Drowning in Plastic
Here is an insanely depressing article (pulled out of this somewhat less depressing article (you have to watch an ad)).
It’s great in the MAYBEISHOULDKILLMYSELFNOW kind of way in that it only details the problem and makes no effort to offer any solutions. Basically, all the plastic that has ever been created is still around in some form, mostly in the ocean. No one knows exactly what all this plastic is doing to our environment or our bodies, though some scientists think our genes our going to mutate until we can’t procreate anymore. Which will be good, because then we won’t make any more plastic.
It’s not often that I get worked up about anything because I don’t like to sound shrill. But I hadn’t really considered the impact of plastic bags because I thought they were being recycled. We’re trying not to use plastic bags anymore and hopefully you’ll avoid it as well.
Popularity: 28% [?]
Holy crap.
OK, that’s it. Plastic bags are banned in the Sparvey household.
I can’t believe how often I have wondered which was the better answer to the “paper or plastic?” question in the grocery store. Now that I know definitively, it seems so obvious. I feel so enlightened…when I’m not feeling doomed, environment-wise, that is.
[...] I’ve written before about how plastic is messing things up. Ireland started taxing plastic bags in 2002, and now almost no one uses them. The entire country has just shifted their perception of reusable bags. JR and I stopped getting plastic bags after the previous article and we still end up with them once in a while, but really, we don’t even think about them anymore. Nice work, Ireland, maybe Boston will follow. Share this post with: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
[...] We need to use less plastic. Plus the plastic bag advocacy group is called the “Save the Plastic Bag Coalition”, which, admit it, is a silly name. I don’t want any packaging manufacturers to go out of business, but I cheer on every plastic bag ban. Share this post with: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]