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this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Technology
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This is our lead, isn't it?
Way worse. Lead was fairly fixable. This is a problem at such a scale it's hard to understand. And there's no end in sight to stop mass production of it. Just think of bottles. The number of plastic bottles thrown in the trash from one gas station...then think about all the gas stations. That isn't even the tip of the iceberg.
I literally avoid plastic as much as reasonably possible, but I still want to bury my head in the sand about the whole thing.
Lead was "fixable" for then-future generations, not for those already affected.
Even when you try to avoid it it piles up. I eat a ton of produce, avoiding frozen food trays and crap like that, but they still package the produce in plastic. Shipping in plastic. Plastic bags at the store even after you ask them not to. Cars and consumer goods half made of plastic. People bitch and moan about bans (probably especially petro industry thinktanks) but that's probably the best option at this point.
Plastics have a very real and important role. Things like protecting food from contamination, bacteria and fungi are pretty important and until we find an alternative for roles like that we will still need them. The real issue is our disposable society with one way waste streams and over packaging.
I wish. Plastic pollution will stay around for much longer and we still don't even know how to fix this mess. Meanwhile it's getting worse.