A marvelous Sunday….the heat index at 0500 is 96 and humid….what better time for some A/C and a little FYI?
The problem is plastics.
There have been many stories about the influx of plastics into our environment…..from oceanic plastic islands to microplastics in the food supply….something needs to be done about this problem and needs to be done quickly…..and now the Biden admin has a plan….just in time for an election….
To curb this flow, 175 nations are negotiating a binding international treaty on plastic pollution, with a completion target of late 2024. In July 2024, the Biden administration released the first U.S. plan for addressing this problem.
The new U.S. strategy covers five areas: plastic production, product design, waste generation, waste management and plastic capture and removal. It also list actions that federal agencies and departments are currently pursuing.
I study environmental law, including efforts to reduce plastic pollution. As the world’s largest economy, the U.S. is a critical player in this effort. Based on my research, here are three proposals in the U.S. plan that I believe are important and one omission that I view as a major gap.
Studies have detected tiny plastic fragments, known as microplastics, in settings that include the atmosphere, drinking water sources, wild animals and human food chains.
While scientists have found that wildlife, such as seabirds, can be harmed by consuming plastic, the effects on human health are less clear. Unlike other pollutants, microplastics have different effects depending on their size, their shape and where they are found, such as in food, air or water. And humans can be exposed to them via many different pathways, including inhalation, ingestion and touch.
There is no federal standard for measuring microplastics in various media, such as water and soil, so studies lack standardized definitions, methods and reporting techniques. In 2023, California launched a microplastic monitoring program, which includes developing a standardized method for measuring microplastics in drinking water.
The Biden administration’s plan calls for developing standardized methods for collecting, quantifying and characterizing microplastics and nanoplastics, which are even smaller. This will help scientists generate consistent data that regulators can use to set limits on microplastics in food, water and air.
What is missing is trying to find alternatives to the single use plastic….there are alternatives (that is if you are not too damn lazy)….
Smart Alternatives to Single-Use Packaging
Something to think about on a Summer Sunday….
Enjoy a wonderful day and as always….Be well and Be Safe….
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Some studies show that micro bits of plastic interfere with sperm production in boys and reduce testicle size, contributing to infertility. . We apparently are making ourselves infertile, both humans and animals, by the use of plastics. This may be worse than climate change on our future.
I saw that report and I agree it is a scary thought. chuq
I complain at the supermarket when they sell fruits and vegetables in large plastic boxes, wrap bread in plastic, and use plastic film on almost everything pre-packed. They take no notice of course, hence the global problem. I don’t have enough alternative places to shop here, but if I was still in London I would walk to different shops that sold items loose and unwrapped, or used paper bags.
Best wishes, Pete.
I try to grow as I can mostly veggies and some fruit….when I buy I hand pick the ones to take home. chuq
I’m old enough that I grew up in a world that was largely plastic free so I know for a fact that we could wean ourselves off the use of a vast majority of the plastic products we use today. Milk was sold in waxed paper cartons or in glass bottles, soda and juice were in glass bottles, pasta sauce, peanut butter, etc. was all sold in glass bottles. Vegetables were weighed out into paper bags, candy was in paper wrappers. Almost no food products at all were sold in plastic. Even meat was wrapped in waxed paper. There were no plastic peanuts, bubble wrap or plastic foam and the like to protect products. We used something called “excelsior” to cushion products shipped inside of boxes. It was literally very fine, thin strips of wood shavings and it worked rather well.
So we could avoid using a great deal of plastic, but it’s going to cost you. Glass bottles are heavy, very heavy, when compared to plastic. And fragile, which means to ship them would require much more sturdy packaging. Plus it would add to the shipping weight of those items increasing shipping costs. Then there is what to do with the bottles. Glass is almost infinitely recyclable. Just melt the stuff down again. Or the bottles can be sterilized and reused, as we used to do with beer, soda, milk, etc. Again increasing costs.
Say goodbye to pre-packaged sliced meats. We’d have to go back to a meat counter where someone would have to weigh out your purchases and wrap it in waxed paper for you because no one is going to buy a prepackaged steak or pound of bacon or whatever if they can’t actually see it before they buy it. Again, increasing costs dramatically.
We could do without plastics, sort of. But it’s gonna cost you. A lot.
I am an old fart so I remember plastic free as well…..glass thing is not good here for they will not recycle glass so they wind up in a landfill….I try to go as plastic free as possible….reusable shopping bags, stainless water bottles, so on…..I still go to a butcher for my meat (mostly) but it is a bit more expensive. chuq
I like the idea of plastics being made into common wood products.. like 2×4’s down at Home Depot. Knowing the local park benches will out survive the park playground equipment by 500 years… or my rear deck can be made out of plastic “wood”.. and last 500 years after my house has decayed and fallen down.
Although.. maybe I personally will last longer given all my body parts are already infected and being replaced with microplastics. Back when I was in the funeral business I would get the occasional question from certain male macabre family members.. “Can dear Aunt Edna’s implants be recycled/donated? Don’t ‘you guys’ remove those things and sell them in recycling?” I would reply, no, but rest assured when her mortal remains and casket has rotted away… dust to dust thing… that dead Aunt Edna’s implants will be resting there where she use to be, for at least the next thousand years.
I like the idea as well for wood has become damn near prohibited in price…..the old save a tree thingy chuq