Saturday, February 21, 2026

Plastic Pollution.

 Unpopular opinion. Sort of devils advocate.

What do you want to use instead of plastic?
You can use glass containers. Those need large amount of energy to create, need frequent washing and are hundred times heavier than plastic. So making, washing and transport pollution offset any reduction in plastic pollution,, and it's more expensive. These also need to be shipped back to the manufacturer for refill. Bunch of pollution there.
You can use paper. But that is usually made by killing trees. Then the paper is usually bleached, using chemicals that go into the environment. The rest of the tree is often burned, or left to rot, releasing co2 pollution. In many cases the paper has plastic "windows" so you can see what is inside. Which makes recycling paper much more difficult and expensive.
You can use metal containers, which require mining and smelting with corresponding pollution. Those are usually coated with plastics. And you don't see the contents.

Most plastic pollution comes from industry. Plastic from homes is minor part of the total pollution.
Look at videos from the Ocean Cleanup project. There is not a single plastic bag in those nets.

What to do then?
Reuse the plastic you get.
Do not throw plastic bottles or bags into nature.
Recycle.
If you see plastic laying, pick it up and discard properly.

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