Plastic on the way out

[Jacob]

The plastic pollution issue seems to be gathering momentum.
Could be good news for woodworkers?
Time to think about all the things which could be made of wood instead?
Woodworkers save the planet?

 

[thetyreman]

except the money itself is made from plastic instead of paper, so you make wooden stuff for people and are rewarded back with plastic notes..who wins?

 

[sunnybob]

I'm up for a wooden power router body, or a few wooden water bottles.

The touch screen phone might go out of fashion though (hey, thats a GOOD thing!) (hammer)

 

[MikeG.]

I thought you might have been linking tothis article, Jacob. It's actually quite an interesting development.

 

[Jacob]

I thought you might have been linking tothis article, Jacob. It's actually quite an interesting development.

Dunno it seems a bit remote and presumably would have by-products or side effects of its own.
Time will tell, but time is pressing.
This looks like a starter to me
Hence the question - what else could be made from eco friendly materials , wood being the most obvious.

I'm old enough to remember the pre plastic era. When we were kids plastic as we now know it was non existent. There was Bakelite, cellophane, and a few rubbery compounds, but that was it.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

It seems the rate at which we're chopping trees down is already causing major problems in some parts of the world (hence CITES listing of many types of timber), so we may not save the planet by chopping them down even faster.

If plastic waste is causing pollution, the solution is to manage waste better, not ban plastic.

The best way forward for humanity and the planet is to use all available resources wisely, not ban the use of some and consequently run out of others.

 

[Jacob]

Chopping them down and replanting, of course.
As is done in many parts of the world concerned with sustainable timber production.
Can have less than zero carbon footprint as timber made products are a form of carbon sequestration.

 

[El Barto]

If plastic waste is causing pollution, the solution is to manage waste better, not ban plastic.

The best way forward for humanity and the planet is to use all available resources wisely, not ban the use of some and consequently run out of others.

That's an oversimplification though (although you do have a point, especially about managing waste). It's about banning single use plastics and those things that we really don't need, not a blanket ban on plastics. Have you tried doing a plastic free food shop? It's impossible! Ok not impossible but really unnecessarily difficult.

Unfortunately a huge part of the problem is people's attitudes towards waste, littering, recycling etc, although like Jacob said it's gathering momentum.

 

[heimlaga]

As I am into cayaking I have seen the amonts of plastic floating around and picked up something like 5 trailer loads of it in the last two summers.
Then there is the micro prastic which has altready been broken down and which I cannot see.

We need to do something radical!

In my oppinion wood will be a very good replacement for lots of plastic stuff. Stuff that indeed was made from wood only a few decades ago.
As I see it the main problem will be that current forestry practises are heavily geared towards pulp pruduction. As a part-owner together with my parents of 4 hectares of woodland I have noticed that pulpwood production has become a religion of sort. Every "expert" and every official in the whole country is eager to make us clearcut. When a large timber company is clearcutting they try to maximize the amount of pulpwood by turning every log that doesn't have ideal dimensions into pulpwood. Once clearcut uou are taught to replant and manage to new trees in such a way that they become fit for pulpwood and nothing else.
Most woodland owners litsten to the "experts" and manage their land according to the official recomendations so they can maximize the pulpwood output. Pulpwood for which the landowner is barely paid enough to cover the cost of logging it.
Then that pulp is largely used to print advertisement flyers and make unnecsessary packages. Stuff we just don't need.

With our little piece of woodland we go against the current. Trying to maximize the output of good quality sawlogs. The residue becomes firewood for our central heating boiler.

If more woodland was managed to maximize the output of sawlogs and if the timber trade changed to make better use of the logs I rekon there would be a sustainable supply of as much timber as we need to replace all plastic that can easily be replaced. At the cost of fewer advertisement flyers and fewer layers of packaging.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Chopping them down and replanting, of course.
As is done in many parts of the world concerned with sustainable timber production.
Can have less than zero carbon footprint as timber made products are a form of carbon sequestration.

A less than zero carbon footprint would make the problem worse. Plants need carbon dioxide to grow. Less carbon dioxide, slower growth rates.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Unfortunately a huge part of the problem is people's attitudes towards waste, littering, recycling etc, although like Jacob said it's gathering momentum.

Perhaps; but we're actually quite good at recycling in the UK compared to some nations. How many UK rivers do you see choked with plastic waste? If the plastic in the seas is not coming mainly from the UK, our banning the use of plasic for some purposes won't solve the problem of marine plastic. To do that, we need to identify the principal sources of the pollution, and tackle those.

This does rather have a whiff of tokenism about it. If the main cause of the problem is elsewhere, why must the (generally) quite responsible UK population be made to suffer?

 

[El Barto]

Unfortunately a huge part of the problem is people's attitudes towards waste, littering, recycling etc, although like Jacob said it's gathering momentum.

Perhaps; but we're actually quite good at recycling in the UK compared to some nations. How many UK rivers do you see choked with plastic waste? If the plastic in the seas is not coming mainly from the UK, our banning the use of plasic for some purposes won't solve the problem of marine plastic. To do that, we need to identify the principal sources of the pollution, and tackle those.

This does rather have a whiff of tokenism about it. If the main cause of the problem is elsewhere, why must the (generally) quite responsible UK population be made to suffer?

I think I'll have to disagree with you there. You are right though that while our rivers and coasts aren't choked with plastic, I do think the problem is worse than you think. I can't say I've seen a river choked full of plastic, not in any horrifying National Geographic way, but I can definitively say that I haven't seen a river for a long time without plastic in it in one form or another. It seems like each walk I go on I bring home plastic waste to put in the bin.

And our beaches are even worse. There was a point where I was surfing every day in North Devon about a year ago and without fail, every time in the water plastic would drift past me. I'd do a mini beach clean afterwards and have too much to carry after five minutes. It really is a terrible problem and I don't think settling for being good compared to some other nations is good enough.

 

[Beau]

Try the west coast of Skye for plastic on beeches. We camped in Glenbrittle and it was quite an eyeopener to see the amount of plastic out around the remote headlands there. Lot's of it was fishing related with nets, floats from pots and masses of polyprop rope. Plus lots of plastic bags and polystyrene which had blown up onto the land.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Well, if the beaches are choked with it but the rivers aren't, where is it coming from? Presumably not the UK.

Like I say, identify the source(s) and tackle it there. Inconveniencing the innocent won't solve anything.

 

[LancsRick]

Plastic isn't going anywhere, it's too easy to make and too versatile.

What needs to change is its usage where paper can do the job, and a greater use of thermosoftening plastics. Innovations like this enzyme clearly open up new avenues.

Fundamentally though the biggest problem with plastics isn't the material, it's the way the waste is managed. It's us.

 

[El Barto]

Well, if the beaches are choked with it but the rivers aren't, where is it coming from? Presumably not the UK.

Like I say, identify the source(s) and tackle it there. Inconveniencing the innocent won't solve anything.

I wanna point out that I'm 100% not a definitive source on the levels of plastic pollution in our rivers. Frankly a low level of pollution is still too much.

Also, I'd take the very minor inconvenience in doing away with plastic if it preserved the longevity of this planet for my daughter and future generations. "Inconveniencing the innocent" would most certainly help solve the problem. We're all in this together m8.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

If we stop the use of plastics for some applications in the UK - and bear in mind that the UK's waste management is generally pretty good compared to some - and the beaches are still covered in plastic waste brought by the tides and currents from elsewhere around the globe, how has that helped to solve the problem?

Is there a problem with maritime plastic pollution? Absolutely. Is the UK a major offender in the dumping of larger sized plastic waste to sea? Given the state of our rivers, I think the evidence for that is very thin indeed. Where is it coming from, then? We don't know - more research needed. When we do know, tackle the problem at source.

We also don't know the scale and nature of the environmental problem with regard to micro-beads and tiny particles of plastic. There is very little research done on that, but what there is suggest the problem may be one of some magnitude. Again, more research needed.

However - I stick by this. Token gestures are just that - gestures. Effective action needs a sound understanding of the problem, what's causing it, and where it's coming from.

 

[Jacob]

Chopping them down and replanting, of course.
As is done in many parts of the world concerned with sustainable timber production.
Can have less than zero carbon footprint as timber made products are a form of carbon sequestration.

A less than zero carbon footprint would make the problem worse. Plants need carbon dioxide to grow. Less carbon dioxide, slower growth rates.

There speaks a man who has zero understanding of climate change basics!

 

[Jacob]

Try the west coast of Skye for plastic on beeches. We camped in Glenbrittle and it was quite an eyeopener to see the amount of plastic out around the remote headlands there. Lot's of it was fishing related with nets, floats from pots and masses of polyprop rope. Plus lots of plastic bags and polystyrene which had blown up onto the land.

Yep. We walked along Camasunary bay just round the corner and there was tons of the stuff.
Have to admit - I got my sandwiches out of a Sainsburys plastic bag and the wind caught it and whipped it away until it disappeared out of sight inland. Guilt guilt!! but I'd just spent an hour dragging stuff up off the beach as there were signs of a collection point. It wasn't only on the surface but sticking up from under sand and stones - to get it out would need a JCB and a large team.

 

[Farmer Giles]

We try our hardest to be green and carbon neutral and minimise plastic use. The wife is into permaculture (sustainable agriculture without the use of pesticides etc.) and we recently planted about 500 trees and bushes.

Most of the bushes we mulched with left over sheep fleece from a friends weaving/fashion business however for the trees we bought some biodegradable mulch mats. They came wrapped in acres of plastic......... :roll: