Plastic: Forgotten Savior of Elephants (and Convenient Scapegoat?)
Decatur Metro | March 20, 2011A great piece in the New York Times a couple days back points out that when looked at honestly, the environmental condemnation of plastic is far from as certain as many would have you believe.
Originally, plastic was hailed for its potential to reduce humankind’s heavy environmental footprint. The earliest plastics were invented as substitutes for dwindling supplies of natural materials like ivory or tortoiseshell. When the American John Wesley Hyatt patented celluloid in 1869, his company pledged that the new manmade material, used in jewelry, combs, buttons and other items, would bring “respite” to the elephant and tortoise because it would “no longer be necessary to ransack the earth in pursuit of substances which are constantly growing scarcer.”
As the article argues, the problem with plastic isn’t necessarily its specific impact on the environment. There are many great environmental benefits of plastic other than saving the lives of a few hundred thousand tortoises. For instance, lighter materials mean considerably better gas mileage for our vehicles. How do you weigh that against millions of plastic bags at the bottom of the ocean?
The real problem with plastic is the way we use it. Plastic is SO versatile, SO cheap – and thus SO convenient – that time-strapped first-worlders can’t help but use it and lose it.
Therefore, cutting plastics from our lives or banning it from our stores doesn’t seem like it will solve any of our larger problems. Even worse, it may make us feel like we’re doing something beneficial when we’re actually not doing anything.
Maybe that’s why the old mantra reads “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, not and “Replace, Reuse, Recycle”.
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Let’s urge local retailers to sell fewer products packaged in #5 – #7 plastics. And provide more recycling alternatives for these “disposables”. I live in a Dekalb Co condominum – no pickup service is available to us. YDFM accepts only #1 and #2.
I am beginning to understand that nothing is as certain as we want to believe. And it never has been. The more we so-called advance in our use of the environment, the more difficult become the fixes both to imagine and implement. That’s life, literally.
I’ve been trying to emphasize the “reduce” in my own life more and more. It seems like the only thing that truly will make an impact.
I think trying to use it less where it makes sense is the best course. I was so encouraged on Saturday when I saw a sign at Publix at Toco Hills that said Publix customers had saved 1 BILLION plastic & paper bags by using their own cloth bags. I just think it’s so wasteful to use plastic bags when you don’t need to considering where a lot of them end up (landfills, the ocean, litter in streets, etc.).
Does Hermetically sealing poopy diapers in Publix plastic bags count as reuse?
I sure hope so, No Surprise!
If I may be permitted a theological comment, our inability to “get it right” (doing one thing causes other problems) is what we in the church call “original sin.” It’s not something we inherit because our parents had sex. It’s our persistent self-focus that demands things we want and makes us self-righteous when we follow our preferred solutions to the problems caused by our demands.
Interesting. Is it still considered “original sin” if we don’t realize the effects of our actions due to a very complex industrial system?
This isn’t completely related, but the elephant issue reminded me, has anyone seen “Poop Paper” that is made from elepant dung? They make greeting cards, stationery. The idea is that in some areas of Africa, the elephant is a pest because it can destroy crops, leading some to kill the elephants. So, somebody has them make this paper (sanitized and doesn’t smell) and portion of proceeds go back to tribe. The elephants are now money makers and thus spared. Bought some of this but can’t remember name, but sure you could google it. Okay, back to the plastic….