Why no uproar over plastic?

Great Debates
41

[QUOTE=Hello Again]
No reason to be ashamed, but I do also find it very suprising that you did not already know this in even the vaguest way – from your post it seems that the fact that plastics do not naturally degrade is a complete and total surprise to you at age 41.

I’m 32 and in my childhood (1980s) recycling in general became a very huge issue. My parents aren’t activists or anything, but I definitely knew about the general idea in childhood. If my 12 year old self would have articulated what she knew about plastic decomposition, it would have been along the lines of:
“natural things rot over time, but plastics just sit there forever unless we do something with them.” I went to neighborhood public schools, so its not the result of special schooling.

In addition, throughout the 90s there were advancements in styrofoam subsitututes (like the packing penuts made out of cornstarch, they just dissolve in water) as well as plastics recycling (a lot of polarfleece fabric is made of recycled soda bottles) which kept the issue in the news quite a bit.

Hey it’s always possible to be out of the loop on some things while totally informed on other issues. Its really no big deal. But its been a pretty significant environmental issue for almost 30 years, and one easily communicated to children, so, yes it is suprising that this is the first you’ve heard.
[/QUOTE]

Hello Again,

It’s not that I didn’t know that plastics DON’T degrade. I know that plastics degrade slowly, but I wasn’t aware of the magnitude of the slowness. I had thought it was in the order of years to decades, but just learned that it’s in the order of thousands to millions of years.

I bet you that the “Average” person out there is NOT aware of this fact as several posters feel is “generally known”.

I polled 10 people where I work. These are people from all walks of life, including a receptionist, cleaning lady, 1 Master’s degree holder, 1 Bacholer’s degree holder, 1 Doctorate degree holder and everything in the middle. The question was “How long does plastic take to degrade?”. Most common response was “Oh I dunno, a long time maybe”. Only ONE person said “some plastics can take thousands of years to degrade”.
So people do not generally know this fact.

Any comments?

42

[QUOTE=deanc2000]
(based on a “generally known fact” that only 10% of people know).
[/QUOTE]

Just FYI, “ten people I work with” is not usually considered a statistically valid sample set.

43

[QUOTE=Miller]
It’s amazing because this has been common knowledge for over 20 years, it’s been the frequent subject of debate in the media, and resulted in an enormous and higly visible change in waste management in this country.

I take no position on your second question at this time.
[/QUOTE]

What’s common knowledge? Please refer to my informal poll from previous posts. Also, please give a cite that it is “common knowledge” that Plastic takes thousands to millions of years to degrade. I invite you to take an informal poll yourself. I bet you you’ll get answers like “oh a long time” and “30-40 years right?”. I only got one person out of 10 that correctly stated that Plastic took THOUSANDS TO MILLIONS of years to degrade. Now there is a difference between “a long time” which means the person is not sure how long it takes, and the specific amount. Most people DO NOT KNOW the specifics.
Thanks for reserving judgement on the second question.

44

[QUOTE=deanc2000]
So people do not generally know this fact.

Any comments?
[/QUOTE]

Welcome to the Straight Dope deanc2000. The posters on this board tend to be better informed than average and then post on a board with others that are better informed. Thus, the surprised that some expressed.

I have worked too many environmental festivals to be surprised. I think you are correct that many were not aware of the facts you only recently learned.

You might want to ease up a little however. You are now brimming with hostility in your posts.

Jim

45

[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen]
I was also surprised the OP hadn’t heard this before!
[/QUOTE]

Again, please refer to my informal poll from previous posts. I AM aware that plastics to a long time to degrade. What I was not aware of was the magnitude of time, that’s all, and I don’t think most people are aware of this either, despite your assumption that this is “common knowledge”.

In the light of this new knowledge, I was just wondering why there has been little concern about fixing this problem, as from my vantage point it gets BIGGER and BIGGER with each passing day.

In the last 2 cities that I have lived in there was NO recycling program whatsoever established, which I think is alarming.

46

[QUOTE=deanc2000]
What’s common knowledge? Please refer to my informal poll from previous posts. Also, please give a cite that it is “common knowledge” that Plastic takes thousands to millions of years to degrade. I invite you to take an informal poll yourself. I bet you you’ll get answers like “oh a long time” and “30-40 years right?”. I only got one person out of 10 that correctly stated that Plastic took THOUSANDS TO MILLIONS of years to degrade. Now there is a difference between “a long time” which means the person is not sure how long it takes, and the specific amount. Most people DO NOT KNOW the specifics.
Thanks for reserving judgement on the second question.
[/QUOTE]

I know that this fact has been presented to me, in an educational format, at least once a year from first grade through my high school graduation. At college, I was routinely exposed to it through the actions of campus activists. I’ve seen numerous television new reports talking about the problems with plastics lack of biodegrability, particularly anytime the subject of recycling is discussed. I’ve seen it casually referenced in countless works of fiction, from novels, to movies, to TV shows, to Sunday comics. I’ve seen it on flyers posted on the doors to sandwich shops, supermarkets, hardware stores, 7-11s, bookstores, and so forth. Over the last three months at work, I’ve been presented with this particular fact literally dozens of times every day, as it happens to be part of a children’s video game I’m testing. The video game, incidentally, is based on a Disney/Pixar movie that’s being released this summer.

This is common knowledge, your office poll not withstanding.

47

TWEEEET!!

The whole discussion of whether deanc2000 should or should not have known a particular bit of information is irrelevant to the general thrust of this thread.

deanc2000, back off. You were not called stupid (although the question of the limits of your knowledge, not your intelligence, was raised). At any rate, the emotion expressed was surprise, not contempt, so just let it go.

Everyone else, let it go, as well.

If someone feels a desperate desire to continue that sidebar, take it to The BBQ Pit

[ /Moderating ]

48

Norman Mailer was a great enemy of plastics.