I understand that plastics are bad for the environment but why are they so much worse then any other rocks and sand that are always present. If plastics can’t biodegrade why can’t they be considered as a somthing like sand after a certain point.
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When talking about really small particle size, it’s not completely clear that plastic is worse. What is clear is that we’ve been living around, eating, and breathing in small particles of rock since long before we were human. The concern is more about how contaminated our entire ecosystem is with plastic and the potential problems with that.
When it comes to larger pieces of plastic pollution, particularly in the ocean, the issue is more of the shape than the material. Floating pieces of net and plastic bags are worse than rocks sitting on the bottom. (Concrete has its own issues as other commenters have said.)
Haven‘t heard of dangerous cancer causing micro-rocks or micro-concrete ending up in our food or water yet.
Haven‘t heard of dangerous cancer causing micro-rocks or micro-concrete ending up in our food or water yet.
Concrete is very often recycled/reused these days. Whenever I see old factories getting demolished, one component is always the grinding up of the precast concrete slabs, leaving behind piles of concrete “pebbles” which are eventually trucked away. I am assuming it gets reused, otherwise, why go to the trouble?
Concrete is very often recycled/reused these days. Whenever I see old factories getting demolished, one component is always the grinding up of the precast concrete slabs, leaving behind piles of concrete “pebbles” which are eventually trucked away. I am assuming it gets reused, otherwise, why go to the trouble?
Concrete is very often recycled/reused these days. Whenever I see old factories getting demolished, one component is always the grinding up of the precast concrete slabs, leaving behind piles of concrete “pebbles” which are eventually trucked away. I am assuming it gets reused, otherwise, why go to the trouble?
The easiest answer is that you’re asking if the permanence of an object is the only factor if something is bad. It’s not. An “Artificial object” is usually created using chemicals which can leach into the environment during its time as “waste”. Naturally occurring substances like rock are subject to natural forces like erosion and the like making their addition to the environment more manageable. Now I should like to add, when humans finally stop abusing their environment and allow it to heal, natural forces and processes will break down and normalize everything, even plastic.
The easiest answer is that you’re asking if the permanence of an object is the only factor if something is bad. It’s not. An “Artificial object” is usually created using chemicals which can leach into the environment during its time as “waste”. Naturally occurring substances like rock are subject to natural forces like erosion and the like making their addition to the environment more manageable. Now I should like to add, when humans finally stop abusing their environment and allow it to heal, natural forces and processes will break down and normalize everything, even plastic.
The easiest answer is that you’re asking if the permanence of an object is the only factor if something is bad. It’s not. An “Artificial object” is usually created using chemicals which can leach into the environment during its time as “waste”. Naturally occurring substances like rock are subject to natural forces like erosion and the like making their addition to the environment more manageable. Now I should like to add, when humans finally stop abusing their environment and allow it to heal, natural forces and processes will break down and normalize everything, even plastic.
Concrete has problems, but the simple reason is that ultimately it is an aggregate of natural materials whereas plastic is synthetic.
Something that is persistent, synthetic and interacts with the biosphere is problematic because animals aren’t designed to deal with plastics in their body. Whether that’s endocrine system problems screwing up hormones or simply choking and clogging on plastic debris outright.
TLDR – animals know how to deal with rocks. They don’t know how to deal with entanglement in nylon rope or swallowing bottlecaps.
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