So true and such a good point to make... a lot of recycling is optimistic in that we hope that our actions will help save the planet while actually contaminating the recycling stream

I have some of these so called compostable plastics made from plant that i have been trying to get to break down for over a year and they haven't changed at all. I aslo hate when people say someone else neads to fix a problem because regular people cant do anything about it. You need to be the change you want to see in the world.

@d283jdsk2

3 жыл бұрын

Make sure you're composting the right types. Some "compostable plastics" can only be broken down in industrial compost facilities.

@1Airwaving

3 жыл бұрын

We can be part of that change also by telling our U.S. representatives to sign on to the first ever comprehensive national effort --The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act((Not kidding, that's its actual name)) We can do this!!

@walkerbomb

Жыл бұрын

Yes, that was my only issue with this presentation. The energy going into the production and “maybe” composting of these materials is astronomical, more in fact than a plastic cup. But they are still single use. Designing for single use is thinking too small. And the industrial versus home compostable is just along the lines of all the different plastic numbers for recycling. No regulation, all marketing.

Great Ted Talk, Great speaker, wonderful.

I love what you said and I agree! How can we get more bulk stores in UT I have no problem planning my meals and buying in bulk. There is only 1 bulk store in the valley. Let’s spread the word and simply produce less!

Great job! That's a smart approach

REFUSE REPURPOSE REUSE REDUCE ROT REPEAT

@elizabeths.8683

3 жыл бұрын

And repair! 👍

Encouraging standardised packaging might make it a lot easier to directly reuse... (Making the manufacturers responsible for getting rid of the waste from their products might align the interest that way...)

@1Airwaving

3 жыл бұрын

In fact, extending producer liability is aspired to in very real ways: Best so far, tell your representtaives to sign on(co-sponsor) the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act ( BFFPPA).!

@wills242

Жыл бұрын

These are interesting ideas !

Damn logic, but I felt so good when I recycle lol, keep telling the truth.

Many types of plastic aren't recyclable at all. Shelving, vinyl siding, wall paneling, plastic furniture, countertops, fiberglass car bodies... When their usefulness is over, they go into landfills. It's discouraging.

@bubbajones6907

4 жыл бұрын

Everything which goes into landfill is recycled. The term "recycling" has been subverted by the sustainability cult.

@GertvandenBerg

4 жыл бұрын

At least those are mostly durable items... If it has a 10 - 50 year lifespan the impact is a lot less than single-use items that come in much larger volumes...

@user-dt8mf8nt2v

3 жыл бұрын

@@bubbajones6907 are you sure about that?

@bubbajones6907

3 жыл бұрын

@@user-dt8mf8nt2v Yes, it's quite obvious if you think about it.

@wills242

Жыл бұрын

@@user-dt8mf8nt2v I’m starting to think all these people addicted to inventing struggle just can’t fathom the math to think things through. Imagine having no idea about something and still insisting having a say in operations😂

great presentation! Although, compostable items are not as useful in landfills or composts as they may seem to be.

@lapinchiloca

4 жыл бұрын

Correct, the composting process requires more space, time, care and energy than just quickly recycling

How many recycled bottles are required to off-set an average sized plastic recycling plant for one day. We could add in transportation to the dump sites and transportation to the plant...

@kevinmurphy4627

4 жыл бұрын

It depends on where the market price for PET ( plastic's of bottle) is at on any given day.

@aarone8740

2 жыл бұрын

Not relevant; any efforts are worth it! Or we can just throw our hands in the air like quitters do! NOT ME!

@wills242

Жыл бұрын

These questions aren’t fashionable😂 They could lead to accountability

Thumbs up. Everything is very well explained. Except analogy on 5:04 with plain flights is misleading.

@svetlanikolova7673

4 жыл бұрын

ya use trains if you travel local city and long distances it saves the environment because they run on electric

@jakovcu

4 жыл бұрын

@@svetlanikolova7673 plains produce CO2 and that is natural biodegradable gas. Plastic is not degradable. Nature can not use Plastic.

Recycling can't fix the problem. We have to reduce consumption, eliminate single use plastic, reduce packaging, and use compostables instead of plastics. Doing those things don't preclude recycling though. We should still recycle. We just need to understand that recycling only helps a little bit and it isn't a substitute for real change.

Isn't 80% still a really high yield for recycling centres though? Why damn the centres completely because a mere fifth of the potential output is not recyclable?

@ConorFenlon

4 жыл бұрын

Keeping in mind that the reason that remaining 20% is often not recyclable is because of consumer negligence; ie, they do not pay attention to what can and can't be recycled in the first place.

@wills242

Жыл бұрын

@@ConorFenlon idk how accurate that is though. I’m sure it plays a role but I work with plastics almost daily and we’ve been trying to save every scrap. Our manufacturing process is as waste free as possible and even then, in order to get 50% back from our scraps we have to be willing to take a huge cut in quality and skip entire steps of refinement. I feel the materials we use in design are just as important as the things we design. As I’m typing this he’s starting to bring it up in the speech lol Perhaps a positive change in material development would be more attention paid to metrics taken at the molecular level in order to create more dynamic stable/versatile polys

I totally agree with your words. But i still feel good when i recycle.

Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution

His brother goes to my school

How do I know when paper has degraded to much to recycled

Tax the producer based on the recyclability of their packaging

@GertvandenBerg

4 жыл бұрын

Return the packing to the producer to dispose / reuse... IF they need to pay those costs, they might change the packaging...

@1Airwaving

3 жыл бұрын

There's a great, unprecedented effort under way right now-- Ask your senators to sign on to the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act! THE first/only ever such thing to be put forth at national level.

@wills242

Жыл бұрын

@@GertvandenBerg yeahhh but this is how we got criminal industrial waste dumping in the first place. A factory/corp can pay off politicians for a decade before we deiscover the extent of their dump sites and by then it’s too late. China does this for example and almost no factory in China is up to their own codes.

If you're looking for a way to help the environment you can switch to ecosia they are a search engine that plants trees.

The amount of waste large companies produce is unimaginable. It makes it seem pointless for individuals to even try helping. Millions of tons of unused products go into landfills each year, mostly clothes I believe

@jakovcu

4 жыл бұрын

Large corporations produce for consumers.

@wills242

Жыл бұрын

And the literal cashier at that corporation’s storefront will berate you from their assigned moral high ground for not “doing your part”.

Recycling uses up much energy, how cost effective is that and most importantly does the operative plant create carbon emissions? Here we advocate and are proactive in up-cycling, or 're-purposing'. If a resource cannot be re-purposed after use, then the producer is liable, surely.

Recycling is simply about making humans feel like they are “doing something.” It’s a joke

@pepperminthippo6854

Жыл бұрын

Not recycling is simply about humans being too lazy but spending all sorts of time coming up with excuses so they will feel better about being deadbeats

It's very easy for an environmentalist to say just shift the responsibility more to the producer, but as an economist this is also way harder than how it seems with all the financial burden producer has to endure, especially when in some places waste comes from small businesses with tight profit.

The purpose of recycling is not just to reduce carbon emissions, nor just reduce waste in landfills, it's also to prevent another tree from being felled to make paper towels. There are multiple reasons for recycling, more than are being addressed here. Every new generation that is accustomed to the habits of their culture questions them -- what that new generation lacks is the perspective that led to the implementation of those habits! (For example, the anti-vaxxers didn't see their friends being horribly disabled for life by polio, and thus didn't see the fear of the disease come to an end after Salk's vaccine appeared, and polio disappeared -- they lack that experience, and that uninformed perspective makes it easy to assign malevolent goals to vaccination.) I think the presenter has some good ideas about our need to address consumption, packaging, and waste through multiple channels, but it's a mistake to malign recycling! When I recycle paper I save trees. It may be a fact of life that they have a limited number of times they can be reused, but how many trees did I help save in that process?

@backcountyrpilot

3 жыл бұрын

Gigi Z. Tees are a crop, just like corn, wheat, sugarcane, etc.

@wills242

Жыл бұрын

So you basically your arithmetic skills peaked when you read Johnny Appleseed God bless your little world

@weirdonicki7747

2 ай бұрын

felling trees isn't automatically bad if they are being grown sustainably for the purpose of their wood. Felling wild trees in Madagascar is bad for example, but that wood isn't being turned into paper exactly lol

hello

This information isn't entirely accurate. Not maliciously. Paper being inevitably sent to the landfill after x amount of times of being recycled is a net positive. As well, Pizza boxes can be recycled depending on your municipality and spoilage. Look at your local municipality. Good info though.

REFUSE! STOP USING PLASTIC

Should have a better title like ：Recycling couldn't help the planet here is why

"Earth friendly" packaging cost more to produce which is going to to end up costing the consumer. No thanks. There is a market for "waste." Most waste is just material people don't want anymore. Most people don't have the space to store materials until they have enough to sell in bulk. Metal can be scrapped almost anywhere in the US, but unless you have a garage just for collecting metal, specifically iron and steel, it just won't be worth your time to take a small truck load at a time.

@bjski4557

4 жыл бұрын

So let’s just continue to fill up our oceans with plastic. I’d prefer to pay less by not using one use plastics in the first place and pay the higher price for earth friendly packaging while people are transitioning to a less wasteful lifestyle.

My roommate thinks you're SUPER hot

Ohh boy, you are wrong....

Yes. It’s a ripoff. Next question

@lot.bajrami

4 жыл бұрын

Alisha, relax

Only a republican would end our recycling efforts!

This is all very nice, but his premise is flawed. He says that this biodegradable plastic will solve our waste problem. Well, we don't have a waste problem. All the waste that the US will create for the next 100 years can fit in one 18 square mile landfill. Modern landfills are safely designed and once full, they put a park or beach on top of it. The market will not bear this more expensive biodegradable plastic because a cheaper alternative is available that is not creating an actual problem. Only a perceived one.

@user-dt8mf8nt2v

3 жыл бұрын

what do you mean "we don't have a waste problem"? what world do you live in?

@TermiteVideo

3 жыл бұрын

Not all waste ends up in a landfill. Unfortunately there is a massive amount of pollution, particularly plastic, in the oceans.

He’s discouraged that 91% of plastic doesn’t even get recycled but mentions “because a lot of city’s and countries don’t emphasize recycle” I let that slide. Then he compares 40,000 discarded plastic bottles left to float around in the ocean for a biblical amount of time to being the same “greenhouse carbon emission” as a flight. Next he’ll say “people in Prius cars drive around their house three times at the end of the day before parking it just because. Oh wait. He pretty much does say that. Smh.