# Do we need to reduce minor uses of petrolium? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319 "2004-12-06T04:31:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![oh\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b38774/32.png) [@oh\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oh_s)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/21 "2004-12-15T10:02:20Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I think I need more than “I can honestly tell you…” == hundreds of thousands dead each year. Hopefully, wevets can come up with something…It looks like she/he’s on the right track. > > Please consider that I am not “pro petrochemical” or an “anti-granola, save the planet” type. ``` Hello sunshine, I said if you want proof look at the plagues of box-jelly fish. You do know what a box-jelly fish is don't you? Ben Crop, Rod Taylor, they must have web sites look it up. As for "I can honestly tell you" I only said that turtles eat plastic bags. I did not say how many die per year. Valerie Taylor would put you right there. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/22 "2004-12-15T10:18:35Z")
I thought Valerie Taylor was a shark girl? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/23 "2004-12-15T14:03:45Z")
> [@oh&s](#): > > Hello sunshine, > I said if you want proof look at the plagues of box-jelly fish. You do know what a box-jelly fish is don’t you? Ben Crop, Rod Taylor, they must have web sites look it up. > As for “I can honestly tell you” I only said that turtles eat plastic bags. I did not say how many die per year. Valerie Taylor would put you right there. I assumed when you said…“if you want simple evidence …” you meant “if you want simple evidence that plastic bags are killing many sea turtles” I also assumed that you were coorrelating the box-jelly fish explosion with the dying turtle population due to plastic bag ingestion. Could you clarify for me what you meant then if it wasn’t that. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/24 "2004-12-16T18:54:19Z")
Just wanted to give this one more chance at presenting a reputable citation or study. How’s it coming Wevets? I hope you can find something. Anyone else? … Bueller?.. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/25 "2004-12-17T01:16:36Z")
Sorry. I’ve been really busy this week and haven’t been able to talk to anyone who does necropsies yet. I’ll let you know when I can. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/26 "2005-01-28T10:35:42Z")
Just to update folks: I haven’t been ignoring this for the last month & a half; I was forwarded an incomprehensible spreadsheet from the necropsy database that lacks enough documentation to tell me what it’s really about. So far, my queries for clarification have not produced a response. Just more proof that RL doesn’t operate at Internet speeds. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/27 "2005-01-30T14:19:17Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > If plastic is simply replaced with paper, since paper production is very energy-intensive, it is conceivable that fuel consumption will actually rise. I don’t know if that is so; the point would need to be checked. But energy conservation would be more effectively achieved by reducing the consumption of _all_ forms of packaging. Yes, paper isn’t necessarily better. I’ve heard something similar re throw-away water cups; that paper cups are just as bad as plastic, due to the way they’re manufactored and the things they’re coated with. I guess dedicated environmentalists would carry collapsible cups around wihth them. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/28 "2005-01-30T14:28:47Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > As mentioned before, the bigger bang-for-the-buck is in reducing the utilization of hydrocarbons as _fuel_. Here we have a raw material that is the primary source of all our synthetics, from trash bags to medicines to composite wings for aircraft, and our primary use for it is _setting it on fire_. Good point. When it comes to the prospect of running out of oil, I’ve been thinking in terms of not having gas for our cars and trucks and not having heating oil for our homes, offices, etc. But we’d also have problems re the other uses. We could get along without plastic bags – but what about fertilizer, and the other things JRDelirious mentions. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/29 "2005-02-22T00:58:55Z")
OK, so I finally talked to one of the folks who does necropsies, and while they don’t keep track of plastics ingestion specifically, it’s known to be occuring more frequently than reported. A good source on this is: Laist, D. W., Coe, J. M., and K. J. O’Hara. 1999 _Marine Debris Pollution_. (_in:_ Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals\*, John R. Twiss and Randall R. Reeves, Eds.) Smithsonian Institution, pp. 342-366. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319/30 "2005-02-22T01:00:44Z")
Yes, I use ky now. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-need-to-reduce-minor-uses-of-petrolium/278319.md?page=1)