Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: The Plastics Industry

[@brandonmiles8174]

I work for one of the biggest plastic manufacturers on the planet. There are days where I often think about throwing a wrench in the plant air compressor just to stop everything for a couple days, but then I think about that just means we'd have to all work 7 days a week to catch up, so we'd end up making just as many bottles. Also, most of what we make are pharmaceutical bottles, mainly for operating room, ie Saline bottles. We are going to have to have some real systemic change in the way we view the world around us and if we really want it to be here in a century.

[@amyjones2490]

I just watched the movie "Idiocracy" we are so close to this now. I am a small farmer in the Midwest. Mega farms have much to answer for in the environmental crisis. Farmers can use regenerative practices to mitigate problems. Check out Savory Institute. I advocate for going back to small fields of no more than 50 acres and ringing thosr fields with fruit nut and notrogen fixing trees and bushes and requiring fields to be covered in a cover crop terminated mechanically not chemically. We should also be paying farmers to grow organically and charge them to use chemicals.

[@rocketsurgeon5758]

Welcome to Costco, i love you.

[@linmal2242]

I love your application of small-scale farming principles, but I fear that you could be overrun by the agro industrial industry simply by the scale of production of the giants. You have to either specialise or differentiate your product to compete in the market with the big blokes so that you have something like a competitive advantage, whatever that may be. If your aim is just self-sufficiency then Permaculture is the way to go! We have lots of small farmers in Aus too.

[@linmal2242]

Here is something that might interest you, Amy. But it won't be applicable where you are; www.farmonline.com.au/story/4328751/cure-for-bovine-burps/

[@sovetskiykozel797]

Brawndo, It's Got Electrolytes. It's What Plants Crave

[@chrisrichardson8881]

Industries need to be infinitely responsible for their waste products and the damage that their products induce.

[@ericpmoss]

I think that the problem with "modern" meat is that it's based on economic efficiency in a system where the costs are all externalized. Our taxes subsidize grain production which subsidizes synthetic pesti-/herbi-/funcicides and fertilizers. Our taxes subsidize interstate highways which subsidizes centralized raising and slaughtering. Our taxes subsidize advertising to promote super-fatty grain-fed beef. If we would re-train our palate to enjoy bison meat, and replace fence-to-fence corn and sorghum with grass-fed bison, we could reverse the devastation in the US Midwest. But... all the economic forces have joined to ensure that never happens, because we subsidize them.

[@chriscourtney7369]

You can thank FDR for the farm subsidies!

[@DCastro9mm]

Woody Guthrie predicted the future in one of his songs.... says " everything will be plastic"

[@wtfhah]

We love you, Professor Harvey!

[@rayc.lozano7100]

They outlawed hemp the same year they patented plastic no accident. It used to be no. 1 product in south.

[@DennisMoore664]

Damn straight! They laugh at us and use it as a slur, but hemp really can solve a huge number of the worlds problems. The stuff with THC and/or CBD's can do a lot of good too for many people - dare I say most.

[@AZOffRoadster]

Our ancestors sailed here via hemp cloth sails hoisted by hemp rope. They then traveled westward on hemp cloth covered wagons.

[@julieannmyers8714]

It was in the Midwest, too.

[@urduib]

We already know that hemp can replace 5500 industrial products. And i am sure with development and funding that the number could be +1 mill products

[@flash_flood_area]

My friend says the government paid his granddad to give up his hemp farm and in exchange open a gas station.

[@haroldwhite5761]

I remember when they sold us on using plastic grocery bags to 'save the trees' in the 1980s. At least paper is biodegradable and new trees can be planted. Now the industry is stopping towns from banning the plastic bags. I've seen these bags stuck in trees at a National Park!

[@urduib]

18 billion plastic bags in EU ends in the water each year. Now we started to ban them. But can you imagine how much that is, i cant öO

[@MrKingjoe28]

Yes!!!!i thought i was the only one that thought this odd... I actually will bring this up when at grocery store. Cashier- plastic ok sir? Me- thinking... Paper made from trees= cuts down tons of trees Plastic bags= ends up never breaking down and pollutes earth. Hmmmm....choices....

[@haroldwhite5761]

@@MrKingjoe28 Solution: bring your own washable fabric bags!

[@mykolassakalauskas3374]

USA looks like 20th century in comparison to EU. Plastic straws are banned in EU since New Year. Even in McDonalds you will get straw made from paper. All bags are chargeable and people usually bring they own strong multi-use bags. In was majority of EU there is deposit system - for each bottle you pay up to 30 cents extra and claim it back when feed it into recycling machine before next shopping. Because of that you hardly find any dropped bottle anywhere.

[@linmal2242]

@@dsf-sj6jzYou are a dick still believing in that figment of jesus christ which was an anti-roman protester put to death for challenging the civil power, or so the story goes! Whether it has any veracity is debatable!

[@PhilipHunt]

@@dsf-sj6jz all, what? This is KZbin, I don't read more than a paragraph. Who's judging who?

[@doktormcnasty]

Paper straws are crap. I'd say they suck but unfortunately that's the one thing they _don't_ do very well. I'll stick with plastic, thank you until such a time as a proper replacement is available.

[@mykolassakalauskas3374]

@Shaving Pvt. Ryan paper straws will make virtually no affect on deforestation.

[@itzenormous]

Over the last 3 years, I have singlehandedly recycled enough plastic bottles to fill an entire gymnasium, all by myself. I'm fighting a losing battle, but I don't relent ... I can't, in good conscience. And I've noticed how SO SO SO many people just nonchalantly discard their plastic bottles into the landfill, by way of the trashcan. They don't care or don't even think about it. And then they give me bizarre looks when they see me carrying a bag full of bottles or digging plastic bottles out of trash cans.

[@linmal2242]

Good for you; great to see a concerned citizen trying to do something positive. You could encourage you local government to put recycle bins next to their waste bins so that sorting can happen at point of disposal.

[@mrdannyheim6712]

good report, but sad

[@dulynoted2427]

McDonalds could eliminate straw use, by using sippy cup lids. And cups can be made from coffee grinds.

[@chriscourtney7369]

McDonald's uses prison labor to make their uniforms that a pipe dream for them to give up straws!

[@elsagrace3893]

Universal Basic Income is the answer. People having more time and less stress will choose to consume less convenience plastic. No one has time to take care of anything more than the basics now (they feel) getting to work, getting home, getting to bed. It’s all facilitated with plastic crap that helps us eat quickly. No one enjoys eating quickly fast food crap. UBI would allow more people to be caregivers, wives, mom’s, dad’s to cook nourishing food which we could have time to enjoy with one another rather than chasing the dollar. UBI and Andrew YANG 2020

[@carmeniglesias8615]

Is cristal bittles better? If, yes! Why not go back to it and implement a recycle system? Clean and re-use? What about seringes and other medical plastic products?

[@hermenutic]

many if not most plastic consumer products can be safely replaced with Hemp.

[@ianlonergan6585]

Please do a google search on “organophosphate labelling micro plastics” ..scientific research papers and read for yourself

[@mrfuzztone]

Thanks for the clear message on waste and the effect on climate change. If people would eat less meat that would help a lot. Just eat meat on fewer days. Don't need to be a vegetarian. Most people don't realize the potential impact. Buy clothes less often. A big problem is the fact that our economy depends on high levels of consumption, not conservation.

[@LARPANET_3087]

@2:10 or so, it all depends WHERE you live in NYC. It's true that the city's water supply is excellent, but if you live in a NYCHA (public housing) building with old pipes that are in disrepair, there is a real risk of lead contamination. This happened in the past year I think to one or two buildings in NYC.

[@elizabethtaylor9085]

Elizabeth Taylor. Styrofoam is a lot more than 50 years. i think it is something like four hundred thousand years. Also recent big report on plastic and plastics companies in the iNTERCEPT Says a lot of supposedly recycled plastic, is not in fact recycled.

[@urduib]

yes i was puzzled over that also. I think he was talking about mechanical deconstruction. That is when wind and water rips in the plastic pulling it apart. But plastic covered with leaves and soil degrade over thousands of years, so he should have been more clear about that statement

[@djackson006]

Use hemp to make plastics, its biodegradable and locks away carbon etc. Can be used for many, many things.

[@linmal2242]

Good thought/post.

[@antenna_prolly]

Wouldn't it be cool if people were debating real problems like this instead of nationalism as a valid stance or "birthrates" although, if you are petty enough to care about birthrates, saving the planet's habitability isn't a bad place to start

[@julieannmyers8714]

The birthrate & population growth IS the basis of the problem. Even if living like Stone Age hunter-gatherers, 7.8 billion humans would destroy every ecosystem on the planet... without climate disruption. Adding capitalism to the perfect storm ensures a thoroughly DEAD planet, not just one without humans.

[@Reality4Peace]

@@julieannmyers8714 What is the basis for your claim that no matter how humans live, 7.8 billion people = destruction of ecosystem?

[@billypilgrim7838]

more people more pollution simple.population will be reduced intentionally or not

[@Reality4Peace]

@@billypilgrim7838 Not necessarily true. You can have 10 people with a greater environmental impact than 20. You have first world nations of smaller populations with large ecological footprints than vastly more populated underdeveloped nations. Lifestyle, relationship to the ecosystem, socioeconomic system, etc... are incredibly important when discussing pollution and ecological damage.

[@marccurzon]

I used to be a car mechanic and I couldn't help but notice that I'm changing the same plastic parts all day just different specimens. I may be exaggerating and it may just be how euro manufacturers cost cut but it feels like way more than 30% of issues at least are because of some part being made out of plastic that used to be brass in the 1950s cracking or breaking in some way. If they could only make a car with 1961 mercedes brass vacuum hoses, flanges and bushings instead of plastic and rubber with modern engineering and clearances it would be indestructible.

[@germancraftsman]

obsoleszenz is one Key Word. How long you can use a product until the determination time is over.

[@judithwyer389]

There are alternatives to oil-based plastics, including hemp based plastic and even seaweed based plastics. There is a lot of startup activity around the world to devise alternatives. Already in stores we can sometime find corn-based plastic bags which are biodegradable and even say on the bag its life expectancy. look up "France's Plastic Revolution/earthrise". Fascinating.

[@karengrice2303]

Judith Wyer I seldom but disposable cups but needed some for a party. I was able to find biodegradable cups at the grocery store and I have noticed that Trader Joe’s has switched to biodegradable produce bags. I’m starting to see a bit of change. I use a lot of reusable products from Green City Living which has helped me cut down on plastics and I have noticed some of these products at Trader Joe’s too.

[@SecondTake123]

I liked Boxed Water or Water in Aluminum cans. Plastic is horrible for the environment! Also the plastics contaminate the water you're drinking.

[@kuriadams9138]

Or glass, carbonated drinks used to only be sold in glass bottles (typically reusable bottles). I believe it's still fairly common place in some countries like Mexico, but I actually haven't looked into that yet.

[@jaelynn7575]

Only buy things in glass containers.

[@urduib]

I saw a company making degradable plastic out of seaweed :) and the cool thing was that the seaweed was an invasive species killing the bio system. We need to research like never before. Glass is cool but somewhat energy demanding. Here in Denmark we have recycled glass for decades now. Just passed a law here that 400 different plastic bottles will have a 15 cent charge you will get back when you return it to the shop. Plan is to expand it to all plastic containers over time

[@KissatenYoba]

@@urduib is this really something new in the Western countries? USSR had glass bottle collection in shops from, like, 50s onwards (and that tradition was destroyed in the 90s).

[@urduib]

@@KissatenYoba Glass bottles are normal to store food in, here in Denmark. But also plastic everywhere :(

[@marccurzon]

It would be so easy for the supermarket to have different types of mountain spring water on tap for us to bring bottles to fill up on our favorite flavor. I'm autistic and very sensitive to flavors and smells. I find the smell of my local water to be so bad I can't sit nearby someone drinking it. Growing up I found it impossible to shower with the sickening smell until my mother and dr figured out the situation and I got a shower water filter.

[@ianlonergan6585]

An apology ..I didn’t intend to imply that micro plastics in this discussion weren’t well covered but that he covered micro plastics in a comprehensive way...that’s what the bravo was for ...too many discussion on plastic pollution do not cover what happens to plastics when they breakdown and I was delighted he covered that...and ty for adding to the public awareness ..

[@lisakeitel3957]

But chemical engineers really knew about the plastic dump problem from the beginning. Including microplastics. They just didn't care, thinking the future would somehow manage it. That was the culture.

[@drakekoefoed1642]

we buy purified water here for 25c a gallon. Bio degrading may not be any good, since micro plastics are bad in the ocean.

[@billypilgrim7838]

Drake Koefoed test it

[@ianlonergan6585]

Bravo you covered the micro plastics!

[@DennisMoore664]

16:54 is where he addresses the problem. It's in the frelling Water Cycle! Seawater with the microparticles evaporates and carries the microparticles along up into the atmosphere where they migrate inland and rain back down getting into the soil and open water sources. I learned about this when I was in grade school and saw this coming back when I first heard about the plastic particles degrading they way they are. But people don't listen to me - I'm a kook, an alarmist, someone who fetishizes the end of the world. I'm just paying attention and it sure doesn't seem like we're going to leave the planet cleaner than we found it before we kill ourselves off. Luckily the old rock can fix itself good as new in few millennia. Nature will fill that vacuum right up after we're gone and get the ball rolling on cleaning up the damage after it's last experiment got out of control. Silly primates. NEXT!

[@ianlonergan6585]

Matt Soper ty ..perhaps my choice on words was not up task ...I was delighted that micro plastics were covered as too many talks on the subject fail to mention that fact..and the bravo was meant as that .. at last we are getting somewhere as this is very serious subject . Another issue is that micro plastics are also present in products point of origin ..namely drinks and foods and other consumers products. Micro plastics are even present in glass bottled water where elsewhere in the same factory plastic bottles are being utilised...the particles being nano sized float in the air. So wherever plastics are being used they enter our food chain...lastly give pause to thought about the people who work in these factories breathing the air as they work..or to where such plastics are manufactured those workers would have to be affected as well. Yes an unknown about the long term consequences to human health but the affinity of plastics to be labeled with organophosphate is disturbing as most herbicide and pesticides have organophosphate components in their structure ...there are other toxic chemicals that show a similar affinity ...perhaps we will learn in future studies what that list of chemicals might be... Thank you Matt for responding

[@youtuber6185]

Plastic can be recycled, but it’s cheaper to produce new. That’s not the fault of plastic, that’s the fault of society not wanting to do the work to recycle even after it’s collected.

[@timothycurlee9682]

I just saw a report that 8 companies, Chevron , phillips 66 ,Qatar petroleum and others are spending about 30 plus billion dollars to build 7 new plants to produce plastics on the Gulf coast of the U.S. This while single use plastic products are increasingly being banned , as they should be when they are produced from fossil fuels.

[@timothycurlee9682]

@David Einhorn It is at 9:20 of Max Keiser ..kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4OqdqCja66FhKs

[@imagine07018]

Although the source of NYC water is of high quality, all tap water contains chlorine or related products and may contain a variety of other chemicals, some in small amounts, some in not so small amounts. And remember, Flint's problem is an infrastructure problem, not merely a water problem. In NY many water mains and building pipes are made of lead, which may be seeping into the water.Thus the use of a filter is advised. With regards to bottled water, there was recently a lawsuit against Poland Spring which alleged that tap water was being used. Some bottled water products purify their water via reverse osmosis, which is a better choice. Even so, the plastic from the bottle leaches into the water so that you're drinking plastic. Best move is to get a large stainless steel water bottle, fill it with your own filtered water and bring it with you. Drink bottled water only when their is no choice.

[@IronWarrior4Ever]

Plastic is literally everyone, even in most human bodies.

[@wiretamer5710]

All we need is love. In this case love of plastic. We must learn to love plastic: to understand it, appreciate it and CARE about it. At the moment we don't care, we don't know anything about it, and we throw it away without a thought. It is this indifference and ignorance of plastic that the industry exploits.

[@Rob81k]

In general, knowledge is key, knowledge is the way forward, knowledge makes us see and solve problems. The more we know about ourselves, the environment we live in and the how we effect it, the better our lives and those of our children will be. A certain level of "love" is required here yes, as it's the best basis on which we can educate and learn.

[@MindandQiR1]

There are also bio-plastics made from corn and cassava, which are biodegradable.

[@AntonioGarmsci-cy5vt]

Plastic can be made out of HEMP!!!!

[@Synkwan]

Less humans, less plastic. Just saying... #antinatalism

[@barehandedspank]

The oil industry is where it needs to start

[@mariadamen7886]

Viva Not true it needs to start with the buyers.

[@wiretamer5710]

I agree totally with most of this essay and its conclusions, but it contains many small errors concerning plastic that are problematic when see as a whole.

[@sallyk.2124]

As I understand it, polyester and some ,other manufactured fabrics are made of plastics. The microplastics go through all of your laundry in the wash, and then end up in the water supply. I am trying to buy fabrics that are made of natural fibers.

[@linmal2242]

Good thinking and very commendable to try to use natural, but man made fibres do have superior qualities, so blending them with natural fibres can be advantageous.

[@annamuller1666]

When I did a roundtrip in the United Stated my friends and I couldn't drink the tap water because it tasted very much like chemicals. For some of us it also felt painful in the eyes while showering. So I don't feel it is "safe to drink", even if there is no led in it. Of course I'm not saying this to condone water in plastic bottles. I always drink tap water and carry it with me in a glas bottle I reuse. Just saying, the US. tap water tastes as if it was poison, and you might want to work on that.

[@Mark_Chandler]

trump administration could care less about the environment....maybe in 2020

[@DavidDaHedge]

We can make bioplastics out of perennial agriculture feedstocks. We just need the r&d and investment into that technology

[@trueKENTUCKY]

Good shit

[@kuriadams9138]

This made me think of George Carlin's bit about plastic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJ3HYX56mMahldk

[@DerekFullerWhoIsGovt]

Still trying to save the world...

[@slightlygruff]

in the SU only glass and paper were used and people recycled almost all glass bottles

[@bearanov]

Sardines and Herring collapsed in the Pacific four years ago, the Salmon on every major west coast river are in free fall right now, the numbers are abysmal. Grey Whales washing up dead in never before recorded numbers emaciated, hundreds of thousands of cormarant's washed up dead on the WA coast last year with empty stomachs. The base of the food chain has been wiped out, and its rippling up the food chain at a fatal rate, and plastic is whats left to eat. Its not a mix of fish and plastic in these animals stomachs...its just plastic, they are not eating it stupidly, they are eating plastic in desperation. Forty percent of insects are expected to be extinct in ten years. What is happening world wide is much worse than is generally known. Not far from now the truth of how fucked we are will start to leak out.

[@linmal2242]

Is that WA meaning Washington or Western Australia (they are both similarly described) At this point the southern Indian ocean is relatively clean so seabirds are less there affected, but at this rate of 'civilisation' it is only a matter of time before it happens worldwide!

[@gregpovy]

As an American English speaker, I can't help but chuckle over how he pronounces methane. But in all seriousness, boo plastic.

[@pjamesbda]

There is a real and present issue with disposal of plastics. Ask any Bermudian.

[@passionateprogressive4445]

Why can't plastics be broken down and recycled?

[@KuroKarma]

True why dont we make these companies stop producing them in the first place? Oh right profits are more important than destroying the world.

[@youtuber6185]

Without plastics cars would weigh more and use more gas. Just stop throwing away plastic water bottles and use all of the other plastics.

[@TheChristafershawn]

Stop murdering cows for evil gluttony. The narcissist human brings so much suffering to this world and it only brings us closer to our own demise.

[@poobum9857]

are ships dumping their waste !

[@JohnDoe-ne4kg]

Yes?

[@theempyrean1227]

Irresponsible "progress". Capitalism's flip side,

[@mat_j]

why eat plastic when you can eat plants...?

[@JohnDoe-ne4kg]

Nobody eats plastic

[@mat_j]

@@JohnDoe-ne4kg if you eat sea fish, you do

[@JohnDoe-ne4kg]

@@mat_j Fair enough, I didn't think through your comment thoroughly enough. Thanks.

[@crowesarethebest]

Well....since religion is deemed legitimate all over the world, no need to worry about the environment. Hell is on Earth, and the 'good' people are destined for heaven. So, since we 'invest' our tax dollars in religious institutions all over the world, maybe it's time to ask the self-appointed representative of the gods here on Earth, to summons the gods and clean this mess up.

[@davidschlessinger9945]

capitalism will choke on it's own greed

[@davidschlessinger9945]

reducing meat intake is the best method

[@simetry6477]

@@davidschlessinger9945 Unionization is how you reign in capitalism.

[@josiahsuarez]

D:

[@onecardshort2934]

So, DISPOSABLE plastic straws have a very important use for people with some disabilities. As usual they are left out of the discussion. Also as usual, they are not the only population that is underrepresented on this program. I keep mentioning that you all should know better than to have a progressive show that only features old white monied people. Maybe you do not know better...

[@minimonkaloyd]

One Card Short - A reuseable container with a suitable straw-like device would suffice for practically anyone; special needs or not. It seems as if you're tilting at windmills with this criticism?

[@AZOffRoadster]

I was unaware that disabled people can't use straws made of materials other than plastic.