Argument i had today: plastic is more sustainable than paper

[TofuRobot]

Honestly, I think that anyone who is making statements such as "plastic is way more sustainable than paper" is addicted to their use of (whatever it happens to be) so strongly that they'll say anything and it will make sense in their head, much like the way some animal-eaters do - like the people who say "but plants have feelings too," and actually believe that's a legit argument in favor of eating animals.

That information you shared, above, @Lou is SO important for people to understand. People seriously think that it's all good cuz they recycle. To be fair, it's not like the news is reporting on the truth of the situation - not that I see, anyway.

 

[Forest Nymph]

China has already banned importing plastic.
Vietnam will in 2025

• When China tightened its standards for accepting foreign recycling materials, U.S. cities got stuck having nowhere to send them
• A year later, recyclables are piling up or being buried again, as alternative markets remain scarce
• Many cities have resorted to ending or drastically cutting their recycling programs
• Instead of earning revenue by selling collected recyclables, some communities are paying to get rid of them

Read more here
and more here

Lesson learned: Reduce. Reuse.

The paper recycling market is in a little better shape but warehouses in California are filling up with paper to be recycled. And no one seems to want it. Your community may or may not be in better shape. the writing is on the wall.

At least paper is biodegradable.

 

[Forest Nymph]

The amount of avocados that aren't sold in grocery stores and are simply thrown out because they rot before being sold... If it were up to me, my grocery store would just immediately peel them into air tight plastic packages... there is so much waste and of such a delicious fruit and it's because of this bizarre resistance to plastic... what... you chop up the packages and melt/re-extrude into some other product... put the precious plastic shipping containers everywhere, at the grocery stores, food banks, etc. They've turned recycling into this incredibly boring thing where you just collect everything in a bin... I blame the government and public education...

Bizarre resistance to plastic? Oh dear god. Avocados can be composted and can fertilize your garden. Wood and paper are biodegradable. Do you know about the Pacific garbage patch or the amount of plastic pollution in the ocean? Everything on Earth could be dead and there would still be plastic.

Lose the tin foil hat Jacob. Or lay off the shrooms.

 

[Lou]

At least paper is biodegradable.

yes. but. once it goes in a landfill ....

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Let's keep in mind as well that plastic is a secondary issue, very much so, compared to animal agriculture and fossil fuels. People, including governments, are only too happy to take quick action on issues like single use practice, which require little sacrifice, so that they can kid themselves that they are environmental while burying their hand in the sand about the bigger issues. Beware people and governments that do this. Plastic won't kill hundreds of millions of people and it isn't an existential threat.

I am not trying to derail this discussion. I want the discussion to stay on track and not go off topic. Just keep this in mind.