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ars

Stated Problem:

"With plastics accounting for around 80 percent of marine litter"

Government:

"the EU rushed through deliberations on the planned restrictions in less than a year."

Solution:

"Ban the plastic that doesn't end up in the ocean".

Good job.

Maybe someone should have told them the plastic in the ocean comes from countries without trash service, and from fishing, maybe they could have funded some charity work or NGO's or something.

This ban isn't going to help a thing.

So if I'm hosting a birthday celebration for 50 people, I'm supposed to what? Ask guests to BYOC (bring your own cutlery)? Waxed paper plates and cups work OK (although not for hot drinks), but bamboo cutlery gives me a nails-on-chalkboard feeling.

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Considering that a lot of this plastic crap is never recycled but rather shipped somewhere, I’d assume it will help. Every little helps. It’s a small step in the right direction. The next should be eliminating the sellotape and wrapping foil from consumer packaging.

It's not a binary choice of being 100% perfect or not bothering - it's about small, meaningful steps in a better direction.

Is it really "meaningful" to chop trees instead of using petroleum for single use items? I don't know exactly, but the impact difference on trash in the ocean will approach zero.

> I don't know exactly

You sum up a fundamental problem of the world so well - you don't know, but you damn well wont let that stop you from formulating a strong opinion about it!

The point of view I'm expressing is skepticism of one thing accompanied by basic knowledge of another. You, on the other hand, are all knowing and skepticism has no place for you.

> I don't know exactly, but the impact difference on trash in the ocean will approach zero.

Sorry, I couldn't see your healthy skepticism as it was blocked from view by your statement of fact.

The composition of the oceanic "garbage patches" is about 50% discarded fishing gear [1].

The stuff you tend to find washed up on beaches contains a large proportion of land-originated bits and bobs such as lighters, toothbrushes, and beach sandals, but also a large fraction of already-partly-decomposed plastic fragments, impossible to ascribe to any particular source [2].

Personally I'm not in favour of an outright ban (give me back my 100 W lightbulbs and 2000 W vacuum cleaners!) but EU-wide taxation could surely disincentivize plastic cutlery with respect to bamboo or other decomposable.

[1] https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/marine-plastics [2] "Composition and potential origin of marine debris stranded in the Western Indian Ocean on remote Alphonse Island, Seychelles" Duhec et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 96 (2015) 76–86

The best alternatives to plastic cutlery, cups and plates are reusable items. Hopefully the benefit of reusable vs disposable from an environmental perspective is obvious to you. When that is not an option, then bamboo, wood, and numerous other plant based items are much, much better than plastic. Depending on the source, they mostly have lower embodied energy, and more importantly they are able to easily undergo aerobic digestion to create a full carbon cycle. Even in a sealed landfill where oxygen is not present, they can be used in a waste to energy cycle without incineration. All plastics - all of them, including polyethylene and polypropylene which are most commonly used for these items, are endocrine disruptors. They are wreaking havoc on every biological organism on our planet, impacting reproduction in vital ways. Marks my words that plastics will be seen in twenty years as coal and fossil fuels are seen now. This is an existential threat to life as currently evolved to the same order as climate change. If our forbears had been using materials in this way, our world would be unrecognizable compared to what we see now.

What do you think people did before plastic items were so prevalent? It was not so long ago. Ask anyone over 75 to remember their childhood.

In the scenario you describe, you would probably get help planning the celebration and pool items from that group. Shops would likely begin to rent out utensils and such for these sort of situations if there was a need. It's not so hard to imagine alternatives.

Soon you'll also be required to offer your guests reusable toilet paper. Every little bit helps.

Start-up idea: provide cutlery on-demand! Lease your own cutlery! With delivery on-premise or pick-up option

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