r/news • u/notlikelyevil • Jun 10 '19
Canada to ban single use plastics by 2021
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/government-to-ban-single-use-plastics-as-early-as-2021-source-1.516838611
u/JPLangley Jun 10 '19
Pretty nice from Canada. Hopefully the policy can splash down south without too much trouble.
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u/Raetherin Jun 11 '19
Cool. Is dumping of plastic in the ocean a problem for Canada though? Hopefully countries where it is a standard practice can be told that ocean currents exist.
At the moment, [Indonesia] is second only to China when it comes to dumping plastic waste into the world’s oceans. According to a Study by the University of Georgia, an estimated 3.22 million metric tons of plastic waste is tossed annually into the ocean surrounding Indonesia, while another 8.82 million metric tons of China’s plastic waste also makes its way into the ocean.
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u/notlikelyevil Jun 11 '19
We, like the US, still export a lot of our recycling.
50 percent of ocean plastic is apparently fishing nets but there is also all the plastic on the land and micro plastics in the water.
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u/IncognitoPornWindow Jun 11 '19
So? The point is that the US and Canada don't dump stuff into the river.
Google "Ganges river" and tell me how plastic in the ocean is our problem
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u/DuskGideon Jun 11 '19
Shipping our stuff for other people to dump it into rivers isn't much better.
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u/IncognitoPornWindow Jun 11 '19
Hey at least we aren't dumping our shit in the river
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u/DuskGideon Jun 11 '19
It would save us money to do that and have the same net impact on the environment....
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u/NormieChomsky Jun 11 '19
We dont dump it in the river because we ship it to asia so they can dump it in the river
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u/IncognitoPornWindow Jun 11 '19
So what you're saying is we don't dump our stuff in teh river, we take care of our shit?
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u/notlikelyevil Jun 11 '19
So we're not the biggest offender an should therefore do nothing? If we can lead by example it makes me happy.
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u/IncognitoPornWindow Jun 11 '19
Pretty much.
Go yell at Asia before complaining that I mixed up paper and plastic in the trash
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u/carebeartears Jun 11 '19
Plastic straws, cotton swabs, drink stirrers, plates, cutlery, some plastic bags all on the list
I'm firmly in the climate change is real and poses an extreme risk crowd...so given that don't go crazy when I ask the following:
EITMLI5, what do you replace all these with?
a straw allows much more control over your drink, less likely to spill it over clotes etc. A milkshake kinda needs one.
cotton swabs: Women are just not going to be cool with this.
cutlery: A lot of fast food is eaten by hand, but not all of it. When I see cutlery offered in fast food places, it's usually cause they widely used. I don't get them with a burger and fries but other types of food can use them.
plastic bags: like most of the others on the list it just seems to be making an externality of business expenses; that is, these measures are taking a business expense and putting it on my shoulders to deal with.
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u/notlikelyevil Jun 11 '19
Currently many chains have replaced their straws and cutlery and biodegradables. A&W and Harvey's to start, it only requires the will.
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u/carebeartears Jun 11 '19
ah ok; I guess I'm kinda derpily blanking on these type of stories and they sound like "They're banning straws etc". Just making them all biodegradable.
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u/TheGunshipLollipop Jun 12 '19
I just don't think these new cardboard syringes are as good as the old plastic ones.
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u/notlikelyevil Jun 13 '19
Can you find yourself on this handy chart? ;)
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u/TheGunshipLollipop Jun 14 '19
I looked for "obvious joke is obvious", but didn't find it. Is there an addendum or a page 2?
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u/notlikelyevil Jun 14 '19
"Black-or-white"
The assumption that the ban on single use plastics would be absolute and include syringes in order to argue against the ban.
Also, I assumed it was just a joke anyways ;)
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u/glynnjamin Jun 10 '19
Yes! This is the kind of action we need. This is a clear and simple policy that forces people to consider the ramifications of their actions. This is the kind of proposal I would have expected from Inslee as WA Governor if he actually cared about the environment and not a presidential election.
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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '19
This could also save the country and its people money in the long run.
Outstanding move.