Massive amounts of plastic....burn or ignore?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Joh.Ghurt

I can relate to this. I have enough embedded padding that I prefer laying on the teak-seats. The cushions on board are - just as you said - for the ladies on board.

That's what the 'throw cushions' below are for.. pass one up for the lady if she's an ornamental.. they'll never get wet from rain or spray, just ask her to take it with her when she heads for cover.

[BugzyCan]

The best way to get rid of plastic is to let the ultraviolet rays of the sun destroy it, so maybe collect it, run a string through it, and hang it up. It would then also act as a reminder to people to dispose of their waste correctly.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by BugzyCan

The best way to get rid of plastic is to let the ultraviolet rays of the sun destroy it, so maybe collect it, run a string through it, and hang it up. It would then also act as a reminder to people to dispose of their waste correctly.

That just releases tons of micro plastics as the big pieces degrade

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by BugzyCan

The best way to get rid of plastic is to let the ultraviolet rays of the sun destroy it, so maybe collect it, run a string through it, and hang it up. It would then also act as a reminder to people to dispose of their waste correctly.

Actually, that just makes it brittle and breaks it down into smaller pieces to become microplastic.

[wingssail]

I would rather collect the plastic and leave it on location in such a way that it does not spread itself again. Each of these islands/beaches are owned by somebody. Eventually, if there is a large concentrated collection of plastic, it will be collected and hauled off and either put in a land fill or (hopefully) safely burned. In any case it will be off the beach.

But a far more important action is for us all to collectively push hard to persuade countries to limit use of single use plastic. A second movement is to push hard for large taxes and fees to be levied on companies who create and profit from plastic. Cleaning a few pounds of plastic off a beach may make us feel good but it does little to save the oceans when tons of plastic are dumped into waterways each day.

We sailed 28 miles across a bay near a major metropolitan area in Asia where for the entire 28 miles there was never more than 48" between pieces of plastic and that includes not only on the surface but down into the depths. All of that plastic was flowing in a slow moving river of polluted water towards the open ocean.

This is where our efforts need to be concentrated.

[Narfi]

A cordless dewalt leaf blower and a few sections of stove pipe going into the bottom of a barrell burns hotter as well as stirs the lower portion that typically doesn't burn.

[Cheechako]

We need to make the makers responsible for their plastic. Tax them for the clean up. Ban single use plastic. It really erks me to go buy a widget that used to be in a bin of 10 at the hardware store, but now is in a couple layers of plastic for a mini item.
The whole thing is ridiculous.

According to recent publications the average person eats the equivalent of one credit card of plastic every week?
A dead whale on the beach recently had about 130 pounds of plastic in his stomach and gut.
Enough is enough. Everything is plastic. We don't need most of it.
I'll take a soda out of a glass bottle anyday, which is recyclable and creates jobs. beer istill available in glass bottles because people wont buy plastic bottled beer!

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Something modern and high tech, like glass bottles instead of plastic?

I like this idea, but have no idea on the economies, etc., i.e. mfg. costs. My guess is cost was the primary reason why mfgs. went from glass to plastic in the first place. Environmentally speaking, I'm assuming glass is pretty innocuous but not sure how long it takes to degrade. Gotta be better than plastic.

My understanding is that over 90% of the plastic refuse is coming from 6 or so mostly Asian nations, with China & Vietnam two of the major culprits. Can't see how it's realistic for "us" to impose taxes or try and regulate in such foreign countries.

Meanwhile, and back to the thread topic (sorry Sailorboy), there seems to be genuine debate over the best course of action when a cruiser encounters a beach littered with plastic. Burn, bury, put in a pile, bring back to the boat .... Not exactly fair, but I suppose it's ultimately a problem for the local authorities.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Exile

Meanwhile, and back to the thread topic (sorry Sailorboy), there seems to be genuine debate over the best course of action when a cruiser encounters a beach littered with plastic. Burn, bury, put in a pile, bring back to the boat .... Not exactly fair, but I suppose it's ultimately a problem for the local authorities.

Well herein the Bahamas the local authorities don't really care much. If it isn't in a tourist area there will be trash all over the place. On a lot of Cays the local authorities may as well be the cruisers as no one else ever goes to them. Every once in a while you come across a pile of trash, most probably collected by cruisers, waiting for next big blow to spread back around. I certainly aren't carrying a shovel that could dig a hole big enough, but i can make a fire pit!

[Exile]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Welljere in the Bahamas the local authorities dont really care much. If it isn't in a tourist area there will be trash all over the place. On a lot of Cays the local authorities may as well be the cruisers as no one else ever goes to them. Every once in a while you come across a pile of trash most probably collected by cruisers waiting for next big blow. I certainly aren't carrying a shovel that could dig a hole big enough, but i can make a fire pit!

Can't imagine many small, relatively poor island nations have the space and other resources for landfills, so I suspect most of the home-grown garbage is either burned or dumped out at sea. Mostly burned probably, with large amts. of plastic that inevitably comprise a big part of the pile.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Joh.Ghurt

That's a hard corundum love to ask all those green activists. Most of them first go full preacher mode until they realise the problem, them they shut up and walk away mumbling something that's not how it should be.

However I met one who really was into the science of recycling etc and gave me an actual reasoned answer. Burning the stuff might put some bad dioxins etc into the athmosphere, leaving the stuff will make microplastic out of it. Of these two options, burning is the lesser evil. If you do this often, you might try to achieve as high temperature as possible, as this reduces the toxic stuff. So better burn it in an old barrel with lot of venting in the bottom than in an open fire (which is the worst option).

For plastic coated metal, same, the ashes and remain can then go into the sea, where corrosion takes care of the metal and the rest. All the emissions this way are noticeable less noxious than leaving the plastic laying around. The CO2 can be totally discounted in this problem as marginal, that's for 17 year old girls to complain about in front of politicians.

This made sense to me and I live by this.

Recycling plastic (today at least) is a bitter joke and a lie that has been told to us by the plastics industry and lobbyists since day one.

Plastic is not recycled to any significant degree.

Its neither financially feasible, nor does it produce plastic of useable quality.

Pretty much the only plastics recycling that is done is window dressing.

Personally we are making efforts to reduce our use of single-use plastics. We're using (borosilicate) glass containers and silicone "zip loc" type bags (dishwasher safe!) for things like food storage. Tying to avoid plastic bags in particular as much as possible (e.g. grocery store bags).

[Be Free]

In Saipan we would find deserted beaches that required a long hike through the jungle and down the mountain to reach covered with plastic trash. Bottles, toys, and flip-flops were among the most plentiful items.


I'm not sure where they came from but the were certainly not local. We would pack out as much as we could carry each time and take it to the local landfill. It was supposedly to be recycled but I would not bet the farm on it.

[lonesoldier0408]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

We need to make the makers responsible for their plastic. Tax them for the clean up. Ban single use plastic. It really erks me to go buy a widget that used to be in a bin of 10 at the hardware store, but now is in a couple layers of plastic for a mini item.
The whole thing is ridiculous.

According to recent publications the average person eats the equivalent of one credit card of plastic every week?
A dead whale on the beach recently had about 130 pounds of plastic in his stomach and gut.
Enough is enough. Everything is plastic. We don't need most of it.
I'll take a soda out of a glass bottle anyday, which is recyclable and creates jobs. beer istill available in glass bottles because people wont buy plastic bottled beer!

I agree with the glass bottles but, taxing those producing these plastics or using them to package their merchandise won’t fly. The cost of business is passed on to the consumers. Taxes, license fees, permits, carbon off sets, are all revenue to the Government to continue to do business as usual. Boycotting gets results, but everyone on the planet is not enlightened.
This shipping costs of glass bottled products are similar to plastics but their is, “no free lunch.” Banning would criminalize it’s use but, Governments don’t follow the rules they impose on citizens. 🤷🏼*♂️

[HeinSdL]

Originally Posted by Exile

My understanding is that over 90% of the plastic refuse is coming from 6 or so mostly Asian nations, with China & Vietnam two of the major culprits. Can't see how it's realistic for "us" to impose taxes or try and regulate in such foreign countries.

Containers don't go back to China empty. They're filled with trash from the west to be recycled by some "approved, audited" outfit in one of these countries. Turns out our trash gets dumped unceremoniously there. So yes, it might be those countries that touch it last, but it's very much our rubbish.

Just avoid single use plastic altogether. But somehow actions by our little selves won't make any difference anyway so why change? Well if enough of us stop consuming plastic like we do it will make a difference. Or in any case, it will have to otherwise we're truly screwed.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by HeinSdL

Containers don't go back to China empty. They're filled with trash from the west to be recycled by some "approved, audited" outfit in one of these countries. Turns out our trash gets dumped unceremoniously there. So yes, it might be those countries that touch it last, but it's very much our rubbish.

Just avoid single use plastic altogether. But somehow actions by our little selves won't make any difference anyway so why change? Well if enough of us stop consuming plastic like we do it will make a difference. Or in any case, it will have to otherwise we're truly screwed.

That's really hard to do..
Light bulbs, wrapped in a plastic case (adult proof without scissors)
Individual tools and sets, wrapped in plastic case.
In fact just about everything is.
Hardware stores rarely carry loose screws etc any more, it's all prepacked in 10's, 25's or 50's..
In supermarkets I only buy loose fresh veg and not the pre packed but even then they want it in a clear plastic bag weighted and priced on their scales, meat I buy at the butchers counter and if I want mince I do the same picking a nice kilo of rump.. goes in a plastic bag.. but at least it not the hard plastic casings on the pre packed shelves.
Mission near impossible.