this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
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I don't entirely disagree about there being a profit motive, because there is always a profit motive, but I would also like to point out that there is a very real and mostly ignored group of people, who the single use bendy straw was invented for, that not only need but depend on single use plastic straws to live (and no, the alternatives aren't good enough source), so there is a legitimate and important use for them, that anyone might end up relying on.
And also that plastic straws were never actually a problem, they consist of 0.003% of plastics in the ocean, and their banning only took off because there was a sad photo of a cute turtle and it require zero effort from those who don't actually need them to get that feel good "I'm helping!" boost, even though they weren't helping at all (and actively hurting disabled people).
The perfect illustration of this is the fact that in comparison, garbage from fishing makes up a whopping 46% of the plastic in the ocean, and there are many, horrible rather than cute-sad, photos of turtles in nets, yet doing anything about that, like stopping eating sea food, is something most people will adamantly refuse to even talk about, let alone do.
It's "fuck you got mine" at its finest.
I hear you, but we could use hemp plastic for that our disabled friends and family, couldn't we?
I also hear you that it was escalated beyond what it should be, but at the same time, every little helps.
As for fishing position, they should go back to hemp nets.
You're missing the point.
You don't solve systemic problems with individual solutions.
It not only doesn't work, but is actively counterproductive - while people are busy policing others' use of plastic or water or individual brands or whatever, and then patting themselves on the back for "saving the planet" by taking actions that have the impact of a drop in a thousand oceans, the corporations and the people behind them continue to rip us all off and destroy the planet in ways that we could absolutely never impact with individual choices.
Stop suggesting hemp, start suggesting abolishing capitalism. Anything else is enabling the status quo.
But what i'm trying to get accross is that it's not about turtles in the ocean, it's about having trash in the forest i very much visit myself. It directly affects ourselves!
It's extremely disingenous to say that this is just some virtue-signaling issue, that's just straight up false.