this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Reduce Reuse Replace Capitalism (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Yes, you can recycle plastic. Yes, its complex due to different types and grades of it. The only responsibility of the consumer is to put it into the right bin.

Yes, the corporations creating plastic products should do more. It doesn't have to be financially feasible to recycle it, It needs to be ecologically feasible and companies producing plastic products should pay the recycling toll.

We can also just burn it for energy like we do with tires... I recycle it like a good little cog in the machine because even if 5% of it gets back into product and not into my penis, is a win.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I need to clean it to a concerning degree as well or risk being fined.

Also, where do those burned plastic fumes go after being burned also matter and I'm not confident they're not just being sent straight back to my lungs.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I don't have a problem with cleaning tbh. It's not required here but I just feel icky if I put a yogurt stained container into the bin.

With burning, it must be done at very high temperatures to ensure the resulting gasses get burned as well. Here I generally ment collect plastic and send it to a facility which has furnaces which can accommodate this kind of waste (like rubber tires).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

We need to make it financially feasible to properly recycle plastics by making it so damn expensive for companies to be wasteful with plastics. Among many other things, of course.

I doubt it will happen in our lifetimes, though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

The true long term solution is eliminating plastic. Back in the iron age there were glass bottles used to distribute milk and they were returned to be used again. Of course this system is more complicated and expensive than trucking in oil and turning it into single use containers so it'll never happen before the world is burned.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

95% of microplastics going to your penis is considered a win?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I take 95 over 100 but if you want a plastic dick, have at it haha

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It adds to the firmness.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If your erection lasts longer than 400 years please seek medical attention

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

One of the many other problems with recycling besides this tidbit, is the fact that most people don't even follow the first two instructions before recycling. Nobody reuses anything and nobody has reduced their consumption.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There's a bulk food store near me and it allows BYO containers (or you can use one of their compostable bags). It's great! A little bit more work (you need to tare your/container write down the empty weight), but you get your goods in the container of your choice.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

That would be a zero waste store, there are a few of those around. To find one, this website has an overly generous list of such stores in the United States. Many of the stores listed are not actually zero waste stores though (i.e. Natural Pantry). So for those who want to use that list to find a zero-waste store, it is important to note the stores near them and go to them one by one (or look them up) to see if they are zero-waste and what they offer. If a suitable store is found, then some groceries can be bought without disposable packaging.

This does come at a price, though. The store I use has prices that are, on average, about 3 times higher per unit weight than the bargain brand at a regular store. I can afford that, and for some consumers an organic/local/premium/etc. quality is worth it, but many people cannot afford it. The current system of excessive single-use packaging is unfortunately very labor-efficient (which is why it was adopted in the first place), and that shows in the prices.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I'm always reminded of the iCarly episode about recycling.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

what's the fix?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

For the harm that's already been done? Time.

For the future? Regulation.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Regulation

that's extremely vague, what does the regulation do? Does it limit types of plastic? Uses of plastic? Production quantities? Waste allocations?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm not a plastic or environmental specialist, so I can't say. Surely you don't expect me to know all the answers, do you? Come on, now.

I'd think regulation would encompass all the things you mentioned, possibly more like subsidizing the use of non-plastics in industrial applications, for example.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

My point is that regulations are likely insufficient.

What we really need is a reduction in consumption. We need to stop living life as "dedicated waste manufacturers".

Here's a useful article to help get over the limits of regulations: https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Regulations are not inefficient. Bad regulations are inefficient

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

.