"I understand about the POLLUTION in our oceans, but doesn't that mean POLLUTION is the problem, not PLASTIC?" No, plastic is the issue. It's causing the poisoning/pollution in our ocean.

You realize plastic is made from oil right?

The production of water bottles uses 17 million barrels of oil a year, and it takes three times the water to make the bottle as it does to fill it.

According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, Americans bought a total of 31.2 billion liters of water in 2006, sold in bottles ranging from the 8-ounce aquapods popular in school lunches to the multi-gallon bottles found in family refrigerators and office water coolers. Most of this water was sold in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, requiring nearly 900,000 tons of the plastic. PET is produced from fossil fuels – typically natural gas and petroleum

Its really bad for alot of animals especially that micro plastic that pretty much everyone has in their body.If you could get everyone in the world to stop littering plastic and clean it up it would be ok but that is not going to happen.

Listen to the Ashes Ashes podcast called “Life in Plastic.” Also, have you heard of a little thing called PCB?? That’s just one aspect of plastic that was discovered to be toxic, but don’t think it’s anywhere close to the last.

Or am I missing something?

Yes. Not all plastic can be recycled.

And even sadder still just because it CAN BE recycled doesnt mean it is. In fact that whole it can be recycled theory is what got the oceans in such peril. A trash swirl the size of TEXAS in every ocean now I read. I just saw a whale with 65lbs of trash inside its gut. How can anything survive much less flourish in conditions like that?

Plastics have amazing uses that we need them for, but all the little stupid crap needs to stop.

For sure but the abuse level is out of control!! I mean just the grocery bags ALONE are at 18 BILLION A YEAR..Seriously? You cant carry some shit or at least carry a canvas bag to the market? Like I also never understood why Trader Joes wraps nearly EVERYTHING in the produce department with plastic..WHY?!

My city just banned single use plastic bags entirely. It's a good start.

YES!! I love this!! Kudos to where ever you live though I am sure there were many that still felt it was "their right" and all that. Its amazing how easy it is to get a movement built on a slogan and not because its actually a dangerous path.

A lot of places are selling re-usable strong fabric bags as a substitute, and they're only 5 cents.

Another good idea is charging like a $1.00 per plastic bag...people would be getting the canvas bags in no time.

You wanna look into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the damage that its doing? If you dont, here is some stats: Estimates of size range from 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) (about the size of Texas) to more than 15,000,000 square kilometres (5,800,000 sq mi). And still getting bigger. Thats why people are freaking

Actually I agree with you, the plastic does nothing wrong if it's recycled through correct processes. What's wrong is the system and the people who do not recycle. I don't think your point was arguing whether it's good or bad to have plastic in our oceans or natural habitats, that is OBVIOUSLY bad for anyone with a mind to think. We all use and need plastic, it's a great material, but like usual humans are abusing the process and the system and creating destruction and blaming it on whatever product they use.

Educate people, stop giving into fear of everything.

I don't understand why this post has been placed on a conspiracy forum.

Who is the conspirator?

What is the conspiracy?

What's crazy is the amount of support against plastic instead of recycling policies and correct/nontoxic/recyclable plastic making.

$$$ Apathy

Better than a TD sounding board. Someone might learn something actually. But I do get your point.

Besides the damage to the Ocean ecosystem, the ubiquitous material is now found in everyone's bloodstream and that's a problem due to endocrine disruption, hormone mimicry wherein it feminizes and sometimes causes mutations possible fertility issues, cancer. There are hopeful developments with formulations that are less harmful and newly discovered bacteria which may break it down rather than release it in smaller and smaller particulates under the effects of abrasion and exposure to UV radiation. Recycling into building material and somehow encapsulating it would be an option. It can also be broken down, refined, into it's mostly petroleum based constituents.

Plastics cant really be recycled that much, they are not like glass

I know of 2 startups, one of which wants to recycle plastic into filament for 3d printers, the other wants to use plastic to create road surfaces and filler for potholes. So it can be, it's just that nobody has built a sustainable business out of doing so yet.

Want and do are not thing the same thing

Everyone goes off about recycling. What about the other R's?

Reuse?... Maybe.

Reduce?... Not a fucking chance!

The power is ours. If we stop purchasing stuff that is wrapped in more plastic than the object we are purchasing... Don't.

The bulk of people are appathetic as fuck. Give me. And give me it cheap.

Plastic is full of hormone-like substances, this interferes with our bodies in many negative ways and causes cancer, early puberty etc.

PE (2 & 4) and PP (5) are melt re-processable. The problem is, all the plastics need to be separated, which is riff cult because they have such similar appearances.

I saw a TED talk where a soon-to-be multimillionaire developed a method to rapidly separate trash into polymer catagories.

As I understand it, it’s in everything; we are consuming micro bits of plastic in our water and food bec it has polluted our whole planet.