Does the Earth have a finite number of molecoles? if so, does stuff like trash and plastic take away from food and water on a molecular level?

Question

Is it true that once we die our atoms cycle through the system through decomposition? Are we are drinking dinosaur pee? Where do new atoms come from if we don’t have a finite number of building blocks? I feel like im confusing a bunch of different sciences but can someone please explain?

In: 6

Answer 1

Yes, while plastic and stuff that isn’t really biodegradable is made of a number of atoms that came from the earth, and the earth only has so much,

But they are not used from a giant pool as we use material.. all the material the earth will ever have are already formed, so using plastic won’t necessarily detract from our food unless the raw material of the plastic could instead be used to make food. (Not often the case)