Are we doing this shit again? Look the straws and disposable cups consumers use pale in comparison to the largest contributors of plastics.
The fishing industry accounts for 70% of all plastic that makes it into the ocean. Textiles and shitty tire disposal combine to contribute about 65% of the plastic you will drink.
All of these things are things politicians can “do things” about but just simply don’t. Instead we get story after story about how you dear consumer are the shitty one who is at fault for the fucked up world you live in, not these hard working captains of capitalism who are just doing their best to keep shareholders happy while trying to buy that $50M mansion.
Yes, disposable cups are a problem. Solving that problem will do zero to change the calculus on the amount of plastic you’re actively putting into your body. This whole, “it’s not the fucked up systemic pollution our society relies on that’s the issue, it you to average person who is at fault for every problem in this world” Stockholm-esque bullshit type of journalism needs to stop.
Yes the scientific paper is indeed an interesting read. But what Wired has done is take this pretty innocuous study and turned it into some green washing flagellant bullshit that literally helps the core issue zero percent. Yes, we should be better stewards of the planet. No, telling everyone they’re pieces of shit for existing does not help the cause.
Let’s do both?
I completely agree with you that big industrial polluters are the main problem. I also think that having the mindset every day to live more sustainably and reduce personal waste is valuable, even if it’s really just a drop in the bucket overall. It can be eye-opening and a step toward bigger steps like voting, advocacy, boycotts, and conversations with others.
I would rather do something infinitesimally small than nothing.
The fear is that by doing these mostly ineffectual changes that puts the burden on consumers, the public perception of how much is being done gets skewed far beyond what the actual benefits are, and it uses up the willpower/energy people have for change. It ends up being a corporate misdirection that prevents any meaningful change from happening, like greenwashing.
The same can be said of all the paper/cardboard being used in the food industry - paper straws, cardboard takeaway containers etc are all lined with PFAS and other “forever” chemicals that leach into your food. We really need a law to force companies to disclose the composition of products that come in contact with food.
Disclosure is nice, but it probably won’t change the outcome. As long as things are disposable and cheaper, those things will be used. As always money talks. Instead taxes related to expected lifetime (one use only should be really expensive) and environmental impact (that one is probably impossible to realize) might actually help, but yeah, that in itself cannot be realized without knowing composition.
We have no reason to laugh at ancient Rome’s unfortunate use of lead pots for cooking beverages and lead pipes for drinkable water. Down with plastics.
Lead pipes are fine for water unless some cheapo decides to change the water composition in a way that removes the thin layer that forms on the lead and keeps it from leeching into the water. We still have a ton of lead pipes not giving lead poisoning today.
Plastics are like the ruined pipes.
Human error is inevitable and we should design systems to be invulnerable to this. Just dont use lead. Period.
PVC, steel, and all of the other options also have the possibility of poisoning is in certain situations when not maintained properly.
Don’t build anything, got it.
