More plastic pollution in the deep ocean than in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - Sensationalist Headlines

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/06/forget-great-pacific-garbage-patch-theres-more-plastic-deep-sea/1349571001/ The researchers used drone micro-submarines to sample the water from the surface all the way down to the ocean floor, 3,200 feet. The sample area included one site near Monterey Bay on the California coast and one site 15 miles offshore. The highest concentrations of microplastics were between 600 and 2,000 feet down. The one piece of good news Van Houtan found in what they saw was that the single largest type of plastic they found floating in the water – about 40% – came from single-use plastics such as beverage and food containers.

The one piece of good news Van Houtan found in what they saw was that the single largest type of plastic they found floating in the water – about 40% – came from single-use plastics such as beverage and food containers Is this good because we can easily stop using these?

More plastic for the ocean gods Not surprising its "worse than expected". This mess is a fucking disaster.

Plus there is the question where it actually comes from. Most single use plastic stuff in the West actually ends in the trash and gets processed properly, although some gets shipped off to asia, which is bad. We might see the change in most western/modern countries but unless the rest of the world also changes it might not really change much overall. Fun little change I noticed here is that the cotton buds I buy have recently changed from a plastic stick to a paper one.

b-b-b what if my straw gets sooogggyyyyyyy man people who unironically say that shit are gonna be remembered fondly

not to mention the people who bitch about straw bans because iT's ThE coRpORaTioNS DoiNG aLL tHE PoLLuTinG

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/134010/27eeb07c-89e8-4c52-8d20-47d93e4ee618/image.png https://www.theonion.com/how-bad-for-the-environment-can-throwing-away-one-plast-1819571260 This piece is my go-to whenever anyone tries to downplay the effects of plastic waste

I'm all for the paper straw route. But when they give me one for a large smoothie, that thing loves to go limp when I'm about 3/4 of the way though, and I suck those things down. Never had an issue with them on normal drinks though. We need more paper straw RnD.

> The one piece of good news Van Houtan found in what they saw was that the single largest type of plastic they found floating in the water – about 40% – came from single-use plastics such as beverage and food containers AKA TV Dinner trays. Easy to fix. Biodegradeable trays work fine for these, no reason they have to be plastic.

Sure we could but will they do the same in India where they just dump everything into the rivers?

That's just the defeatist attitude talking though really, it's easy to think like that aswell, like wondering how much of a difference you as just one person can make, when corporations are outputting more shit than you're trying to save on, it's not easy to change that mentality but you have to believe that it's not just you who's changing their mind, on your own you might not make a difference, but you aren't on your own, there are other people out there making small changes in their lives, those small changes on a large scale can amount to something big. If you get yourself into the habit of recycling for instance, even if you sometimes think you aren't helping, there's no reason to stop recycling, just keep doing it.

No, even worse are these ~50 year old fuckheads who just spout nonsensical fucking bullshit like "We've been doing it for years and earth handled it fine we'll be fine stop overreacting"... WERE TRYING TO TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THAT ITS BEEN FUCKING US ALL OVER ALL ALONG YOU BRAINDEAD TWAT

Carrying a metal reusable straw with me into the grocery store (where the smoothie shop is located) while I am shopping exceeds the inconvenience factor I am willing to go to. I'll just drink my smoothie faster at the risk of brain freeze, or get a second straw.

They fold up like little telescopes and clip onto your keys/wallet you can't resist the metal straw

Tbh I had a metal straw (more like a pipe) that I got from 7-11 for my Icee's. That was such an awful idea for frozen drinks... It was like liking a frozen metal pole every time I put my lips on it.

Just treat metal straws the same way you treat aluminum cans. Pay a deposit on an aluminum straw, then mandate that all locations that serve food with straws accept exchanges for their straws, and further mandate that all locations that accept bottles also accept straws.

Lead straws it is then. Not only do they not get soggy but they're fairly durable and reusable on top of that.

Can I get one made of 3.5% enriched uranium? I'm sure Smartass Incorporated has the connections to manufacture one...

Plastic straws are terribly wasteful and bad for the environment. Paper straws are the absolute worst thing ever and the fact that anyone thinks that using them is okay baffles me. Metal straws are a pain to carry around and just extra work to clean. Here's a radical idea: Maybe don't use straws at all? I still don't entirely understand why people who aren't disabled in some way still use straws. Like, I'm always given one at a restaurant or shop and use it, but why do they even give them out? Is making drinking slightly more comfortable really worth all of this fuss?

It's not, but people will not give a shit if that means being even slightly inconvenienced. That's the reality we live in.

When I'm dining in I get no straw, but if you're planning on drinking that drive thru coke while driving you're gonna need something.

Straws are hardly the biggest problem.

just because problems aren't large doesn't mean we shouldn't address them

Yes, but it reduces the amount of awareness on more harmful plastics, fishnets etc.

It would make a lot of sense to start by focusing public outrage, time, and effort at the biggest factors first. People just don't have the mental capacity to give a shit about everything all at once.

Make every cup into a sippy cup

It's much much harder to spill your drink in the car if it's in a mostly sealed container and imbibed through a straw.

idk paper straws are aboslutely awful if they make them significantly thicker and more durable i'd happily pay 5p or 10p for them like starbucks cups or plastic shopping bags im happy to just not use straws atm tbh

I'm sure the sea turtle having a plastic straw pulled out of its bleeding nose will be very heartened to learn that its suffering was totally justified by you avoiding such a grave inconvenience! Grow the fuck up and learn to think about something other than yourself for once.

I see a lot of people in this forum thinking that its the consumers fault for using all of these plastics when in reality the consumer has no choice when they enter the super market as to what their fizzy death water or maimed animal is packaged in. It is not your fault that manufacturers recklessly use plastic in all of their products, its the manufacturers.