Isn't it odd with different types of plastic though? I had some old black bin liners in the garage and they literally started to fall apart - at first I thought I had mice and they were chewing them up to nest, but it wasn't and the bags just disintegrated.
And my sweat must be caustic - I use neoprene gloves in the garden - and after a couple of uses they fall apart as well as if my sweat dissolves them. Maybe I've discovered the answer to the plastic issue - my sweat? Nice.
And why do some plastics develop that awful oily surface, as if they were reverting to their origin?
Some bags are designed to do that but it's not much help for the environment - probably worse as they just degrade into smaller bits of plastic. Out of sight out of mind.
I had a plastic large tote bag that I got in a sale. I used only ever used it for storing medications, Salvon, plasters etc. It never left the towel cupboard after I bought it. I only ever lifted it out out occasionally to get some plasters etc, put it on the bed and put it back in the cupboard. Ten years later the whole thing was disintegrating. The exterior flaked away, crumbled and came off in my hand. As a kind of trial, I found it really shocking - that plastic should disintegrate with zero UV exposure and no 'wear and tear' apart from a small bit of the handles. It was really built to fall apart. Who designs something to be so rubbish?
@S@steveTu I guess plastics are just made of various types of polymers, with various strengths of bonding. A coke bottle might last 20 years in the ocean in tact, a shopping bag might disintegrate in a year outslde. But the micro particles don't disappear - they are just reduced to smaller parts - and get into our blood, rain, ice and microbial life. At least the battle ship is where we can see it.
I had some Christmas decorations wrapped in old carrier bags in the loft and found that the bags had turned to dust when I got them down last year. Biodegradable plastic is awful stuff and apparently it contaminates the recycling stream for normal plastic bags and makes that less effective. It's terrible to hear that oil companies are using their current record profits to invest in producing even more virgin plastics too.
Beachcombing is very eye opening for a lot of people. I've spoken to people while doing it and sometimes they haven't even noticed the large plastics let alone the small stuff. We've become a bit blind to litter I think. This video is quite interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FxfXVuHRjM
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Beachcombing is very eye opening for a lot of people.
I've done it all my life - in forests etc too - but it can ruin your experiences of beach, forests, etc. Sometimes it's all I notice in my local park and makes me seeth with fury. During Covid lockdowns it got to the point where many locals couldn't even go into the park because we either would be had up for GBH or would end up weeping. Or both. I have spent more than one beach holiday in a steaming rage (and throwing out my back). The same is true of the local dump. I start shouting with in five minutes and climbing into dumpsters.
It's a definitely skill to be able to 'tune in' and 'tune out' when you have to or it can become a bit obsessional and not healthy.
For some reason, plastic that washes up on beaches doesn't annoy me as much as freshly dumped litter. I actually enjoy collecting old plastic at the beach but anywhere else it drives me crazy. It looks like I'll be cleaning up the woods this weekend though and as the school holidays have started it will look just as bad a couple of days after I've done it.
I saw a Lego set recently that was based on two girls picking up litter. They had fixed cheerful smiles and barely a hint of looking like they'd enjoy stabbing the next person they see dropping a plastic bottle. It seemed like an odd playset for kids though.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
For some reason, plastic that washes up on beaches doesn't annoy me as much as freshly dumped litter. I actually enjoy collecting old plastic at the beach but anywhere else it drives me crazy.
@Fire me too. 😢 There was a little wood where I used to live, I'd been there alot as a kid and later moved back. My relaxing, nostalgic walks with my dog just ended up with me taking a load of bags out and litter picking every day. Makes my soul cry.
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There was a little wood where I used to live, I'd been there alot as a kid and later moved back. My relaxing, nostalgic walks with my dog just ended up with me taking a load of bags out and litter picking every day. Makes my soul cry.