Off Topic The Environmental & Pollution Thread

You are so very right.

 

Spot on. Excellent. I fully agree.

 

It is the right thing to do.

 

Yes you are so right.

 

Yes. You are so right. I am so pleased to see that everybody agrees about everything rather than arguing. It is so much better. Keep up the good work. We all appreciate it.

 

These are here and happening already, but don’t think that’s going to do it alone. Firstly that’s going to be a money generator, so then where is the incentive for governments invest in proper systems to collect and recycle plastic properly? Prices will go up to cover the taxes (disincentives) and consumers will pay it on the end product and hardly realise - anyone know what the increase on a packet of meat, for example, would be if the plastic was to double, treble, quadruple or even increase tenfold? We wouldn’t notice.

I really am fed up of going on about the environmental cost of the alternatives. We’ll prevent one problem and won’t even see the effect it will cause until it’s too late because it will take time for the knock on effects or new problem created to show through.


To be honest I didn’t like the way TSS posted the article. Just posted and left “here you are people.” It’s like a gentle mind changer. The same way companies like Facebook get used (allegedly) to influence people’s political votes. No balance. If I hadn’t read through the article and pointed out the article itself blamed people not plastic, TSS would have just planted another unbalanced “It’s plastics fault article” * and readers would have been thinking “oh yes, plastics is bad.” This does happen because I hear it most days and it works. See Facebook and politics comment above.

Still, I’m coming round to the point of not bothering to reply anymore on these type of messages. I’ve tried to rationally defend it and balance a view out, but Plastics is the devil today and that’s enough for some people. Let’s hope we benefit enough in the short term from its convenience, while it’s still here.


* by this I mean another article out there in the public domain, not TSS planting them all

 

We mustn't throw the baby out with the bath water.

 

I'll pop this article here, on the ingestion of plastics, with no explanation. It's just information for you: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...-eat-thousands-of-bits-of-plastic-every-year/

And while we're at it: https://theconversation.com/how-microplastics-make-their-way-up-the-ocean-food-chain-into-fish-69148

I'm not making this stuff up. Fundamentally, plastic isn't good for the environment. Used responsibly, it is an amazing, fantastic product. But we don't use it responsibly, and, in my opinion, are unlikely ever to.

 

article 1: second sentence. “It’s unclear how it might affect your health”



Are going to hand your protective mask back in at work? You should really, it’s plastic and fundamentally bad for the environment.

One of your statements is so wrong, so I’ll change it for you:

Fundamentally, humans aren’t good for the planet.


Edit: I’ve just looked at the second article... FFS TSS, stop stirring the **** just to wind me up. The article is full of “coulds” and “possiblys” and Then starts talking about toxic chemicals, listing one which isn’t even found in the main plastics used in our lives. Awful article and a classic example of everything I’ve said about media coverage and people like you using sound bites to drip into people’s minds. It is an appalling article with hints and leading statements. Shocking.

All this is beginning to make me question the validity in all the lectures you post about different powered vehicles, if those articles are as poorly written as these ones.

 

I agree with the fact that humans are the problem, whether it's plastics in the oceans or any other form of pollution and there is a trend these days to look at alternatives to the things identified as the main polluters and quickly dismiss the fact that the alternatives also have a negative impact on the environment. We seem incapable of accepting that the planet has finite resources and we simply can't keep treating at it as though everything will last forever. It's a completely insane situation and the answer to many of the material pollution problems is to develop effective recycling and to educate the population to be less wasteful.

Unfortunately we are all guilty of enjoying a relatively easy life and we could all do more to cut down on our use of materials that we know are going to end up in a landfill site or the oceans. Governments and the big corporations are also to blame but we should be the driving force to force them change. It's a huge problem and from what I have seen we are heading for the abyss because too little is being done to bring about any changes. I would like to believe there will reach a point where we humans decide to make the changes necessary to halt the slide, but I don't think it will happen.

To be fair, TSS has posted a lot of good stuff on this thread and has opened my eyes to some things I wasn't aware of so it doesn't seem right to single him out for a few articles we may not agree with. I certainly don't think he has posted those links just to wind anyone up. It's what TSS thinks has some merit, even if it doesn't resonate with me. I'm not a great fan of the whole electric car thing being an answer to global transport pollution either but many do believe in it.

 

[QUOTE="Kaito, post: 13784126, member: 1048905"

To be fair, TSS has posted a lot of good stuff on this thread and has opened my eyes to some things I wasn't aware of so it doesn't seem right to single him out for a few articles we may not agree with. I certainly don't think he has posted those links just to wind anyone up. It's what TSS thinks has some merit, even if it doesn't resonate with me. I'm not a great fan of the whole electric car thing being an answer to global transport pollution either but many do believe in it.[/QUOTE]

sorry K, the last two articles are awful, misleading and absolutely right that I pull them up for being posted. They are classic propaganda articles and if they’d been posted in that style of selective information, poorly worded and leading comments filled with could and possibly, by a political party, we’d be ridiculing the political party.
I said a few posts back that I’m fed up of continually trying to respond to such articles.

if your comment about opening your eyes to some things refers to these last two Articles, then I rest my case. Job well done TSS.

that’s not a dig at you and you may be referring to his EV articles. (I was a bit unnecessary when I referred to them earlier, but I was seething at the methodology used on the plastics articles).

 

Fats, no I wasn't referring to the two articles on plastics that TSS posted when I said he has posted some interesting stuff. I agree with you that those two articles are full of holes and are based primarily on supposition and unknowns, so they are completely pointless. There's too much of this junk 'journalism' these days and a real lack of hard facts. I just didn't want those two articles to cloud over some of the really good stuff TSS does post.

 

Fair enough and as I said, I really shouldn’t have commented about the EV articles.

 

I think we need to stop thinking about plastic as bad, and just focus on the research into proper plastic breakdown into constituent parts. Then remade into new plastic - etc, forever. ****ing brilliant. Sounds like a more realistic solution if we still expect to import food as it saves on weight so reduces transport costs etc. FLT has mentioned all this before I think, but the link below is really good news towards making plastics actually reusable. All done with clever enzymes.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190412085241.htm

Here's another.

https://www.fastcompany.com/9041221...e-the-miracle-solution-to-our-plastic-problem

 

This film is just astonishing.

 

I like that, clever stuff

 

Assembly of the world’s largest fusion reactor has begun in France:

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...clear-fusion-project-under-assembly-in-france

 

So Monday I had the delight of my cam belt ripping to shreds and popping the pistons on my engine. Now it's really not worth repairing and I've been thinking about getting an electric bike instead. My question is has anyone got on or have any advice on what to go for? I'll be looking to spend anywhere up to £1200.

 

I just ordered one of these:
https://www.sportmegastore.com/gb/z...ic-mountain-bike-26-black/p-41856835-85429705

There’s a good e-bike going on eBay at the moment though, only 8 hours left so hurry if you’re interested:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ebike-El...00W/124283547671?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

 

Unfortunately I popped out and missed this. Thanks though. I've been looking at the G-tech bikes and everything looks good and the reviews are great. One of my main concerns is battery life after a few months of use.