Should plastic be banned?

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  • Certain industries are completely reliant on plastics such as electrical and electronics and there are no suitable alternatives.

    Years ago I worked for a company in Brighton and next door was a recycling plant that separated the copper, steel and plastics used in supply cables so even then they were doing their part.

    Where plastic needs to be phased out is fashion and food. These are some of the worst offenders. Cardboard and cellophane (wood derived) are good alternatives for packaging.

    I noticed that my Sainsbury's have even eliminated the plastic bar code labels on peppers.

    One of the main environmental arguments going on with regards to plastic is the so called invisible plastic, ie fibres that come off clothes when they're washed which then ends up in our seas and rivers.

    Some people madly overwash their clothes. :rolleyes:

    History is much like an Endless Waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever.

    4312-gwban-gif

  • I don't know why. With the electricity prices sky high, perhaps they might reduce the times a bit.

    I'm almost old enough to remember when people could still go into some shops with empty jars and containers and fill them up and I see that's making a comback in some trials, so the food industry can do a lot here if it wants.

  • University London done an experiment many years ago from the rooftop of their building in London and measured the amount of micro fibre plastics in the air that we breath in. It's shocking how much we ingest both in the air and through the food packaging. My biggest gripe is with food packaging from the supermarkets and now we have them conning us with bigger packets than necessary with only half full contents. If those packets where sized appropriately to the contents how much plastic would that save.

    It's the food packaging industry that needs clamping down on. Not stealth plastic taxes on the consumer. I bought some rashers of Bacon from a traditional butchers in Devon and they wrapped them up in paper and where put in a paper bag like in the old days. Kept fresh in the fridge for lot longer like that too. It's a lot easier to recycle paper than it is plastic. Most plastics don't even get recycled. Soaps is another one. Why do we need liquid soaps in plastic pump bottles when a bar of soap like the old days is as good if not better. And lets get rid of the plastic milk containers and go back to using bottles. Let's reintroduce the Milkman. Make it illegal or something for supermarkets to undercut them. Actually why not ban the supermarkets from selling some products and allow the milkman to do all the dairy products. Even better....ban supermarkets altogether and go back to the traditianal high street grocers, butchers etc and bring back more market stalls. Make the high streets come alive again and get rid of all the bookies and pound stores.

    All plastic should be banned. It's a horrendous product and goes back as far as the likes of DuPont and Teflon based frying pans that turned out to be cancerous. The cancerous disease that the US is.

    Teflon’s Toxic Legacy: DuPont Knew for Decades It Was Contaminating Water Supplies
    By Sharon KellyAlmost two decades ago, Carla Bartlett, a then 41-year -old West Virginia secretary and mother of two, was first diagnosed with cancer—what her…
    www.ecowatch.com

    Fish used to be a healthy thing to eat but no more. They are full of plastic, not to mention the chemicals used in Scottish (aka Dutch) salmon fish farms. Fishing nets is another one that needs to be banned. They cause a huge amount of environmental damage and kill unnecessary species.

    The thing with plastic in Fleece type clothes is that it's not only cheap to produce but we have a major problem with Cotton and the amount of water required to make one pair of jeans and the chemicals used. Cotton is really environmentally unfriendly. We need to go back to using more wool products. Stacy Doolly done a good programme on the fashion industry and Cotton.

    Basically the majority of man made products are bad and designed for maximum production and maximum profits. We need to go back to only using natural products for everything in life but as usual money and profit rules.

  • Agree with Heero. Certain high end plastic products are irreplaceable with "natural" alternatives. I don't think people have thought about the things made of plastic that have saved things made from wood. Because if humans used wood and wood products as much as they need to use plastic, plantations of non-indigenous trees would end up replacing almost all of the Earth's natural forests and much of the green belt land. Wood should be used sparingly. Plastic lasts forever and if stable is a miracle product. Packaging doesn't need to be in plastic and shopping bags do not need to be made from plastic. Those that are should be fully recyclable. Many now are and uses have been found for the used ones. I saw the other day in SA they were resurfacing roads with a product made from recycled plastic.

    Norra is right about the microscopic and filament plastic. That should not be happening. Toothpaste manufactures were using tiny plastic beads to descale teeth a while ago. A disaster. Ended up in rivers and in everyone's innards.

    At the moment a lot of noise is being made by so-called greens but little is done to organise massive cleanups of the sea and beaches all over the world of plastic junk. There should be a global organisation with no political affiliations that can go into action on this. It is an urgent necessity and shouldn't be left to volunteers.

  • They should also ban those small plastic sachets that contain coffee and those little milk containers like the old UHT on British Rail. And on that note how about all those nespresso and tassimo etc and other coffee products. Single use disposable plastic coffee, milk and cream containers.

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