Quote:
Originally Posted by MAXUM
Things that make you go HMMM....
Replacing plastic with paper means more trees will be cut down which is also bad for the environment so the environmentalists say, or have said.
Recycling can only recover so much as compared to demand so the net hit here is that more trees will need to be cut down to satisfy supply. Nobody ever mentions the environmental hit recycling takes... Recycling paper saves energy, reduces pollution, preserves trees and conserves landfill space, but it is a messy process that uses caustic chemicals and produces harmful byproducts and emissions.
In the grand scheme of things swapping over to plastic straws may "feel good" but the reality is what is it really doing other than feeling good about one's self. Answer is not much.
I wonder if the state of California cared so much about the environment why not go mental about the volume of plastic hypodermic needles that litter the urban areas there? Are they not both an environmental and biohazard problem? Guess not...
I'm all for doing stuff like this that makes sense... most of it does not. All this is doing is shifting the environment impact to a place where it's not seen and costs the consumer more.
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I am by no means an environmentalist however we do use way too much plastic, especially the shopping bags. Also I disagree about the caustic chemical used in recycling. More and more companies are shifting to non caustic natural products to recycle paper and at worst the caustic chemicals do not stay around in a landfill for the next century like the straws and shopping bags.