Plastic recycling

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ggunn

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

This thread has been split from a thread in the Cozumel forum No More Plastic Grocery Bags where members discussed a decision by some local grocery stores to no longer provide plastic bags to customers. What follows is not specific to Cozumel but may be of interest to other members. Marg, SB Senior Moderators.


What's interesting is the single use bags are banned in grocery stores, they are still available at the Home Depot checkout, no charge.


"On November 8, 2016, California voters approved Proposition 67, the statewide Single-Use Carryout Bag Ban.

As a result, SB 270 is in effect and most grocery stores, retail stores with a pharmacy, convenience stores, food marts, and liquor stores will no longer be able to provide single-use plastic carryout bags to their customers. Instead, these stores may provide a reusable grocery bag or recycled paper bag to a customer at the point of sale at a charge of at least 10 cents. Manycities and counties have bag ordinances in place. Some of these jurisdictions’ ordinances will not be subject to this new law, depending on whether they meet certain preemption requirements. Consult your local governmental entity for more information."



Bob
We had the Bag Ban law here in Austin for a couple of years, but then the state legislature passed a law prohibiting Texas cities from banning the bags. I was upset by the inconvenience of bringing my own bags when the Austin law was first passed, but now I have a supply of them in the trunk of my car. Even though I don't have to any more, I still bring my own reusable bags to the store.
 
but then the state legislature passed a law prohibiting Texas cities from banning the bags.
So wrong for the state to preempt the locals from passing their own laws. Our current Governor just vetoed such a bill directed at prohibiting locals from passing laws in regards to plastic straws.
 
So wrong for the state to preempt the locals from passing their own laws. Our current Governor just vetoed such a bill directed at prohibiting locals from passing laws in regards to plastic straws.

Hey "local control" is a flexible thing and ends where the control ends.

Plastics recycling is little more than a "feel good" exercise. It all ends up in a landfill or the ocean.

That's a rather dramatic statement. When you say "all" do you really mean 100% or are you just using hyperbole?
 
So wrong for the state to preempt the locals from passing their own laws. Our current Governor just vetoed such a bill directed at prohibiting locals from passing laws in regards to plastic straws.
It's really not. Austin's mostly corrupt and idiotic city council pushed through a proposition in 2016 banning Lyft/Uber, mostly due to the very loud and generous taxi union here. They did it in the slimiest way possible, making the ballot language confusing and putting it out in the summer, when most UT students (and heavy Lyft/Uber users) had gone home.

The state had to step in afterwards to fix it so that no Texas city, no matter how stupid/corrupt their city council is, gets to pull that crap again.

If we didn't have the state ready to step in for things like this, the Austin city council would blow every tax dollar they could grab on ridiculous pet projects that their brain dead constituents would happily vote in (Oh yes, we need a massive billion dollar project for public gondolas!)
 
It's really not. Austin's mostly corrupt and idiotic city council pushed through a proposition in 2016 banning Lyft/Uber, mostly due to the very loud and generous taxi union here. They did it in the slimiest way possible, making the ballot language confusing and putting it out in the summer, when most UT students (and heavy Lyft/Uber users) had gone home.

The state had to step in afterwards to fix it so that no Texas city, no matter how stupid/corrupt their city council is, gets to pull that crap again.

If we didn't have the state ready to step in for things like this, the Austin city council would blow every tax dollar they could grab on ridiculous pet projects that their brain dead constituents would happily vote in (Oh yes, we need a massive billion dollar project for public gondolas!)

Can we apply the same thinking to "if we didn't have the Federal Government to step in for (fill in the blank), we'd have ridiculous pet projects that brain dead constituents would happily vote in?"

People love local control until they don't.
 
Sadly, I no longer find National Geographic an entirely credible source.
 
If I used the term "most" would that make you feel better? How about 91%?

A whopping 91% of plastic isn't recycled

Yes, it would be better to say "most" rather than "all," since that is indeed the case according to NG article you linked. Here is an excerpt from the article:

The new study, published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, is the first global analysis of all plastics ever made—and their fate. Of the 8.3 billion metric tons that has been produced, 6.3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste. Of that, only nine percent has been recycled. The vast majority—79 percent—is accumulating in landfills or sloughing off in the natural environment as litter. Meaning: at some point, much of it ends up in the oceans, the final sink.

Plastics recycling is little more than a "feel good" exercise. It all ends up in a landfill or the ocean.

Also from the article:

Gaining control of plastic waste is now such a large task that it calls for a comprehensive, global approach, Jambeck says, that involves rethinking plastic chemistry, product design, recycling strategies, and consumer use. The United States ranks behind Europe (30 percent) and China (25 percent) in recycling, the study found. Recycling in the U.S. has remained at nine percent since 2012.

While 91% of the world's plastic ends up in a landfill or the ocean, why is recycling a 'feel good' exercise? The 91% is referring to plastic that is not recycled. Shouldn't we be manufacturing less plastic and recycling more?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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