I’ve been more and more conscious about microplastics. I was not aware that the laundry and dishwasher pods are just plastic which then goes into the water system.
What can be done to prevent microplastics?
I do my best to minimize micro plastics but also try not to worry about things I can’t control. That cat is already out of the bag, micro plastics are inescapable. The silver lining this study show that they aren’t that dangerous and its relatively easy for the body to get rid of them over the course of a month. While obviously its hard to say about long term toxicity it seems that life is at least generally resilient to it.
If I may add one personal anecdote. My parents were born in the 60s and 70s. They chain smoked cigarettes for many decades before their health finally caught up with them. Yet somehow they resisted the numerous toxins and carcinogens and tar they exposed themselves too every moment of the day. Maybe they are just really lucky but also maybe living things that got this far in the evolutionary tree already have expetience in biologically adapting to survive. Our cells aren’t such easy pushovers to die over any and every little changes in the environment or new chemical players introducing themselves in the game of life.
Yeah it’s a bit of a buzzword, there’s no real evidence yet that it’s a problem and a few areas we’d expect to see them already - plastic factory workers and similar seem to be no less healthy than counterparts in other industries for example.
It feels bad hearing micro plastic is found on ocean floors but really it’s just going to vanish under a layer of other creatures trash like shells and bones or the dirt drifting in the currents until it finally settles. We need to look after the planet but it’s worth remembering she’s a tough old egg.
What can be done to prevent microplastics?
You mean, apart from dismantling capitalism?
Yes, something realistic that can be actually done.
Then the answer is a definite absolutely nothing.
You don’t need to fix the entire problem to help mitigate it.
Mitigate it how, genius?
One obvious way would be to limit the amount of plastic you purchase, use, and dispose of.
So your solution is to place the burden of mitigating our ecological disasters on capitalism’s victims?
Yes. Capitalism’s victims far outnumber capitalism’s profiteers. At the same time, by spending less money in support of harmful capitalistic practices, it disincentivizes companies from selling them as much.
We can vote with our ballots and we can vote with our dollars. Between those moments, we can consume less, reuse more, and dispose of less.
So your solution is to do nothing and give in? Yet YOU are the one insulting the commenter you’re replying to? Lay off the superiority and fatalism, and maybe you will see a path to helping.
Will we solve all the world’s problems? Not even a little bit. But does that mean we shouldn’t even try? I would argue that we should absolutely do our best to mitigate any damage caused by anyone, because we all share the same earth. Of course I would also argue we should all abstain from insulting each other, so maybe my opinion doesn’t matter.
