Plastic

Discussion in 'Chemistry' started by Ethernos D Grace, Nov 22, 2019.

  1. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Plastics made from biodegradable substances (corn oil) would be the better solution on a going ahead basis.

    Regarding the existing problems, just collect from the worse concentrations and learn to life with the rest. It's inert. It's ugly but that's about it. Bulldogs are ugly until you learn to change your perception of ugly.

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  3. RainbowSingularity Valued Senior Member

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    launch it into the sun

    seriously ?
    the debate is twisted
    the material should be shredded then mixed and melted together to make things like
    park furniture and kids playgrounds

    but people cant exploit profit from such a process so no one is interested
    its all about the profit margin
     
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  5. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    The real problem is throwing plastic in the ocean. Put it in the garbage can and let it end up in the city dump and there is no problem. It's inert. It serves as a stable base for land field material.

    Allocate tax money from profits generated from plastic to collect plastic that ends up where it shouldn't be.

    It's not a flaw of capitalism. It's a problem that capitalism can handle as well as any other economy system.
     
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  7. Ethernos D Grace Registered Senior Member

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    Thanks for the great ideas guys.
     
  8. davewhite04 Valued Senior Member

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    Not really. We'll end up living in the sea at some point, underground cities, with wild life and recycling done properly. Glass no plastic and paper, you get the idea. The plastic problem is more worrying then climate change. It is literally suffocating the planet. It's one of my pet hates. I'd rather live in the sea then on some alien planet.
     
  9. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Please forgive, I cannot resist....it is truly relevant to current events.

     
  10. davewhite04 Valued Senior Member

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    So you think man putting plastic in the ground is evolution?
     
  11. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    No, it's a scathing indictment of man's hubris to think that we are of any importance to anything but ourselves. And even that we seem to screw up.
    Building our homes next to a volcano and then wonder why we have lava in our living room?

    As Carlin said : "Saving the planet?...... The planet isn't going anywhere..........., we are!"

    p.s. Ever wondered why we have global warming?
    Releasing 3.5 billion years worth of sequestered CO2 back into the atmosphere during a span of a few hundred years. Think about it!
    https://www.worldometers.info/
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2020
  12. davewhite04 Valued Senior Member

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    You're not humanities beggest fan? Have you seen humans doing amazing things? Humans are above animals. I don't know what you are.
     
  13. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I am a realist.

    Humans are the most amazing and smartest animals on earth and instead of exercising wisdom and prudence, we are behaving like spoiled children used to taking whatever we want (over and above what we need like all animals) without regard to consequences. It's the mark of an "invasive species" that kills everything it comes in contact until there is nothing left to kill except each other. To the rest of life on earth, humans are like a viral pandemic.

    Nature will only put up with that kind of parasitic behavior for a few generations before unleashing it's natural balancing mechanisms and stopping the pandemic by natural mathematical equitable reactions.

    And thinking that we can control nature on a global level is just another example of our shortsighted hubris. We are a "surface nuisance"...the earth shudders...phrrrrrrrrt...and we're gone, a failed experiment, an evolutionary cul-de-sac.

    We are already in midst of the sixth extinction event.
    Human beings have existed for just 200,000 years, yet our impact on the planet is so great that scientists around the world are calling for our period in the Earth’s history to be named the ‘Anthropocene‘ – the age of humans.
    "Anthropocene extinction"

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2020
  14. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    Those who claim the Anthropocene extinction are all hype and no science.
    see Smithsonian paleontologist Doug Erwin...
     
  15. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I did and he is so naively wrong.
    He sees an global extinction event as an event that wipes out all life on earth. There has never been an extinction event that wipes out all of life. There will always be survivors in deep ocean or underground. An extinction event is an event that wipes out most of the earth's large surface life, which includes man

    By Erwin's standard there has never been an "global extinction event", which would require a new emergence of a living organism. Well, the Dinosaurs ruled for hundreds of millions of years and they're gone.........!

    And here comes Erwin and declares extinction events are much bigger than we can imagine, thus we're not currently in an extinction event, because we don't see things die around us all over the place.
    But they are! The extinction rate has gone up tenfold and includes many "indicator species".
    https://eol.org/docs/discover/indicator-species

    Many indicator species are affected by chemical pollution.
    https://www.worldometers.info/

    The one thing that keeps humans alive beyond their natural life expectancy is medicines, not because we are a resilient organism. Compared to other wild species man is one of the most vulnerable to all sorts of natural dangers and diseases.

    As Hellstrom said; "there are only two species on the increase, man and the insect. Man because he can alter his environment, the insect because it can adapt to any alteration man can make to the environment."

    Ultimately the insect is much better equipped to survive an extinction event than man. In some 3.5 billion years the insect has already survived five previous extinction events, including the one that brought down the mighty Dinosaurs. Erwin thinks we can do better?
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2020
  16. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    It's a flaw of capitalists.
     
  17. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    It's a "flaw" of people. Do you want to eliminate people?
     
  18. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I did not say "flaw of people" , I said flaw of Capitalists... difference. Don't be dulpicitous. If I said "flaw of criminals", would you ask "flaw of people"?

    But as a species, like all parasitic organisms we're doing a grand job of that ourselves. In the long run we'll be killing all the good qualities that our host has to offer.
     
  19. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    I didn't say you said "flaw of people". I said it's a flaw of people. You seem to agree with your ending comments.
     
  20. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    No man, you even followed it up with asking if I want to eliminate people. Don't dig any deeper, please.
     
  21. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Don't be an idiot. I said people have flaws and then asked if you wanted to eliminate people.
     
  22. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Based on what assumption? Are you a Nazi?
     
  23. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Unbridled capitalism is more of the problem, mixed with individual apathy. Not enough people care (truly care) about the environment, otherwise we would see more individual action. I think the West is filled with virtue signaling, instead of do-ing. Lots of dreamers, not enough doers.
     
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