[JustSomeGuy]

Originally Posted by Darield

I am amazed that Florida still allows the use of plastic bags in grocery stores. So many other states have banned it. We now have microplastics (very small plastic particles) in our agriculture soil, ocean and just about anywhere you can think of. There are so many studies that verify the dangers of plastics and I cringe every time I go to the grocery store and see 10-20-30 plastic bags per cart. Just one Publics said they can go through thousands of plastic bags in a day. Here is one link that talks about how serious this problem has gotten. It's our new DDT.How microplastics are infiltrating the food you eat . There are now studies beiing done of earthworms ingesting micro-plastics. ScienceDirect

May want to research current thoughts on DDT and forget the slogans and songs of the 1970's. Facts are DDT may have been one of the biggest mistakes to ban in the USA. It is less toxic than... wait for it. Caffeine, Tylenol, aspirin. DTT Lingers in blood - true, causes cancer - Nope, other bad stuff.... nope. Check science, not rumor or headlines. links below.

Biggest challenge for microplastics is testing. Most of the tools used are.... wait for it... plastic. EPA admits the goal is to figure out the best way to measure microplastics. (syringe, tubes, hoses, lids for glass jars, pens used by researchers, tables, chair etc....can contaminate research. Much is unknown so to say finding it is a crisis is slightly premature. We simply are just starting to find ways to measure it accurately..... Something to watch, yes. but like cyclamates, we may find out what we ban was better than what we permit now.... cyclamates are not as harmful as sucralose and the other sweeteners of the day - scroll down for chart showing risks of current sweeteners vs cyclamates... link below. feed what would be bath tubs full of something and you will find cancer and other reactions.. that was what led to cyclamate bans.... better if we had it today.

Reading and learning does not hurt....

ddt = How Poisonous is DDT? | American Council on Science and Health


cyclamates -
Health outcomes of non-nutritive sweeteners: analysis of the research landscape - PMC

(There is a pressing need to develop and standardize collection, extraction, quantification, and identification methods for micro/nanoplastics to improve reliability, consistency and comparability across studies.) Microplastics Research | US EPA

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

The problem with plastic bags is not just "a few grams of plastic". The problem is that the lightweight plastic bags get blown around into our local lakes and even the Gulf of Mexico - where they cause problems (even death) for birds, fish, and mammals.
.........Then they can decompose and create these micro-particles that NEVER decompose and are ending up messing up earthworms, which are very IMPORTANT to agriculture. Then they end up in carrots and other root crops and then into human beings - where they are producing un-researched problems.

Yikes! I'm surprised mankind has survived this long.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

I someone does NOT like paper bags, they should take cloth bags to the store.

I'm so glad Publix employees no longer ask, "paper or plastic". I like plastic bags and will continue using them. Just so glad my plasic bags do not wind up in landfills or oceans because Covanta takes care of that. I honestly don't care if plastics have another life through recycling. Burn the suckers.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

The average person riding in a boat - large or small is NOT going to give a flying, fickle finger of fate about whether a plastic store bag is SECURED or NOT. So, the wind blows it off into the ocean or lake. And that happens often enough to cause serious environmental degradation. A year or 2 ago people were volunteering to take their boat out into the Gulf to help clear an area about a mile wide of plastic and plastic bags had formed - due to some wind and tide and wave conditions.

So we agree---it's not THE BAG, it's THE PERSON

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Plasma burn plants may be capable of that, but around the globe, humans have micro-particles in their blood systems and they have had that for years. Scientists know that earthworm size has decreased in say the last decade, but they don't know WHY. Yet, they are very bothered because earthworms are ACTUALLY very, very important to AGRICULTURE.
......Incidentally, I turned on the car radio to NPR about 2 PM today and the subject was Global Warming (everyone here's favorite subject) and the statement was made that in the last 5 years that Midwest corn and wheat harvests were down 12% due to greater heat. And in the past years the US was located at the perfect latitude sweet-spot for agricultural production and human living. They said that in less than 20 years that perfect latitude will move northward with a center at about Chicago. And in about 100 years or less it may have moved northward to the border of Canada. The west has been burning and many people will move to the US northeast in the near future. Florida will NOT fare well in the future! If someone were interested, they could probably find that broadcast.

And how much were corn and wheat harvests down in the 1930's??????

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Steban

Take a look at the amount of packaging in your grocery cart before you bag your groceries. Rolls of paper towels are individually wrapped, then the individual rolls are wrapped in a group.

Most if your trash that you send to the curb is packaging. The packaging far outweighs the plastic bags.

I think, at this point, after reading post after post after post about how just about EVERYTHING we purchase in a grocery store is packed in plastic, we can all agree plastic is EVERYWHERE, not just in grocery stores.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

My psychosis is better than your psychosis !

No argument there

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

There's this chicken-wire or some such fence on the island of Bonaire, maybe 6' - 8' high, where locals hang things that wash in from the sea. Pretty eye-opening: I saw a few bags but lots of other stuff as well. Clothing. Children's toys. lots of plastic bottles and containers. Those plastic holders that six-packs of beer come in. Styrofoam. Those foam flotation "noodles". A hairpiece ("wig"?) A dilapidated fishing net. Couple of beach balls. Partially-filled plastic water bottles. A couple of things I can't mention here. What appeared to be a beach lounge chair. Lots of other stuff. It was eye-opening to say the least. According to a local I talked to the display changes regularly as new items wash up and old ones are disposed of.

Bags are negligible compared to the huge amounts of detritus tossed into the ocean down there.

Note to self.......paper condoms! That will work.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

LOL just like making drugs illegal stopped people from using drugs. Did it make drugs "less difficult to come by"? Don't be so naive.

My naivete is part of what makes me adorable. 🫠

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

This site explains the Covanta system. The website is excellent and is full of great information.........

Home | Covanta

Thanks. I will check it out. But, I suspect that there may be a bit of bias in the information. Like getting medical advice from the guys selling street drugs. Might over build the hype and hide any flaws.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

Thanks. I will check it out. But, I suspect that there may be a bit of bias in the information. Like getting medical advice from the guys selling street drugs. Might over build the hype and hide any flaws.

The Phoenix Open is the largest zero-waste sports event in the world. Everything is either re-used, recycled, re-purposed, composted, donated, or converted into energy. Waste Management is the company that handles it all.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

Not at all. I don’t take the cheese. This thread, you’d agree, has derailed no?

Can't derail if there are no tracks. Free form is more stylistic
Oh! Cheese is good! 😋

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

I’m actually tip toeing around getting banned on this forum for expanding on a topic that all of us have deep rooted opinions on. Not getting baited. Try Reddit!
Btw....some people just use them for range and target practice. Don’t use the broad brush analogy when you clearly don’t know and can’t speak for the masses...

Don't get banned. I and many others value your input. As for guns, I am exmilitary and a former gun owner, I know a bit about guns. If it is only target practice, a BB gun can serve. Just not the same thrill as a semiautomatic 9mm or 44mag.

[Randall55]

Originally Posted by Canada friends

I’m from Canada and we are eliminating plastic bags.. When I come to the Villages I’m so disappointed that stores especially Walmart continue to use plastic bags…Why is it that people can spend $400.00 at Costco who don’t offer bags and don’t have an issue…then go to Walmart and use 10 bags for a $50.00 order…Hello people don’t you see what these bags are doing to the environment…

????? Many many items at Costco are wrapped in plastic! Paper towels, toilet paper, baked goods, vegetables, meat, twin packs, etc. etc. Are we saving the environment by buying a BIGGER PLASTIC JUG of laundry detergent? Or shampoo? Ketchup? Mustard? My elderly eyes must be deceiving me. Each time I go to Costco, I see plastic everywhere. I guess I need to schedule an eye appointment.

[simplesimonsaid]

Ocean Dumping was New York's primary method for disposing of its waste until as recently as 1992. The waste was simply dumped it into the ocean. At one point, as much as 80% of New York's garbage ended up out at sea.

and someone is worried about a plastic bag in the gulf of mexico.