Plastics ruining our oceans.

BOB TYSON

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Oct 5, 2017
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Kansas City
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Don't know if anyone saw the 60 Minutes episode last night on the insane amount of trash polluting our oceans. Disgusting and a real threat. Recycling totally unprofitable and no answer in sight. Never thought of myself as a "tree-hugger" but we need to stop this.
 
Studies show that uv rays & water movement slowly break up the plastic to smaller & smaller pieces which then disappear. Perhaps eaten by bacteria. Bigger pieces do pose problems to sea life. And big rains in Asia wash huge volumes of plastic & pollutants into the oceans.
 
It is the third world that is the major cause. Spent 6 years of my life in SE Asia. It is everywhere.

Pollution in general is a global issue. We here in the US are probably among the most conscientious when it comes to combating pollution, but unfortunately we are just a small part of a big world and some of the biggest societies are the biggest polluters.
I’ve seen a big difference here in NY during my nearly 65 years. I grew up in an apartment in NYC where we pushed our garbage down an incinerator shute and the fires were burning 24/7, the smog coming out of the cars sitting in bumper to bumper traffic was eclipsed by the thick black smoke coming from buses, and a large portion of the essentially surrounded by water city was lined with industrial properties that freely dumped all kinds of stuff in the water.
That’s all changed drastically over the last 40 years. You almost never see a layer of smog hovering over the city anymore and the waterways, while still light years away from being perfect, are noticeably better than they were back then.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of big cities in other parts of the world that still resemble the NYC I grew up in and we ultimately share their air and water.
 
Studies show that uv rays & water movement slowly break up the plastic to smaller & smaller pieces which then disappear. Perhaps eaten by bacteria. Bigger pieces do pose problems to sea life. And big rains in Asia wash huge volumes of plastic & pollutants into the oceans.


Thinking the smaller pieces are eaten by sea life and enter our food chain. I’m no tree hugger but, also feel this is a huge human problem.
3rd world is a big offender and doubt that’ll change anytime soon.
 
Annapolis and Norfolk have now placed collection systems that gather all floating trash in the Harbors. I wonder if they could be modified for larger areas

Also didn't I read on CSR that some state was banning plastic straws?
 
Annapolis and Norfolk have now placed collection systems that gather all floating trash in the Harbors. I wonder if they could be modified for larger areas

Also didn't I read on CSR that some state was banning plastic straws?

That would be the land of fruits and nuts! I guess every little bit helps but it is definitely a global problem that needs global solutions that there is no way in hell are going to happen.
Just recently a group towed a huge trash collection contraption out into the pacific from SF Bay in an attempt to put a dent in a huge debris field some claim is as big as Texas. What the hell are they planning on doing with all of that plastic? Bring it to California land fills? These guys would do better to just breed unicorns.
Carpe Diem
 
Don't know if anyone saw the 60 Minutes episode last night on the insane amount of trash polluting our oceans. Disgusting and a real threat. Recycling totally unprofitable and no answer in sight. Never thought of myself as a "tree-hugger" but we need to stop this.

I did see the report, and the situation is sad. And as always the problems of the world are best solved right here at CSR.

Plastics were a major catalyst of the prosperity of the past 50 years. The woman in the report said she vowed to not touch plastic for one whole day and failed to even get her teeth brushed before giving up. Our global lifestyle itself is primarily plastic, often blended with small amounts of precious materials, starting with the very device or computer you are on this moment.

What do we replace plastic with? Without plastics the next crisis would be, at least temporarily, the lack of natural resources for the demands of the world. We must find a way to stop the third world from using the ocean as a dump. Taking straws and plastic bags from US shoppers will not do anything about that.

A polling group contacted organizations that are for stringent carbon reductions and asked if they were for a moratorium on private jet travel. Not a single one of then said yes.

Oh for thee, but not for me...

MM
 
Recycled paper cups and straws?

As for the floating trash collection systems, one less tire, cooler, or floating driftnet to hit and all for the effort. No it won't even make a dent but it may save a prop of shaft.
 
Annapolis and Norfolk have now placed collection systems that gather all floating trash in the Harbors. I wonder if they could be modified for larger areas

Any idea where I can find any ‘name’ for this system or, any more info?

Im gonna start Googling blindly in an effort to find more info as I’m VERY interested in learning more about these (Duke Power and USACoEngineers oughta be also) ...

Found this article pretty quickly:
Googly-Eyed Trash Eaters May Clean a Harbor Near You:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com...h-wheels-baltimore-harbor-ocean-trash-pickup/
 
People don’t even know how to go to sink and fill up a glass of water anymore. They drink a bottle of water and the bottle goes in the trash.
 
Any idea where I can find any ‘name’ for this system or, any more info?

Im gonna start Googling blindly in an effort to find more info as I’m VERY interested in learning more about these (Duke Power and USACoEngineers oughta be also) ...

Found this article pretty quickly:
Googly-Eyed Trash Eaters May Clean a Harbor Near You:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com...h-wheels-baltimore-harbor-ocean-trash-pickup/

I think it was in Chesapeake Bay Mag. When I get home tonight I will post the names of the two machines they have in Annapolis.
 
I think it was in Chesapeake Bay Mag. When I get home tonight I will post the names of the two machines they have in Annapolis.

Saw one of these machines running in Baltimore Harbor by the city when we were there this past summer.
 
Went to Curaçao a few years ago. Took a day trip to Little Curacao island for some beach time and snorkeling. Absolutely beautiful on the Leeward side of the island. Hiked to the windward side and I wanted to puke. Not a square foot that didn't have a piece of plastic garbage in it for as far as I could see.
 

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Pollution in general is a global issue. We here in the US are probably among the most conscientious when it comes to combating pollution...

Unfortunately, we're not even in the top 20 most environmentally friendly country list (we're 26th)
The 20 most environmentally-friendly countries
  1. Finland - EPI rating: 90.68
  2. Iceland - 90.51
  3. Sweden - 90.43
  4. Denmark - 89.21
  5. Slovenia - 88.98
  6. Spain - 88.91
  7. Portugal - 88.63
  8. Estonia - 88.59
  9. Malta - 88.48
  10. France - 88.2
  11. New Zealand - 88
  12. United Kingdom - 87.38
  13. Australia - 87.22
  14. Singapore - 87.04
  15. Croatia - 86.98
  16. Switzerland - 86.93
  17. Norway - 86.9
  18. Austria - 86.64
  19. Ireland - 86.6
  20. Luxembourg - 86.58
 
Unfortunately, we're not even in the top 20 most environmentally friendly country list (we're 26th)
The 20 most environmentally-friendly countries
  1. Finland - EPI rating: 90.68
  2. Iceland - 90.51
  3. Sweden - 90.43
  4. Denmark - 89.21
  5. Slovenia - 88.98
  6. Spain - 88.91
  7. Portugal - 88.63
  8. Estonia - 88.59
  9. Malta - 88.48
  10. France - 88.2
  11. New Zealand - 88
  12. United Kingdom - 87.38
  13. Australia - 87.22
  14. Singapore - 87.04
  15. Croatia - 86.98
  16. Switzerland - 86.93
  17. Norway - 86.9
  18. Austria - 86.64
  19. Ireland - 86.6
  20. Luxembourg - 86.58

The US is the economic engine of the world and these subjective rankings where nitrogen, that feeds much of the world is a negative are all about power.

MM
 
Understood, but even if we only focus on recycling rates, we're still not in the top 25 countries.
 
Understood, but even if we only focus on recycling rates, we're still not in the top 25 countries.

What does that mean? When they usually are implying that post consumer is a
Understood, but even if we only focus on recycling rates, we're still not in the top 25 countries.

So what? What most call recycling is inefficient to do and the resources used to recycle create more pollution than what it cleans up. Not a good measuring stick.

MM
 

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