this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
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Science Memes

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submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 176 points 3 days ago (31 children)

I remember when I found out that shit was plastic. I always assumed they were organic material of some kind, like the body scrubs with the crushed up walnut shell in it (which probably has fucking microplastic in it, too). So disgusting.

This is why we need to change how shit works. It shouldn't go: company does some shit > fall out > government steps in. It should go: company has an idea > must get permission first from environmental agencies

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Plastic is an organic material, trees are mostly plastic (lignin, a phenolic polymer, cellulose a polysaccharide polymer, hemicellulose an heteropolysaccharide and suberin a polyester-like polymer).

The problem we're having is a naturalistic fallacy crossed with the unpleasant fact that almost everything we touch sheds dust and powder absolutely everywhere. This along with spores and yeast and other dusts constantly enter our bodies.

Plastic is only of note because we made it.

Any problems beyond that is speculative and will requires ginormous gobs of grant money to actually answer with anything than precautionary principle-based FUD.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Hydrocarbon based plastic absolutely isnt natural, there are many different kinds of plastic in existence but overwhelmingly stuff from the last 50 years has been the ~~inorganic hydrocarbon~~ non biodegradable hydrocarbon type which doesn't break down and is likely a endocrinologal distruptor & a carcinogen.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

inorganic hydrocarbon

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

Had just woken up my mistake! Hadn't gotten to the coffee yet xd.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

inorganic hydrocarbon

Hydrocarbons are, by definition, organic compounds made exclusively of carbon and hydrogen.

Do you know of any hydrocarbon that do not contain hydrogen nor carbon and that are relevant to this discussion ?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Care to not nitpick a slip of the mind (that's already been pointed out and corrected) literally just after I had woken up and address the actual point?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

current plastics not biodegradable is the same problem that trees had for 300 million years. I think it's a matter of time before some yeast evolves the ability to eat plastic. Then all plastic will start to mold and rot like all other organic matter.

as for being "endocrinologal distruptor & a carcinogen", yes so is a lot of other stuff, probably stuff in wood, again, like turpentine

We're not going to ban all plastics until some company has a proprietary alternative that they can force us to buy by making all other products illegal to produce. But that new alternative doesn't exist yet.

My advice, don't eat electrical junction boxes

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Ty for the response. I do agree we will likely wind up with some sort of plastic eating organism at some point, problem is how many centuries will that take. Might be a opportunity to apply gene editing at some point in the medium term future.

Fair point on turps but turps and other compounds from wood dont tend to linger in the enviroment for as long as plastic does currently.

Unfortunately any solutions will be taken by porkies and as you say regulatory captured into making our lives more expensive rather than for the betterment of humanity, should be govt ran labs looking into this sort of stuff not corpos with dollar signs in their eyes. Having saidthat some early stage alternatives such as a seaweed based biodegradable plastic could help hugely in the single use plastic department.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago

you get nitpiked because you are nitpiking a perfectly formulated argument

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