RE: Ship it back and break free from plastics

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RE: Ship it back and break free from plastics

macoolette in #cleanplanet • 7 years ago

Welcome back @roleerob! I am sure you are well rejuvenated with your trips. Your travelogue has been amazing and full of adventure that I was not able to keep up with all of it. 😊

It is very good to know when people are environmental conscious at home as a regular way of life and not only when there are natural disasters that we learn our lessons.

Recyclable plastics are somehow acceptable but still non-biodegradable in the long run. I have the same question as to how the wastes are being disposed. While some municipalities and cities here are imposing waste segregation, there is always a question in my head as to how the non-biodegradable materials are being disposed. That is because I do not know any locality that has recycling facility. But yes, let us hope for the best.

7 years ago in #cleanplanet by macoolette

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roleerob 7 years ago (edited)

Yes @macoolette, rejuvenated 😊 ... and "back to my real life" where I have responsibilities ... 😧

The issue of the use of plastics is part of a bigger issue of what many here would refer to as "sustainability." That is, are we living in a way that is sustainable? It runs smack up against the cold hard realities of businesses cutting costs, what people are voluntarily willing to pay for vs. costs being imposed on them, etc.

I could write a whole post about the much more insidious issue of inflation and how businesses cut costs to avoid passing on the need to raise prices. To offset the devaluation of whatever currency they may be using to account for their profitability. Plastics are simply less expensive than their glass or metal counterparts ...

I think, sadly, plastic is just the "tip of the iceberg" in a number of interrelated problems we have ... Okay, I'll jump down from my soapbox now ... 😉

P.S. If I didn't "jump down," then I'd have to write about my experience years ago in Chile and comparing their mining practices with those of their competition in America ... Not a pretty picture ... Overall, part of the same fundamental problem ...

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macoolette 7 years ago

Responsibilities do not go away, no matter how long you took a vacation. 😃

I totally agree that the plastics are just small portion of the real problem. I may have forgotten my economics subject but yes, it is all about cost. They may not replace the plastics with glasses or metals but the least I would love them to do is be responsible all throughout their plastic life cycle and not only until those are distributed to customers. I am hoping for recycling facility for every plastic manufacturer and they buy the plastics back. I think this will inspire consumers to collect trash.

Well, yes. Maybe you too can write about your experience. 😊

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roleerob 7 years ago (edited)

Nope @macoolette ...

"Responsibilities do not go away, no matter how long you took a vacation. 😃"

... "you can run, but you can't hide", so ... Had to come back and "face the music" ... 😏

These are old sayings here in America. I wonder sometimes the source and context of these old sayings ... 😉

Ultimately the responsibility for the cost comes back to "we the people" ... All of the infrastructure to truly recycle on the scale needed is massive. And thus far beyond the reach of any one company ...

So ... Faced with these costs, do "we the people" support the organizations which make a valiant effort to be good stewards, but still pass these costs along to us consumers? Or do "we the people" buy whatever is cheapest product (which of course doesn't have any of these good steward costs embedded ...)?

I can't speak for the Phillipines, but here in America, the choice is far more often the latter ... Which brings us smack up against having freedom vs. compulsory compliance imposed on "we the people" ... 🤔

Did somebody say "complicated?" 😉 Yep! 😏

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P.S. So we can still be friends ... 😉

@roleerob’s weekly recycle bin

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macoolette 7 years ago

Wow! You really took photos of your garbage bins. Very good! You're a model citizen. 😊

I think it is the same here in our country wherein people go for what is cost-friendly to them. But if all organizations embed in their system the cost to sustain the products including the packaging until the end of its life cycle, I think people will have no choice than to follow. On a larger scale, that would mean too high inflation which I wonder if it is at all possible for countries to keep up without going on bankruptcy. Indeed, it is complicated. 😄

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roleerob 7 years ago

Well I don't know about being a "model citizen" @macoolette, but I will take your response as an indication we can still be friends. 😉

I have long been and will always be an advocate for good stewardship of the earth's resources (voluntarily executed and rewarded by a system of free enterprise) ...

But ... I have also always been and will remain an unrelenting adversary of any "one world" arguments - the ultimate in the centralization of power ...

Thanks again for your efforts to write about this @macoolette. Hopefully, "we the people" will continue to make progress in solving this global dilemma.

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macoolette 7 years ago

Hopefully, "we the people" will continue to make progress in solving this global dilemma.

Yap. Efforts that seem to be so small because it is just by individuals can be collectively huge.

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