass huts and live off the land, but we will have to be smarter in the future. I want to believe that in the next 20 years energy generation will be cleaner (CO2 scrubbing on Coal and Gas plants, and Nuclear, Solar and Wind) I also think we will see an increase in "Plug In" style cars. This will reduce the number of carbon producing engines on the road and concentrate the energy generation to large plants where we can utilize technology to generate clean power and carefully regulate and control the emissions we do generate.

Times they are a changin, $4+ gas is making that a reality, good or bad, it is coming.

 

[mflamb]

Fine Job!!! Now how about that push manual mower???

 

[forddna]

Ha ha..that's funny. I do some of my trimming around my landscape with a pair of clippers.

 

[mflamb]

Seriously, Bryan is a good example to follow in this area.
I give him a hard time, because he's from that wierd country on the left (far left) coast.

 

[WarDaddy]

Mike and I play good cop bad cop...