So I’m urging ALL green thumbs to stop using PVC hoops, nylon nettings, plastic watering cans, plastic hose nozzles, plastic mulch, plastic flat material as unwanted growth prevention, and especially plastic plant containers and bags of soil sold in plastic.
Humans have been on this planet for over 10,000 or more years, maybe hundreds of thousands. If we can’t garden and feed ourselves without plastic, that’s just depressing and it means we’ve completely lost the ability to feed ourselves without destroying the Planet that feeds us.
Come on, this should be doable. Where are all these seeds coming from? How can we naturally, without plastic provide ourselves with seeds from plants we grow? Let’s gigure this out and be the best damn plant growing humans our ancestors would truly be proud of.
Exactly the reason ive stopped eating seafood, esoecially the filter and bottom feeders. I can only wonder what other horrors land based animals have in them…
I’ve seen a lot of news about microplastics, but it’s always about how omnipresent they are, in nature, food, polar icecaps, marine trenches, in space ;). But it is always just implied that this must be bad. There’s almost never info about harms from microplastics other than speculation.
I can’t help thinking that it’s part of agit-prop to get people to be careful about plastic use, and to stop discarding it into the environment. I certainly approve of that goal, but I would question the approach. (In my country we’re brainwashed from cradle to grave not to discard rubbish, so few do, and I question that, too.)
Can anyone point to information about harms from microplastics?
With Scientific papers, ALWAYS keep in mind the meaning of the language used. “Statistically significant” for example, means the value exceeds margin of error. Also keep in mind research like this is not meant for the casual observer. (Clarification: It is not “hard to understand” by design, but by the nature of its target audience, which is other scientists in the same field)
Trouble is knowing what to search for (yay scientific language), the other huge issue is bullshit paywalls due to publishing rights.
One paper I could find on the quick is this one which looks at the growth rate of a certain algae type under various concentrations of micro plastic.
Another one that looks at one step up the food chain is this article.
There are. One problem a German paper I read talks about is the absence of control groups.
There is another problem, a human nature one: When we don’t know how bad things are going to get, we do not want to know right now.
With Scientific papers, ALWAYS keep in mind the meaning of the language used. “Statistically significant” for example, means the value exceeds margin of error. Also keep in mind research like this is not meant for the casual observer. (Clarification: It is not “hard to understand” by design, but by the nature of its target audience, which is other scientists in the same field)