Plastic waste what to do?...

Post Reply New Topic

I tend to feel kind of bad whenever I throw anything plastic in the garbage, I know that stuff isn't biodegradable and at best will end up in a landfill with proper precautions to keep the trash contained so it doesn't end up scattering about from there. Even then it doesn't disintegrate like a lot of other garbage will over time.

Then at worst your plastic straw could end up stuck up a poor sea turtles nose.... , or the plastic from your 6 pack of cans could strangle some poor animal. Also generally not great for the environment and I certainly don't enjoy looking at peoples litter laying around.

I try and recycle when I can, but it certainly doesn't seem like a priority in a lot of areas...so limited access to recycling receptacles and such can certainly get in the way of doing so. I mean I will sometimes go out of my way to recycle because I care about it, but plenty of people won't do it unless its convenient or maybe they just don't think about it. I guess I just don't understand why recycling of plastic waste isn't more of a priority. Why don't apartment complexes encourage residents to recycle and provide recycling receptacles near the dumpsters? Why doesn't every public space with public garbage cans also have recycling receptacles? What about schools? It would be a great opportunity to encourage kids to recycle and teach them about it.

Also recycled materials can be used to create new products, so I'd think resources/money used on recycling could be balanced by value of recycled material to make new products. It could also be one way to help start cutting down on petroleum dependence, which certainly would not be a bad thing.

Same goes for paper to, but at least paper disintegrates but it is easily recyclable to so why not?

Maybe I should try and start a petition for my state to put some of the cannabis revenue towards prioritizing recycling more or something...could be worth looking into at any rate.

Throw it at self-righteous lefties!

I'm pretty fortunate because my company is hugely into recycling,
and welcome it when you bring in recyclables from your home or apartment.

In your case,
maybe you could start a GoFundMe page
and put the money towards organizing a recycling venture
in your city or neighborhood?
You say you go out of your way to recycle,
so if people are funding you to do it,
you can do more of what you're currently doing,
if you know what I mean.

Invest in some glue and create plastic sculptures, find somewhere to exhibit them and make some money. Instead of sitting in landfill, your plastic waste can take pride of place in some hipster's conservatory.

Maybe more of these in public places?
http://wwlp.com/2017/01/28/students-inv ... es-phones/

Here in Dogpatch the city issues every house a big rollaway recycling bin for all household recyclables .When it gets full you just wheel it out to the curb and a special recycling truck comes around once a week just to empty the recycling bins. We have them in public areas along side the regular trash bins, too.

But that would be littering, If I am going to throw trash at people it would have to be something environmentally friendly...

That is the sort of thing I'd like to see here...but instead its mostly just regular trash service, not sure if there is recyclable pick up available. I get the impression you generally have to load up your recycling and take it to a facility, which obviously a lot of people don't bother with. My mom takes hers in so I collect recyclables around my house and add it to hers. Also though the one thing people don't talk about when it comes to colorado, is all the litter...sure we have beautiful mountains and landscapes but people are really bad about trash. I remember last time me and my boyfriend and my brother went camping there was a spot that would have been really cool to camp if it wasn't for all the trash the a**holes before left behind.

I am thinking of actually looking into that kind of thing. I mean I don't have a lot of confidence about it...I'm just now trying to work with voc-rehab to try and gain work skills so I can rely less on SSI and maybe eventually just get off it entirely. I have been doing a bit better with things so I think I can progress towards that....so yeah seems a little bit unlikely I could do much now in the way of environmental activism...but then again there's been people with much more on their plate who have done great things so why not. Why couldn't I be the one to start a petition or do something about it? That is what I should be asking myself.

Don't even get me started on that. It infuriates the shi+ out of me to find trashed out areas like that. Sometimes even if there is a trash bin right there people will still throw shi+ on the ground.

I don't generally confront people like at all, but if I saw people just leaving crap behind I'd probably have a hard time not raging at them.

I use paper and glass as much as possible. Glass is the 100% recyclable material that recycles back into to original strength and purity each time. There is nothing close around here to recycle plastics sadly. Really it should be weaned away. You can think it double evil when you remember it is a petroleum product as well. I stay away from styrofoam when able as well.

I usually don't witness it happening but find it after the fact.

there is a quandary concerning the "plastic continent" in the middle of the pacific ocean.
it is a conglomeration of plastic waste that has collected into an almost continent sized mass and scientists have recently scrutinized it, and they wonder why it never gets any bigger.

they took samples of the water about 1000 ft down and they found plastic that had degraded into microscopic pieces.

it seems that there is a new strain of bacteria that actually feeds on the plastic, and break it up into waste products.

i do not know whether any strains of bacteria occur in landfills that can feed on plastic yet.

when you think of it, plastic is made from materials that are completely natural (oil generally) and are not in any way an introduced bulk of material from beyond the earth.

i do sorry about sea life ingesting plastic however.

If it's going to landfill sites it may not be too bad, since they tend to just mush it all up and build over it.

Though it's a waste of resources, cause some of those materials can be re-used instead of making more which in turn keeps more profit within the country.

Over here I don't know anyone who just has a normal 'everything' bin anymore, all our local council offices make us recycle. We even have a food waste bin.

This reminds me though, do you have one of those services that collects recyclable materials and pays you for it? Cause the UK & Australia has that and you can make like $20 from just doing a street of can collecting.