Comment by AlecSchueler
2 months ago
> Compared to the plastic waste produced daily it's a drop in the ocean. And at least this is kept and collected.
Basically anything taken individually is a drop in the ocean. Problem is all those drops add up and that's what creates the ocean.
The ocean of plastic waste isn't just lots of drops aggregted.
There are massive "water bodies" that make 10% and 20% and 30% of the ocean of plastic use. Packaging is about 30-40%, for starters. Clothes (synthetic crap clothes) and shoes are about 15%.
1. At least packaging and clothes have more clearly defined utility. 2. There are notable movements to reduce wasteful clothes/packaging. I’ve previously heard people point to the amount of plastic used for commercial shipping, although personally it seems likely that companies use such packaging to avoid even costlier possible product damage? I’m all for reducing waste in each possible area. I guess it’s a similar discussion to the banning of plastic bags/utensils – does that cause people to think more about plastic use in other areas, or does it cause more people to be wasteful in other areas now that they don’t have their plastic forks, etc.