Help me here because our future depends on it
This topic contains 28 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by 
Jody Lee 3 weeks, 1 day ago.
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August 23, 2019 at 12:07 am #27904
This is the week I discovered that our dependence on plastics is a worse problem than I even imagined.
Airborne plastic particles blanket remote mountains: study
Scientist warns we could be breathing in microplastic particles laden with chemicals
We need to stop using plastics pretty much entirely, and the reasons we must now go far beyond the fact that just about all of them are derived from petroleum. They are polluting our oceans, where much of our discarded plastic products end up when they don’t end up in landfills, which has its own environmental issues. Some don’t degrade at all or degrade far too slowly or release detrimental chemistry when they do. And now we find out that microscopic plastic is making it into our air and water.
The alternative to many plastic uses, especially packaging, seems to involve using wood-based products like paper and cardboard. However, we need to stop using trees, too, because the planet is on a one-way trip to deforestation. The problem there is that we need trees because trees eat carbon dioxide. Right now, huge tracts of the Amazon basin forest land are burning. How big is this forest? About the same size as the 48 contiguous U.S. states (the “lower 48”).
If we can’t use plastic or plant-based materials like paper and cardboard, help me here:
What’s left?
August 23, 2019 at 1:31 am #27905Hemp!
August 23, 2019 at 1:36 am #27906https://www.green-flower.com/articles/448/7-ways-hemp-plastic-could-change-the-world
I think we should start investing.
August 23, 2019 at 3:31 am #27907Hemp!
So the body of your laptop computer or cell phone will be made out of hemp? The tires on your car will be made out of of hemp? Hemp, like trees, eats carbon dioxide and breathes oxygen. If we plant it, we probably shouldn’t harvest it.
August 23, 2019 at 3:31 am #27908https://www.green-flower.com/articles/448/7-ways-hemp-plastic-could-change-the-world I think we should start investing.
If the world’s coming to an end, we might as well be high as a kite, right?
August 23, 2019 at 5:44 am #27909I hate to be the bearer of bad news… But it’s too late. And we have much bigger problems on our hands than plastics. I’m not downplaying it whatsoever. It is an absolutely enormous problem.
I am much more worried about ocean acidification. It is the beginning of the end of all life on earth. There are massive areas of the ocean right now about the size of Texas that have no oxygen. Trust me when I tell you… That is a much much bigger problem. All of the problems are big. We have essentially signed the dotted line on our own extension. It’s just a matter of time.
Have a nice day!
August 23, 2019 at 11:08 am #27910So the body of your laptop computer or cell phone will be made out of hemp? The tires on your car will be made out of of hemp?
Potentially, yes. Other countries are already using it to make car door panels and dashboards (was in the article I shared). Hemp and marijuana are technically not the same thing and the regrowing/harvesting in cycles would be beneficial.
If the world’s coming to an end, we might as well be high as a kite, right?
Hell yes! However, hemp has like <0.3% THC content…
August 23, 2019 at 11:15 am #27911August 23, 2019 at 1:22 pm #27912Plastics are made from petroleum. Hemp can provide a similar oils/alcohols and also fiber as a filler. Very clever. Guessing cost is prohibitive now but that would get better via economies of scale. There are many example of vegetable/petroleum duality…motor fuel (ethanol) made from corn…including going the wrong way; e.g. petroleum used to make clothing (polyester).
August 23, 2019 at 1:34 pm #27913Yes. As long as these big corp plastic producers are making money, the revolution of plastic will an ever slow one. The article I posted was from 2016. The amount of progressive change in the hemp/natural fiber industry could have been substantial (and I’m sure they’ve made SOME progress) However, as long as consumers keep consumin’…change ain’t gon’ come.
August 24, 2019 at 2:56 am #27926So the body of your laptop computer or cell phone will be made out of hemp? The tires on your car will be made out of of hemp? Potentially, yes. Other countries are already using it to make car door panels and dashboards (was in the article I shared). Hemp and marijuana are technically not the same thing and the regrowing/harvesting in cycles would be beneficial. If the world’s coming to an end, we might as well be high as a kite, right? Hell yes! However, hemp has like <0.3% THC content…
But, you see, the problem with harvesting hemp is the same as with cutting down trees. Both use photosynthesis to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and release oxygen as a by product. It’s still part of Plan B when we need a Plan C.
August 24, 2019 at 12:10 pm #27929But, you see, the problem with harvesting hemp is the same as with cutting down trees.
Much of the time a farmer’s fields are green. It is a renewable source that will degrade when disposed of. That versus mining/drilling and pumping petroleum and then manufacturing products that persist for future generations to deal with.
August 24, 2019 at 1:29 pm #27930Also, let me do further research before making a claim, but I THINK hemp absorbs an unusually high amount carbon into its fibers where it remains.
I’m telling you, it’s good stuff.
August 24, 2019 at 2:17 pm #27931[PopeBeanie here, deletion & edit: Some posts deleted, thank you Jody, and Simon! I’ll delete THIS post too, eventually.]
August 24, 2019 at 2:36 pm #27933If you give us the exact name of it, we can Google it.
Alternatively, what I do is to upload something to DropBox and then provide the link.
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