The Plastic Continent

[Kazuya]

http://climate.weather.com/articles/dcot...undeclared


Just simply amazing and sad at the same time. I checked google maps and it doesn't show up, but this seems like a good source. Just...wow.

[Jesper]

It is sad. And I probably won't be following any of the suggestions given to help solve the problem.

I know, I know, I'm a horrible person. But those reusable tote bags can go to hell.

[Saz]

Seems strange that I've never heard of this before now...

[Super Buu]

I can't really give a proper comment here because it will end up as something very inflammatory towards the majority of people. I'll leave it at "this kind of thing disgusts me".

[Waffuru]

The worst part? This was discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore.

Why has this gone unmentioned (and still most are unawares) for 12 fucking years? I have no idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacif...bage_Patch

[Kaden]

I learned about it a couple of years ago while doing research for a business project. Since learning about it I've made a conscious effort to use paper or reusable bags.

It's pretty awful.

[Sage]

Sweet! I wonder if I can buy it. Turn it into my secret pirate island.

[Waffuru]

It's not an actual island. The ocean is soupy and filed with tiny bits of plastic. I think I read somewhere that there are twice as many plastic pieces as plankton in some parts. Fish and other marine life confuse the plastic bits for food and eat them often times dying for their mistake.

[Ashe]

The worst part? This was discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore.

Why has this gone unmentioned (and still most are unawares) for 12 fucking years? I have no idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacif...bage_Patch

That's my thought. 12 years, and not only are we (the world) not doing anything about it (and I'm not saying that I'm going to suddenly change my routine either), but we aren't even passing on the knowledge of its existence to let people KNOW about it. Since the gov's are all trying to pass the blame.

[Sage]

Can we like solidify it into one giant, plastic chunk?

And then buy it and make a secret pirate island?

I guess we need to kick global warming into high gear to melt the bags, and then somehow rapidly cool the ocean to let it harden into one giant mass.

[Jack]

It's not an actual island. The ocean is soupy and filed with tiny bits of plastic. I think I read somewhere that there are twice as many plastic pieces as plankton in some parts. Fish and other marine life confuse the plastic bits for food and eat them often times dying for their mistake.

6 times.

I'm a little disappointed, I also thought it was an actual floating mass. The problem with stuff like this is that it's very hard to think about it. It's the same mechanic in our brain that keeps us from getting overwhelmingly depressed over the fact that people all over the world are dieing every second. We don't really hear about it (people didn't even know this was real or not until this thread), see it, and it doesn't effect our everyday lives.

This will most likely always be a problem, unless human beings stop using plastic completely. Which, well... I likes my Pepsi, and fuck a paper grocery bag. So... yeah.

[Kaden]

How hard is it to say "paper, please" in the grocery line? Seriously.

Or, if you prefer, "paper, bitch."

[Sage]

He's saying plastic bags are better. And they are.

I reuse my plastic bags, if that means anything. But I do ultimately throw them away.

Jack is ultimately right, though. I drink stuff packaged in plastic. I buy food packaged in plastic. Fuck, there's hardly anything you can get anywhere that doesn't somehow incorporate plastic anymore.

[Kaden]

Jack is actually the definition of wrong on the subject. He's not going to do anything differently because he thinks it won't matter or he doesn't care or he just doesn't want to. Lots of people do that. That doesn't make Jack right, it makes all of them wrong.

It's actually a question of incentive. There's no instant gratification for someone going "out of their way" to use a paper bag over a plastic one. Let's say a grocery store offered you a 10% discount on your purchase if you used paper bags or brought in reusable ones. Would you do it then? You bet your ass you would. You get to see the immediate effects of your "effort."

Its not just individuals who are to blame for shit like this. There's absolutely no reason a grocery store couldn't hike up their prices 10% and then offer the discount I talked about above. They just don't want to.

I have a lot more to say, but I'm typing this in the Quick Reply box and using this thing for more than 25 words always makes me a little weary.

[Ashe]

We have a self ring up thing and the only option at it is plastic. If I want paper, I might be able to get it if I throw a fit or something, or if I go to another store, but we use the 24hr Kroger right around the corner since we tend to go grocery shopping at like midnight.

[Kaden]

We have a self ring up thing and the only option at it is plastic. If I want paper, I might be able to get it if I throw a fit or something, or if I go to another store, but we use the 24hr Kroger right around the corner since we tend to go grocery shopping at like midnight.

That's the kind of situation where a reusable bag is perfect. You know that you won't be provided paper bags, so just hang up a tote or something by the door and grab it on your way out.

[Sage]

You think Jack is wrong. I think he's being realistic. Good luck going a week without using anything that doesn't in some way incorporate plastic - packaging included.

I'm not saying we shouldn't do our part and help save the world, but ultimately I think your typical environmentalist activist is the worst kind of hypocrite. So many 'green' alternatives are provably worse than the status quo, but more importantly, these are the kind of people who make a big stink that there's this problem in the ocean (or wherever) and then don't bother doing anything to rectify it.

If you only care enough to complain about the problem, you don't actually care. Unless you've actually gone out of your way to make a difference, get off your pedestal.

Your plastic bag thing is a good example of realistic environmental protection, Kaden. Easy to do and there's real incentive to do it. I'm all for something like that. Still, I'm unimpressed by mere suggestions. It could be the best idea ever and means nothing if nobody follows through. Not that I expect you to convince a supermarket chain or anything, but... yeah. Ultimately you've made a moot point since neither you nor anyone I know of is making the effort to make something like that a reality.

[Jack]

Does recycling help? We recycle our stuff in here.

Buuut, outside of my home, I see little to no options for recycling. If I buy a soda while I'm out, and don't plan on carrying an empty bottle with me all the way until I get home, then that is just more plastic going into the ocean. I think? Im not completely sure how this works. I'm going to be honest, I don't really "care" about this. Meaning, I may take a more proactive approach to being environment friendly after seeing this, but I'm not really going to be spreading the word or chaining myself to a tree or turn into Al Gore anytime soon.

There needs to be more education on this subject, and maybe more laws that FORCE people to at least know what's happening. All these "help protect the environment!" things just roll off people all the time. Just like "buckle up!" took being reinforced by a multi-hundred dollar fine to get people to wake up.

Al Gore should have ran, he would have done something about this. Nobody important enough cares about this, it's up to us. Which means we're fucked.

[Jack]

dubble post my bad home fries

[Kaden]

You think Jack is wrong. I think he's being realistic. Good luck going a week without using anything that doesn't in some way incorporate plastic - packaging included.

Never said anything about not using plastic. I was talking about simply doing what you can and not having the "oh well, I won't change anything" attitude.

I'm fully aware that it's not realistic to expect anyone to actually try, but that doesn't make it ok to just sit back and not care.

Ultimately you've made a moot point since neither you nor anyone I know of is making the effort to make something like that a reality.

That's not really a fair assumption.

I actually do make efforts. I do what I can in the small way and actually attempted to get a couple of grocery store chains to incorporate an incentive initiative similar to the one I was talking about.

I ended up spending many many many wasted hours on the phone getting stonewalled, but I definitely tried. I'm more than willing to try again, though. I don't generally believe in preaching something you're not willing to do yourself.

EDIT: Bleh... I've almost deleted this post like twice now. I just don't really feel like getting into it any more than I already have.