Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't buy many things packed in plastic but when I do, I wonder if I'm disposing of it right in case it ended up in the ocean some how. My biggest gripe is all plastics should be recyclable by now.
Take kids toy packages, I always cut it up before throwing it out. Same with say a case of bottled water. If we do buy bottled water or toilet paper by the case, I cut it up into 4x4 pieces. Should I just throw it out whole?
How about straws for the rare times my grandson uses one and bites it up so it's not reusable? Throw it out whole or cut it up?
Am I over thinking this?
I hate the thought of animals suffering due to plastics not disposed of right
Sadly, there is no way to "deal" with non-recyclables other than reusing them or throwing them away. The key to making progress is be proactive about our consumption of plastics and other non-recyclable waste. Simply put, we must reduce our consumption or avoid it altogether.
Most of the time they’re just allowed to rot in landfills.
With plastic taking 500 years to decompose, that’s a lot of plastic just lying about in landfills.
Landfills take up an insignificantly small portion of land. With proper attention to details, they do not lead to contamination of groundwater or air. When filled, they are returned to use as recreational areas or natural habitat, therefore, no net effect on the environment....Large population centers have a problem. Urban sprawl (itself a problem for the environment in that it destroys habitat) has caused landfills to be moved farther and farther out, resulting in more transportation costs for the taxpayers.
Plastics are made of petroleum waste products that would otherwise be discarded if not turned into plastic, giving them some useful life and improving the human condition before winding up burnt or in the dump anyway.
Recycled plastic is of inferior quality and given the cost of collection, separating, transporting, etc is an unwise use of resources.
Plastic in the oceans comes almost exclusively from Africa & SE Asia. Some of it has come from boat loads collected in the US, bought by foreign companies that wanted to recycle it, but the market not supporting the supply, the excess was dumped in the oceans....Your use of plastics here will have virtually no effect on the environment if you just toss it out in the regular trash.
Sadly, there is no way to "deal" with non-recyclables other than reusing them or throwing them away. The key to making progress is be proactive about our consumption of plastics and other non-recyclable waste. Simply put, we must reduce our consumption or avoid it altogether.
Most of the time they’re just allowed to rot in landfills.
With plastic taking 500 years to decompose, that’s a lot of plastic just lying about in landfills.
Thanks. I do everything mentioned in the article. I've used fabric bags about 10 years now, once they stopped brown bags. The few plastics that we do have I want to be responsible throwing away.
I don't buy many things packed in plastic but when I do, I wonder if I'm disposing of it right in case it ended up in the ocean some how. My biggest gripe is all plastics should be recyclable by now.
Take kids toy packages, I always cut it up before throwing it out. Same with say a case of bottled water. If we do buy bottled water or toilet paper by the case, I cut it up into 4x4 pieces. Should I just throw it out whole?
How about straws for the rare times my grandson uses one and bites it up so it's not reusable? Throw it out whole or cut it up?
Am I over thinking this?
I hate the thought of animals suffering due to plastics not disposed of right
Almost all the plastic in the ocean comes from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Most of the USA plastic that winds up in the ocean comes from plastic litter that the wind blows into waterways that eventually wind up in the ocean. So if you aren't littering, it's unlikely any of your plastic could ever wind up in the ocean. Except that you are cutting it into tiny pieces that are more likely to blow out of a garbage truck. The best thing you can be doing right now is dumping your unrecycleable plastic into the garbage exactly like you found it.
Almost all the plastic in the ocean comes from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Most of the USA plastic that winds up in the ocean comes from plastic litter that the wind blows into waterways that eventually wind up in the ocean. So if you aren't littering, it's unlikely any of your plastic could ever wind up in the ocean. Except that you are cutting it into tiny pieces that are more likely to blow out of a garbage truck. The best thing you can be doing right now is dumping your unrecycleable plastic into the garbage exactly like you found it.
Thanks, I hope it wouldn't do that since it's bagged. Our trash truck doesn't have an open back. It dumps in the side. So far I haven't seen any trash or recyclables fly out of the opening. I was hoping that by cutting it up, it would help it break down quicker.
Landfills take up an insignificantly small portion of land. With proper attention to details, they do not lead to contamination of groundwater or air. When filled, they are returned to use as recreational areas or natural habitat, therefore, no net effect on the environment....Large population centers have a problem. Urban sprawl (itself a problem for the environment in that it destroys habitat) has caused landfills to be moved farther and farther out, resulting in more transportation costs for the taxpayers.
Plastics are made of petroleum waste products that would otherwise be discarded if not turned into plastic, giving them some useful life and improving the human condition before winding up burnt or in the dump anyway.
Recycled plastic is of inferior quality and given the cost of collection, separating, transporting, etc is an unwise use of resources.
Plastic in the oceans comes almost exclusively from Africa & SE Asia. Some of it has come from boat loads collected in the US, bought by foreign companies that wanted to recycle it, but the market not supporting the supply, the excess was dumped in the oceans....Your use of plastics here will have virtually no effect on the environment if you just toss it out in the regular trash.
Landfills might take up a insignificant small portion of land; but nobody wants one in their back yard. Everybody wants to dump on somebody else's property and no place near where they live. Getting a permit for a new location is hard; if almost not impossible if local residents hire legal help. The problem is that the large city generators always want to dump in the country. If the generators had to make provisions to dispose of their own waste then there would not be the problems we have today.
The US has plenty of oceanic dead zones along our coast line: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/im...tic-dead-zones. While we attribute most of that to fertilizer runoff; some has to be from us dumping waste in our oceans. It was not that long ago that we hauled waste twenty miles offshore and dumped. Twenty or thirty years ago there was one barge after another leading out to sea around the NYC area.
Would it not be easier to require our manufacturers to cut down on the unacceptable plastics? If we. as consumers, could not buy what we cannot dispose of then we would not have the problems we have today. Locally we have one company that is looking for plastics to recycle into fence post. So looking for new uses for the plastics we cannot otherwise recycle could also help.
I was trying to figure out how to dispose of electric toothbrush heads. There is recycling through Colgate of any head but the centers are only in the UK.
I will have to look some more. Everything keeps mentioning the entire unit.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,206,701 times
Reputation: 57822
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roselvr
Thanks, I hope it wouldn't do that since it's bagged. Our trash truck doesn't have an open back. It dumps in the side. So far I haven't seen any trash or recyclables fly out of the opening. I was hoping that by cutting it up, it would help it break down quicker.
We should definitely cut apart any of those plastic 6-pack holders that an animal or fish could get caught in. Also the holders used by Costco for bottle multiples like Ketchup or mouthwash. For other plastic items, cutting it up into small pieces means more likely for an animal or fish to eat it, thinking it's food. It will also be too small to be seen by people doing waterway cleanup. Better for it to remain large.
Last edited by harry chickpea; 09-23-2019 at 02:20 PM..
Reason: color
With all our threads on plastic, this could be posted in several places, but as long as this thread is somewhat active, I'll put it here. Don't watch it if you 've eaten recently. It'll make you sick. The narration is in Spanish (takes place in Santo Domingo), sub-titles are Italian. Basic summary: "Look what you people are doing. Are you nuts?"
Unbelievable.
But one consolation-- I don't think I spotted any plastic straws!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
