lettalk

world_beauty Bot , 1 month ago to random

NGC 1569: Heavy Elements from a Small Galaxy
Credits: UCSB, Caltech, U. Wisconsin, Johns Hopkins, CXC, #NASA
#nature #space #astrophotography

world_beauty Bot , 4 months ago to random

M42: Inside the Orion Nebula
Credits: R. Villaverde, Hubble Legacy Archive, #NASA
#nature #space #astrophotography

breadandcircuses , 4 months ago to random

A few days ago, we focused on the fraudulent scheme of plastic recycling. It does not work, it never has worked, and it never will.

The oil industry, which produces millions of tons of plastics every year and makes HUGE profits from it, has known all along that recycling doesn't do any good — yet they continue promoting the idea.

So should we just quit? That's the question asked by a new article at Salon.

"Plastic experts say recycling is a scam. Should we even do it anymore?"

---

Erica Cirino, communications manager at the Plastic Pollution Coalition, says, "Plastic recycling rates vary widely from region to region around the world. In the U.S., plastic recycling rates are currently below 6 percent."

Yet even those numbers are deceptive, Cirino warned, as they incorrectly imply that at least the plastic which does get 'recycled' is handled in ways that help the environment.

"Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter where or how you set out your plastic for recycling collection, whether at the end of your driveway, at your local recycling center, or in a municipal recycling bin: Most plastic items collected as recycling are not actually recycled," Cirino explained. "Surprisingly, plastic is not designed to be recycled — despite industries and governments telling the public that we should recycle plastic."

Instead the plastics that people think get 'recycled' are often instead shipped from the Global North to the Global South, with waste haulers often dumping and openly burning plastic without regard to environmental laws, Cirino explained. People who live near the sites where these things happen face a lifetime of health risks, to say nothing of living in a degraded environment.

Indeed, a compelling question arises from the fact that the crusade to recycle plastic is more corporate propaganda than true Earth-saving measure: Should we recycle plastic at all?

"No," Cirino told Salon. "Even if plastic recycling rates were higher, recycling alone could never come close to solving the serious and wide-ranging health, justice, socio-economic, and environmental crises caused by industries’ continued plastic production and plastic pollution, which go hand in hand." Cirino argued that, given how plastic production has grown exponentially and its pollution problems have likewise worsened, emphasizing recycling over meaningful solutions is at best irresponsible.

"It’s clear recycling is not enough to solve the plastic pollution crisis," Cirino concluded. "The fossil fuel industry, governments, and corporations really need to turn off the plastic tap. Ultimately, our world must decide what it values: money or life."

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FULL ARTICLE -- https://www.salon.com/2024/02/23/plastic-experts-say-recycling-is-a-scam-should-we-even-do-it-anymore/

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Pollution

susurros , 4 months ago to palestine group

"Desperate Palestinians rushing toward aid trucks to fetch food in central Gaza were forced to flee after Israeli troops opened fire on them amid the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the enclave.

"Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza City in the central part of the besieged enclave running to get food items delivered by the United Nations in boxes on the back of trucks as bullets are fired."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/19/israeli-soldiers-fire-at-palestinians-approaching-aid-trucks-in-gaza

@palestine #Palestine #Israel #Gaza

Krisss , 4 months ago to random Dutch

Photo by Wojciech Kumpicky
Source: Pexels

#photo #photography #cats #CatsOfMastodon

Krisss , 4 months ago to random Dutch

Photo by Jan van Bizar
Sourve: Pexels

#photo #photography #trees #flowers #nature

Krisss , 4 months ago to random Dutch

My Flowers Feadow with Daisies, Violets, etc
By Katia Ricci ©

#art #flowers #nature

Likewise , 4 months ago to bookstodon group

I have been sometimes way too attracted by my own villains because in a way they seem to hold the secret to the heart of the narrative.

• Peter Straub
  *A current read & my second by Peter Straub, & for the record, I really like villains, too. #books #fediverse #photography #wine @bookstodon

LALegault , 5 months ago to random

We’re all having lunch tomorrow together to discuss how we bring humanity back from the brink, and I would like to extend an invitation to you.

Tomorrow, February 1, 2024 at 12 p.m. EST

Global online rally to end complicity in genocide in #Gaza.

@PalestineNews

Register ➡️ https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c-IGX2UgRECzI6YP0EHrXw#/registration

GottaLaff , 5 months ago to random

Pro-#Trump network #OAN execs may have ‘engaged in criminal activities’ while promoting 2020 election lies, #Smartmatic alleges

“In the wake of the 2020 election, the president of the far-right network One America News sent a potentially explosive email to former Trump campaign lawyer #SidneyPowell, with a spreadsheet claiming to contain passwords of employees from the voting technology company Smartmatic” #legal

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/business/oan-smartmatic-election-lawsuit?cid=ios_app