The Myth of Plastic Recycling

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You consume (as in eat), on average, a credit card's worth of plastic every week. We all do, because plastic is everywhere. It's in our food, our water, the air that we breathe, it's in the top soil, it's in our pets, it's in our blood. The idea that plastic can be meaningfully recycled is a lie, and the industry has known it's a lie for 50 years. Where does it go? To landfills, waterways, and incinerators, before making its way back into our bodies in the form of microplastics.
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Sources
Our World in Data: Plastic Production
ourworldindata...
Critics call out plastics industry over "fraud of plastic recycling"
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The Fraud of Plastic Recycling
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Creating a throw-away culture: How companies ingrained plastics in modern life
www.npr.org/20...
Why most plastic can’t be recycled
www.dw.com/en/...
Only 5% of plastic in the U.S. is recyclable. What should you do with the rest?
www.wbur.org/h...
The Age of Plastic: From Parkesine to pollution
www.sciencemus...
Microplastics are in our bodies. Here’s why we don’t know the health risks
www.sciencenew...
Microplastics have been found in the human bloodstream
www.henryford....
Plastic ingestion by people could be equating to a credit card a week
www.newcastle....
Plastic junk? Researchers find tiny particles in men's testicles
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A first overview of textile fibers, including microplastics, in indoor and outdoor environments
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Plastic contamination in agricultural soils: a review
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Exposure of U.S. adults to microplastics from commonly-consumed proteins
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Micro- and nano-plastics in edible fruit and vegetables. The first diet risks assessment for the general population
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Uptake and Accumulation of Nano/Microplastics in Plants: A Critical Review
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Breathing Plastic: The Health Impacts of Invisible Plastics in the Air
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14 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 581

@ObscureDraws 2 месяца назад

Do you remember when they switched from paper grocery bags to plastic bags because plastic was more environmentally friendly?

@thejamnasium6447 2 месяца назад

everything they try and push on us as more environmentally friendly is bullshit. solar panels lying in fields unable to decompose and leaking their poisonous decay into the groundwater. acres upon acres of EV batteries again just sitting there slowly leaking lithium and cobalt into our drinking water. it is all, unequivocally, bullshit

@noleftturnunstoned 2 месяца назад

Save the trees! Do you remember when it was "reduce, reuse, recycle?" Often forgotten

@robloggia 2 месяца назад

I remember standing in line at a grocery store and the lady in front of me asked for paper. Ted Turner grabbed her by her ankles and dragged her out of the store. No one saw her ever again.

@christopherkelly4230 2 месяца назад

I remember when the environment was in trouble 20yrs ago back in school

@PlatinumAltaria 2 месяца назад

It's actually a matter of some debate whether paper or plastic is more environmentally friendly overall, however the MOST environmentally friendly option is and will always be REUSABLE BAGS. Single-use anything is bad.

@paulstables187 2 месяца назад

Ah a good old existential crisis on a Friday.

@AcuraAddicted 2 месяца назад

Don't worry, between when plastics became mass produced in the fifties and today (70 years) global life expectancy also grew 25 years and is 74 years currently.

@johnqpublic8109 2 месяца назад

@@AcuraAddictedlife expectancy is falling.

@PhilMccamley 2 месяца назад

Humanity devouring itself

@shtarpark7938 2 месяца назад

@@AcuraAddicted Now give us the life expectancy figures from the world in which plastics _didn't_ become mass produced.

@kevinmcqueenie7420 2 месяца назад

But at least rich companies made a pot of money, so, there’s that.

@seymourclearly 2 месяца назад

That's what its all about, money, and they can donate to politicians ensuring nothing will be done about this. The USA with 5% of the world's population produces 20% of the world's pollution and they don't look like improving with many of its population claiming there is no problem. Until USA and other 'advanced' countries get their act together any improvements in the rest of the world will make little difference.

@78deathface 2 месяца назад

Nothing in my life has black pilled me more than when I learned about the reality of plastic recycling

@dabritian 2 месяца назад

On the bright side, aluminum recycling not just works, but is far more efficient than mining & refining new aluminum, so we got that going for us at least.

@igttgit 2 месяца назад

@@dabritian After finding out about plastic my friend stopped recycling altogether, metal also. Aluminium recycling is the easiest win we have, a true 100% infinitely recyclable material where we can legitimately look forward to a future where we stop mining bauxite, but because of plastic its seen as the same scam. Its now an uphill battle to get people to do as simple as put Al cans in the correct bin, perhaps we don't deserve a future

@dungeonsanddobbers2683 2 месяца назад

Got into an argument years ago with a (former) friend, who was super into environmentalism, over the issue with recycling. She was super adamant that it wasn't a scam and that "putting things in the correct bin" was the most important thing ever, while my argument was that 1. plastic can only be recycled a finite amount of times and 2. The waste from the different bins all goes to the same tip (source was another friend who drove the bin lorries)

@MarkNiceyard 2 месяца назад

what does black pilled mean?

@Mazaroth 2 месяца назад

@@MarkNiceyard You've seen the movie "The Matrix" yes? In it, Morpheus offers Neo the blue and the red pill, symbolising a choice between reality and the Matrix, if he would've taken blue, he would've stayed in the simulation none the wiser about it, taking the red woke him up to the reality of the world, there's no "black pill" in the movie though, but we're getting there. Some people have equated the black pill to be an incel thing, because the term has been used quite a lot in those circles, but it means waking up to a reality that you can see no hope in and no amount of struggle could change anything (gee, i wonder why incels adopted this in their victimhood?). Now i'm not saying that the OP is an incel, i'm saying that "getting black pilled" can mean different things in different contexts, in this case realizing that plastic recycling is a greenwashing lie concocted up by corporations.

@SpychoMD 2 месяца назад

I've read that of 4800 tons of microplastic produced every years in my country, 3600 comes from tires and road markings slowly eroded away into the environment. the next big part is coming from construction materials or even some building paint. plastic are used for so many things, it is like every single object we can own is part of the problem.

@PODDEAD 2 месяца назад

A CREDIT CARD A WEEK?! that cant be right, what about the 3 credit cards I ate today alone

@TechGorilla1987 2 месяца назад

It's all in the - balance. I'll see myself out.

@thomaselvidge 2 месяца назад

I think there must be a one credit card limit coded into our genes preventing the other two from being absorbed. Just as God intended.

@Spudcore 2 месяца назад

Why do they have to make credit cards so damn DELICIOUS?

@x--. 2 месяца назад

Eating your way out of debt!

@CliffSedge-nu5fv 2 месяца назад

Long term average

@blujaebird 2 месяца назад

Delicious. Thank you Georg, I needed some more bleakness this morning.

@xtiphuny89 2 месяца назад

I appreciate that you can make these super informative videos with depressing but important news and still put in little goofs that make me chuckle almost every single time. You are a global treasure, sir. I thank you 🙏

@WelfareChrist 2 месяца назад

The line about us consuming a credit card of plastic is actually from a paper that says we consume “up to” a credit card worth of plastic a week. A credit card is about 5 grams and we consume between 0.1 to 5 grams of plastic a week, which is a very different claim. It’s from a study published by the Journal of Hazardous Materials, should be easy to find online.

@RetroBacon1 2 месяца назад

Doesn’t change how horrifying this is

@Flumpadorus 2 месяца назад

Any amount of plastic is not good. At all.

@AROAH 2 месяца назад

The notion that I consume a measurable amount of plastic on a regular basis and there’s nothing I can do about it is appalling in and of itself

@Elbownian 2 месяца назад

I'm sure such a journal has a trillion papers on plastics, please cite the actual study to narrow it down for interested readers

@Flint-Dibble-the-Don 2 месяца назад

This comment has micro plastics in it.

@oldladyhater 2 месяца назад

"Here's some of the worst, most existentially terrifying news out there. Don't let it get you down, though!"

@HiNickCares 2 месяца назад

Why, life expectancy is risen over the last century.

@HiNickCares 2 месяца назад

@@саднакаце But it isn't.

@VersusArdua Месяц назад

@@HiNickCares yes, I love my plastic little life

@drunkvegangal8089 2 месяца назад

Fleece clothing made with recycled plastic bottles, etc. I bought a warm top to use when camping - come to find that each time recycled plastic bottle clothing is washed (by hand or machine), micro-plastic fibers are released into our waterways and earth.

@Ira__L 2 месяца назад

they are released even during wear, unfortunately.

@TheAustinWoolShow 2 месяца назад

This man just gave me some existential dread on my birthday. Thank you George.

@maghurt 2 месяца назад

Happy Birthday, :)

@robertr.5765 Месяц назад

No he didn't! He is just the messenger, that made you aware of your ignorance!!! If you feel existential dread, do something about it! Organize, spread the word. Come together with people and talk about what kind of world u want to die in, then change it accordingly. Because if u don't u are still changing the world, marching along to self-destruction. - It is as simple as that! I am not saying it is easy, it isn't, still, with every crisis people are apathetic about, it is going to be harder.

@bmaak 23 дня назад

Mais non... Just keep recycling...

@cycleistic1365 2 месяца назад

Thanks Georg! I only follow you because of this type of content and think on the same lines pretty much. "It's the consumers who decide, consumer is the king" - being as misinformed as we are, so no we don't. We consumers are marionettes of the markets, some less, some more, but we're all lead by the marketing by industry and commerce.

@GeorgRockallSchmidt 2 месяца назад

Couldn’t have said it better.

@Modicto 2 месяца назад

When I first learned about the little numbers in the triangle logo, I immediately realized this is a scam. Additional differences in chemical composition aside, the practical impossibility of separating these pieces of waste into their respective groups just makes the whole thing a non-starter, with today's applied technology at least.

@punkgift 2 месяца назад

They can detect the different types now by shining an infrared light through it apparently. That's why the supermarkets stopped using black plastic for food trays. The light can't get through it.

@MagickalDistruction 2 месяца назад

@@punkgift no thje black pplastic is less stavle and leaks into you body more and the FDA and other reglatory systems step in because it ussaly had a lot of BPA in it to stabilize. the difficulty with recycling was just the cherry on top. Dont use black plastic is really bad for the envoirment. Thin things also like your black computer and kurigs

@RetrocadePodcast Месяц назад

My curbside recycling program only recycles numbers 1 & 2, although I consistently see neighbors including all sorts of other plastics, including contaminated ones, leaving me to believe that nearly none of the plastic that is picked up is recycled locally, which really makes the whole effort seem hopeless.

@goldensloth7 2 месяца назад

ohhh i was so upset when i found out about this. i'd recycled assiduously since i was a kid. dissa-POINTING

@Novastar.SaberCombat 2 месяца назад

I understood that Kevin Sorbo reference, lol. 😂

@turtleanton6539 2 месяца назад

😊😊😊😅

@tropezando 2 месяца назад

This is why I try not to to-go buy drinks at places that won't let me use my own cup. That's one of the biggest sources of plastic waste in my home. Some coffee shop type places are okay, but some will make the drink in a plastic cup and pour it into mine, then toss the plastic cup, defeating the purpose. Gas stations always charge me for the largest size, even if I have a cup that is smaller, because my cup is insulated and looks bigger than it is. Fast food ignores me and gives me a plastic cup even if I go in because their policy is strict. I've been trying to switch to reusable bags as well, even though they get me harrassed for my receipt and the "loss prevention" guard rifles through my bags when I try to leave at every non-Aldi store. It would really help if businesses were less hostile to people trying to be environmentally friendly.

@HerrHoppenstedt 2 месяца назад

Well that sure is going to out a pin on the course we are on...

@bmaak 23 дня назад

Bravo! Keep up the good work! People at work make fun of me for wanting to green the office. Composting leftovers from meetings, bringing compostable cutlery and plates, etc.

@milliman4 2 месяца назад

This channel talks about such important things, why is this not getting a million views per episode!?

@MsDragonbal776 2 месяца назад

He's spoken about it before. I believe it's something to the effect of him being shadow banned by youtube

@eyeamstrongest 2 месяца назад

@@milliman4 the truth sucks and people have been conditioned to only want to hear positive, feel good things

@turtleanton6539 2 месяца назад

Thats exactly why

@HeretixAevum 2 месяца назад

Because almost every advertiser is implicated in some way

@words3147 2 месяца назад

RU-vid wants ticktock style short form content. Have for years. They don’t want people like him

@droopy_eyes 2 месяца назад

I remember when after soviet block fell, 1991-1995, almost all drinks and brands were sold in either glass bottles or plastic lined cartons. Gradually, the concept that plastic is safe, durable, modern, and standard for westerners and theirs "better" society compared to post-soviet region grew in. Now everything is labeled "remember to recycle". Huge plastic, mostly single use, wrappings or containers are labeled "be ECO! recycle", "reduce your carbon and plastic footprints!", "go green! recycle this plastic container!" -why is this mess still pushed on the consumer, when there's no alternative?

@andy86i 2 месяца назад

Single use plastics should be illegal. In 2020, I wondered through a field which had been plowed to get ready to build yet more houses on the greenbelt. I think there used to be a farmhouse there in the 1800s, because I kept finding pieces of glass bottles and other pottery. I knew they were from the 1800s because I was able to Google and identify what the bottles and items were. One fragment I discovered was part of a ceramic toothpaste container….. let that sink in.

@andersd8956 20 дней назад

Back in the day they used tooth powder (baking soda), not toothpaste.

@lab1156 2 месяца назад

Just a comment for the algorithm to keep Georg posting about interesting and important topics.

@ilyatsukanov8707 2 месяца назад

Plastics were virtually unknown in the USSR for single-use goods. For food mostly paper and glass were used - and you would get a bit of money back for returning the glass. Some people, particularly in the liberal intelligentsia, suggested we didn't have fancy plastic packaging because we were poor and backward, and some even collected the empty packaging from Western goods brought back from abroad (i.e. literally trash) on their shelves. Looking back at the absurdity of it all reminds me of the Indians who traded their land away for some beads.

@oriorb 29 дней назад

The bead thing is a myth made up by colonizers to denigrate the indigenous peoples they deported and massacred. It's based on a single, third-hand remark by a shipmate without any material basis or evidence beyond a vague, second-hand remark not directly observed by the author which was likely a misrepresentation or misunderstanding.

@csours 2 месяца назад

Here's the thing. Plastics ARE Miraculous! Here's the problem. Every Miracle is also a curse.

@Kittysuit 2 месяца назад

oh no

@marlonbryanmunoznunez3179 2 месяца назад

More like a monkey paw wish...

@prw56 2 месяца назад

That doesn't scan, need a different saying like "every yin has a yang" or "there's no free lunch", never heard anyone try to claim every "miracle" is a curse.

@Laotzu.Goldbug 2 месяца назад

@@prw56I think you're both saying the same thing, a version of "for every action there is a reaction". If we take "miracle" as a concept here to mean anything that violates the natural order, that allows you to get a certain result or a benefit without the usually required effort/resources/worthiness, that you can say it always creates a commensurate "curse", which is all of that downside reified that you have to pay at some point. More grounded terms, Plastics allow us to produce and consume so much at a much higher rate than we ever could have before and make a profusion of material goods, but the very fact that we can do that without the previous hardship or cost is it self causing us to destroy our own society. One follows the principle that everything that you don't earn in a metaphysical sense ultimately corrupts you, then every blessing, unless it is properly accounted for, results in a damning as well.

@prw56 2 месяца назад

@@Laotzu.Goldbug I know what he's trying to say, what I'm saying is the "saying" he's trying to make doesn't make sense b/c the word "miracle", at least anytime I've heard it used, doesn't have any negative consequences or implication. Usually when that is the intention some other word is used that does have those attachments. That's why I say it doesn't scan.

@megashillyshally 2 месяца назад

Fastest click of my life. I've legitimately wanted to know more about this for a while now but didn't really look into it. Great surprise getting a video about it from one of the most underrated YT creators. Cheers

@BrickGriff 2 месяца назад

A big reason why "at least right now it would be difficult to substitute other materials for medical devices and supplies" is due to the sunk cost of the current production process, not due to the inherent superiority of plastics over, say, polymers made of bamboo, hemp, seaweed, or fungus.

@oriorb 29 дней назад

Pretty much. Medical devices made to be disposable (e.g. literally anything made of PVC) aren't recycleable or decomposable. People act like different materials would somehow be incapable of mitigating risk of infection or IV transmissible disease, despite the fact the majority of our existing equipment is literally toxic and the improvements made in sterility were caused by awareness and safer designs as opposed to plastic materials.

@BrickGriff 29 дней назад

@@oriorb we can't make everything out of titanium but, in principle, it would be better than plastic in many cases

@marcusnolte7476 2 месяца назад

I really like the variety of topics you pick for your channel recently. And all of them are well researched and presented in your unique style. Thank you!

@awaggenspack 2 месяца назад

I'm grateful for your work and for the clarity of your writing. Your choice of stock footage can be so thoughtful, compelling, and sickeningly accurate. I know Adam Curtis had access to some amazing collections to draw from, and yours often rival his artful and obscure shots of lifeless mechanisms and industrial minutiae. (If only you could use music the same way, but of course youtube wouldn't have it.) Your incisiveness and the ease with which you seem to produce these things continues to grow, despite your *ahem* longevity and exhaustive pace. Thank you (all) and please don't burn out. Keep it up, and don't take any of us too seriously. Your Peter O'Toole impression is a bit rough. Blah blah blah.

@lefroy1 2 месяца назад

Always pissed me off seeing 'influencers' espousing the virtues of hydration whist constantly chugging on small, disposible bottles of water.

@CraftyF0X 2 месяца назад

"Always pissed me off seeing 'influencers' espousing..." anything really, with the sole aim to encourage more unecessary consumption, preferably pointless stuff that no one actually need.

@HeretixAevum 2 месяца назад

Big water can't just keep getting away with it!

@lewis4200 2 месяца назад

Georg: "You consume a credit card worth of plastic per week." Me: "Eh, surely it's more than that..." *Realise he means literally ingest* 😮

@adashofbitter 2 месяца назад

Lol I made the exact same mistake… I thought “oh! That’s pretty good!”

@chucklebutt4470 2 месяца назад

Yeah, it's pretty bad. We gotta start working on upping these numbers. My kids are told to try to get at least a credit card a day into their tummies.

@alexanderarden2152 2 месяца назад

THANK YOU! I've been trying to tell everyone and their dog about this, but most people thing I am some sort of conspiracy theorist! Recycling and the circular-economy are one of the biggest lies and one one of the biggest marketing scams of the modern era!

@Craxin01 2 месяца назад

Greed destroys everything.

@johnd8726 2 месяца назад

I used to surf, but the amount of plastics lapping up against me out on the water has soured my experience. Every time I swallow water, I'm not thinking of the fish spunk but the microplastics

@HerrHoppenstedt 2 месяца назад

Fish spunk is biological. Whatever that is worth...

@LuckyTheSaint Месяц назад

Boy this video wouldn’t pull the barrel from the roof of your mouth, but this is critical information that we all need to know and use to help save the future from being bleak

@RetrocadePodcast Месяц назад

The burden should be on the corporate entity that's profitng tremendously to fix this mess; it should not fall on the consumer/tax-payer.

@mikeallan7740 2 месяца назад

This is how Children of men is going to come true.

@bokunogentoo4420 2 месяца назад

It's already becoming true. When it comes to the birth rate, most of the world is either at replacement level or below it, in some cases like in east Asia it's far below replacement level. Obviously there are other factors causing it too, but lower food quality due to plastic as shown in this video does contribute somewhat.

@cloudycolacorp 2 месяца назад

You know what it is Theo? I just don't think about it

@Sarahopal 2 месяца назад

It'll probably be closer to "Idiocracy" at this rate

@TheGc13psj 2 месяца назад

Don't forget the microplastic pollution from tyres

@Novastar.SaberCombat 2 месяца назад

Apparently, that microdust is FAR worse than anything else. Which makes sense, since it's constantly getting aerosolized merely by people driving everywhere.

@TheGc13psj 2 месяца назад

@@Novastar.SaberCombat When you consider that most car noise we hear is the rubber being physically stripped from their tyres, it really puts the scale of it into perspective.

@Ira__L 2 месяца назад

now there are news about Asian American women having disproportionately high lung cancer rates. What if it's due to microplastics in the air and them being shorter on average than any other population group (except kids of course who haven't yet lived long enough to develope cancer because of it).

@MrIansmitchell 2 месяца назад

THE PRIMARY SOURCE

@tedarcher9120 2 месяца назад

@@Novastar.SaberCombat not really. Dust from tires is much bigger than nanoparticles from internal combustion engines

@AirLancer 2 месяца назад

Classic move. Shift the responsibility from the producer and from giant industrial users, to the individual end consumer.

@OneMoreRedNightmare 2 месяца назад

EVEN OUR DOGS HAVE MICROPLASTICS IN THEIR TESTICLES.

@HerrHoppenstedt 2 месяца назад

I wonder what sicko volunteered to test that...

@tttm99 2 месяца назад

Ehem... Might be a sore point for some dogs...

@OneMoreRedNightmare 2 месяца назад

@tttm99 by some you mean all. XD

@Guimhj 2 месяца назад

And that's why you start and better, so they don't have (plastic in their) balls

@dogbite341 2 месяца назад

My two bugbears, bastard plastic and bastard palm oil. Wish they'd find a bastard alternative for both.

@waterandafter 2 месяца назад

Corn-tainers

@ZappyOh 2 месяца назад

The alternative is eternal frugality.

@MichaelKelly-ts5ll 2 месяца назад

Why do people start with the cry for alternatives. When most products appear for the greed of money. Go simple and basic and work with the planet.

@waterandafter 2 месяца назад

@@ZappyOh Do people even reuse their Stanley mugs?

@sturmhalo 2 месяца назад

Glass and metal like the old days! Although my baking is a little sharp.

@jackoacko 2 месяца назад

It's a racket

@EvgeneXI 2 месяца назад

What isn’t these days. The modern world is, in many ways, utterly s**t.

@Decoffeee-ky4ch 2 месяца назад

**Looks at plastic warhammer collection….** my god, what have I done ……..

@alun7006 2 месяца назад

Bring back metal minis!

@htpkey 2 месяца назад

WH Collection? I think you meant "pile of shame".

@rjd-kh8et 2 месяца назад

As long as you don't throw it away, you're fine.

@frankrizzo7746 2 месяца назад

Dark elves?

@GeordiLaForgery 2 месяца назад

Inside some canned drinks is a thin type of plastic lining, and glass bottles with a metal lid sometimes has a bit of plastic underneath the lid.

@Ira__L 2 месяца назад

as far as I understood, all aluminum cans have plastic lining, because it supposdely protects the metal from being degraded by food. Canned fish, vegies, beer, everything. And milk cartons too, because carton wouldn't hold up otherwise. And foods containing fats make plastic release toxic additives much quicker because all of them are fat soluble. It's so grim, I have no words.

@GeordiLaForgery 2 месяца назад

@@Ira__L True yes and certainly grim.

@TheGuyWhoIsSitting 2 месяца назад

The other fun thing you learn about recycling is they send a lot of that stuff to other countries and it pollutes their water and their public spaces and otherwise. So much of this stuff if you actually take time to research it just makes you realize how much snake oil they’re selling to people and pointing it out makes you look crazy to them. Why, yes, companies do try to make them look benevolent to sell more products without you fully understanding the consequences of their actions. It’s called marketing and propaganda. I don’t say this because I have a solution or because I’m smarter than the average bear, but because I notice things; and that’s a problem for the people trying to sell you the snake oil. It’s like how Apple and other companies want to convince you that their products being unrepairable is better for security; but it just produces far more waste than if I could upgrade my device the way I see fit. Then they try to offer parts, price them ridiculously compared to the cost of buying a working used device, then blame you for noticing this.

@xtraflo 2 месяца назад

I lived in Missouri for a couple of years. They don't Recycle Plastic - they burn it for Fuel. It uses more energy to Recycle Plastic than to simply burn it as you would Petroleum. Missouri is simply a State that is simply honest...

@JohnDoe-np3zk 2 месяца назад

They hand out plastic bags for the supposed recycling and people abuse that weekly.

@ggoedert 2 месяца назад

Classic Georg, after talking about plastic apocalypse and nightmares: Don't let it get you down... 🙂Never change Georg, only the truth can help make the future a little better...

@robsands6656 2 месяца назад

So awesome how the government subsidizes the most powerful and rich industries.

@ArcanePath360 2 месяца назад

You missed the part where MacDonald's have bin lids which have 2 parts, one side says recycling, and lots of people have been showing that if you open the cupboard door under it, they both lead to the same single bin. Recycling is all optics and we are continually lied to. in the UK we were told our paper and card was being recycled, but it wasn't. It was being sold to the Chinese. Then one day the Chinese said "we have enough of it now, thanks" and suddenly we have all this paper and card that we couldn't get rid of. I remember the bins were overflowing outside our home and not being collected.

@NormalPersonCommenting 2 месяца назад

Supposedly, using intense heat and pressure, we can reconvert plastic into a form of crude oil. This process requires a lot of energy, so the development of a stronger nuclear energy program becomes necessitated.

@Lurkness 2 месяца назад

You posted a video and thus I was summoned.

@hummingpylon 2 месяца назад

"Why are we here? Plastic… asshole.” ― George Carlin

@bc-cu4on 2 месяца назад

Earth Plus Plastic, that's the new paradigm.

@ollie2111 2 месяца назад

Was also surprised to later find out that the "bags of milk" the school gave our elementary school as a kid were because "it takes up less space than the cartons and is more eco-friendly". Little plastic baggies more eco-friendly than similar size cartons? I mean, even if the cartons have issues that make them less recyclable, I'm pretty sure replacing it with a literal plastic bag is not the solution.

@htpkey 2 месяца назад

This is depressing, that heads of industries knew about the dangers of plastics for decades but they didn't care whatsoever. It made them super wealthy in the short term, they dont care about screwing humanity in the long term. They will never experience the damage that they've done, since they will be long gone by then. That is a harrowing thought, to intentionally cause harm for your own profit, but to never experience the effects of the harm yourself.

@WG55 2 месяца назад

Not mentioned, many microplastics in the environment are from the synthetic rubber in automobile tires wearing out.

@HeretixAevum 2 месяца назад

The Amish were correct sticking to the horse and buggy

@dadoVRC 2 месяца назад

To help people changing their view about single use plastic, thereìs the Precious Plastic Community, amongst others, transforming single use waste into beautiful durable products.

@dirtybanana3 2 месяца назад

listing to this on my plastic earbuds while shopping at the dollar store for ziplock bags. 150 of them. paid with my plastic card...

@SianaGearz 2 месяца назад

"Credit card of plastic every week" is actually a misrepresentation. You should go read the original study, the paper in 2000 Journal of Hazardous Materials by Kala Senathirajah et al, Estimation of the Mass of Microplastics Ingested... The study is methodologically pretty flimsy, so you can't put much stake in it outright, i can explain what's wrong with it in a separate comment, and comes up with an estimate with upper bound of 5.5g/week and lower bound of 0.1g/week. The researchers' best-effort highest-likelihood estimate overall is 0.7g/week, and i have reason to believe that this is an overestimation as well. When WWF was reporting on the study, they chose to word it as "a person might be ingesting up to 5g a week of microplastics", leaning right against the top-end estimate, which is... well technically true, but misleading, since when publications reported on the WWF report, the words "up to" magically disappear. And thus now people have it in their heads that they eat 5g of microplastics a week, for which there is ABSOLUTELY NO FOUNDATION.

@towardthewithin 2 месяца назад

You always make my day in the most sombre way whenever you upload.

@beefar0ni 2 месяца назад

I can't today Georg, Fridays are my blissfully ignorant day :(

@Checker222 2 месяца назад

Subscription: LAMINATED!!!

@GNARGNARHEAD 2 месяца назад

you see that movie Crimes of the Future, damn good filum

@jamesthompson8084 2 месяца назад

Thanks for addressing this. It's something I've known for a long time but everyone should talk about it

@driddy1 Месяц назад

🤯😭🤬 Thanks for sharing this powerful video. It's heartbreaking to see how the plastics industry is contributing to such serious harm, all in the name of profit. 😢

@asdf52708 2 месяца назад

Glass is such a superior material for a lot of applications, especially containers. Unfortunately here in the USA we cannot buy borosilicate pyrex anymore so everything is soda-lime glass and it shatters easily

@p.slezak8897 2 месяца назад

why the change? is it an EPA thing...OR???

@KnuckleHunkybuck 2 месяца назад

I got tested for microplastics in my bloodstream and the results came back very low, so my doctor prescribed me to eat the drone shown at 13:37. It's a bit difficult to chew, but it's actually surprisingly good with some creamy chipotle ranch.

@mattpotter6758 2 месяца назад

"Don't forget to laminate your subscription" HA! Genius!

@thomaswipf7986 2 месяца назад

Wishcycling. Many people burn natural gas or electric to heat water in order to wash plastic heading to the landfilll. These people often say it's the recycler's "fault."

@Kiyoone 2 месяца назад

Melted plastic + Sand = incredible durable brick for walking ways, sidewalks and even wall covering tiles. This material is being used in poor places.

@christophermiller3031 2 месяца назад

The most efficient recycling program I have ever seen is the 10 cents on alcoholic beverage containers here in Ontario... I used to keep enough bottles to get over 100$ back. (I understand this is mostly metal, glass) ... these days I'm too lazy and every 2 weeks on plastics recycling time... I have 2 bins, one of them for alcohol bottles that some local desperate person ALWAYS picks up. I admire their hustle and feel that I would probably use that strategy if/when I become homeless 😅

@Theonixco 2 месяца назад

The proliferation of plastics has gotten so bad that Glass, a product that can be easily recycled, became so inexpensive that it too was being dumped and not reused.

@williamlanger9229 2 месяца назад

they used to teach us the 3 Rs, recycle, reuse, and reduce. focus on the reuse and reduce parts. just buy less plastic.

@ikenosis8160 2 месяца назад

"Subscribe... Keep my chin up... And everything." Got it, Georg, Thanks. 👍🏼

@ImmortalThanos 2 месяца назад

Remember when we put things in recyclable glass bottles and jars? I 'member.

@nolanduarte 2 месяца назад

It takes energy to recycle it. Wether you want to or not

@tigerburn81 2 месяца назад

"it's terrible, but, whatcha gunna do?"

@euansmith3699 2 месяца назад

Whenever I am feeling down, I can rely on Georg to raise my spirits.

@jaybazza248 2 месяца назад

Anyone with Boomer parents who microwave defrosted plastic-wrapped foods knew all of this 20yrs ago Great vid Georg

@unduloid 2 месяца назад

Whatever happened to plastic-eating bacteria?

@PlatinumAltaria 2 месяца назад

Well they require pretty specific environments to grow, so it's not really a solution. Also putting a novel bacterium into the ecosystem of the entire planet might be a bad idea.

@mattd5240 2 месяца назад

Can't be any worse than what we're already doing. We could modify it to not affect us and survive in any kind of environment, if it doesn't already. @PlatinumAltaria

@AnotherPointOfView944 2 месяца назад

Fussy eaters. They dont eat all types.

@patanouketgersiflet9486 2 месяца назад

@@mattd5240 Can't be worse? Says who? Just think of invasive species going from one continent to the next, wreaking havoc, destroying whole ecosystems. These are just ordinary living species that accidentally have gone from their original place to someplace they do not originate from. Cute bunnies, ants, camels and foxes brought to another continent, can't be bad right? Ask Australia. Can't be worse? Says who?

@Johny40Se7en 2 месяца назад

The bacteria got fat and exploded, then undigested plastic just went everywhere again 😅😆🤣

@tobiasminar147 2 месяца назад

The solution is simple - not to produce plastic as much as possible. Sure, there will always be things where it will be used, like electronics or medical equipment, but I think that a lot of other things should be produced out of different materials (glass bottles, wooden furniture, natural clothes etc...). A year ago I started to buy only natural fibers clothes and I will continue to avoid plastics in anything (where it's possible of course).

@Badu692 2 месяца назад

This is scary as hell...

@polreamonn 2 месяца назад

By helping decrease sperm count, eventually leading to the demise of the human species, the problem will resolve itself.

@Halbared 2 месяца назад

Utterly depressing. The real ecological disaster, opposed to man-made climate twaddle.

@mmmuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiirrrrr 2 месяца назад

I remember when it came out that we were eating a credit card's worth of plastic a week. ..and then, wildly, nothing happened.

@s7robin105 2 месяца назад

Look forward to when Plastic creates the real life version of "The Children of Men"

@christopherneufelt8971 2 месяца назад

90% of plastics contains certain fluoride chemicals (as well as Bromium) so that they can resist UV and consequently not break up. These chemicals are endocrine disruptors and can cause sterilization; they are known for this property since 40s since some good guys wanted to enforce them during the Morgentau project; thankfully they enforced them to everyone, and I give them credit for showing their intentions, to the whole world. P.S. Yes, I don't sleep well at night. Children of Men is for me a reality the last 40 years.

@peterherring9 26 дней назад

Seeing a Temu ad immediately after this video splashed a nice spritz into the cocktail of mortal dread.

@drmantistoboggan2870 2 месяца назад

I start my week off right by eating an old credit card. just to get it out of the way

@neilwilson5785 2 месяца назад

USA plastics used to go to China. Before 2017 China realised that the industry made little money, but caused expensive healthcare costs for the workers in the 'recycling' factories. They stopped doing it. Some countries still allow this, but won't for long. No, I didn't type this on a TEMU keyboard, but it is still plastic.

@Dushmann_ 2 месяца назад

When they can't ship the problems elsewhere they'll start passing the cost onto us, the consumer, all while demonising those who dare question it - and most people will go along with it. After all, they don't want to be a "plastic denier" or whatever term they make up to describe people who don't want to pay corporations to "recycle" the plastic THEY made.

@MuckingMunt 2 месяца назад

As a seasoned doom scroller since the mid 90s; Georg is my kind of cynic... "laminate your subscription"

@patrickselden5747 2 месяца назад

We're fucked - might as well kick back and have a beer...

@mjdoombreed 2 месяца назад

You've heard of the Pleistocene Epoch. Now, welcome to the Plasticene! By "now" I mean, most of us were born into it and have very little power to change anything outside of our own households.

@CoffeeForAll 2 месяца назад

I’m sure that being made partially out of plastic will one day greatly benefit humanity.

@ross4814 2 месяца назад

Don't forget to type away a nice reply on your plastic keyboard, sitting on your plastic chair, or drinking from your plastic cup.

@anthonyruby2668 Месяц назад

Like how big stores like Target get SO busy that they just throw the recycle plastic bags in the compactor instead of processing them for recycling (cough) i was one (cough)

@kkupsky6321 2 месяца назад

You always bring the brightest up lifting stories. It’s the lava lamp. Gotta be.

@darkdeifan 2 месяца назад

5 seconds in and i’m like “but credit cards are so small? we use way more than that” until the ‘in our blood’ I had spent 15 second not understanding the comparison. “ooooooh, consume as in ‘eat’”

@ChrisParlett 2 месяца назад

Thanks Georg. Always a delight 😭

@concretestag5474 2 месяца назад

Thanks Georg. Really needed that extra push to want to end it

@angelmessenger8240 2 месяца назад

I remember reading about bacteria that can digest plastic. Research by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. Quote, The bacterium Rhodococcus ruber eats and actually digests plastic..