A new durable, biodegradable plastic breaks down in seawater, offering a potential solution to microplastic pollution. This material, based on supramolecular structures, can be tailored for different uses and is fully recyclable, enhancing its environmental benefits. New Sustainable Plastic Res
  • Orbituary@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    12 days ago

    How do you infer me wanting utopia from this?

    The point is that because the plastics dissolve, it may just give license to people to continue dumping into the ocean because now it’s out of sight and out of mind. Rinse, lather, repeat a few trillion times and now we have yet another chemical problem causing some unforseen thing.

    Look, dude, I get it. All of this is exhausting. But so is dealing with humans who refuse to spend 30 seconds asking themselves what the consequences of a thing are. The headline is eye-catching, but what does it mean for us in 20 years if this were widely adopted. Would it be OK or would it cause new issues? It’s also misleading: “Goodbye Microplastics?” It’s not like everything will suddenly disappear or there will be 100% global adoption of this technology.

    • iii@mander.xyzEnglish
      2·
      12 days ago

      I think we have a different approach to the same problem

      All of this is exhausting. But so is dealing with humans who refuse to spend 30 seconds asking themselves what the consequences of a thing are

      From my point of view: that’s going to remain. Any animal does so, human not excluded. Human’s can’t even stop war, something 99% of the population agree is a bad idea.

      The headline is eye-catching, but what does it mean for us in 20 years if this were widely adopted.

      Will it even be widely adopted? Chance is small. If it is widely adopted, are the consequences better than the status quo? Hopefully yes? I haven’t investigated the manufacturing process to detail.