Viro campaign against plastic

[ewv 0]

Viros are coordinating a major campaign to ban the use of convenient, sanitary and cost effective plastic, illustrated here by a promotion of hysteria against plastic bags. Plastic bags are said to be "smothering habitat" as if the landscape were covered by plastic bags made from the evil petroleum . The politically correct legislative "resolution" mentioned in this article is part of an ongoing long term campaign for a legal ban -- coming to your neighborhood soon as part of the Anti-Industrial Revolution.

Sun Journal

Paper or plastic?

By Maggie Gill-Austern , Staff Writer

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Russell Allen sees them on his daily runs, pushed up against fences, waving from tree branches, weighted down with water on front lawns.

Plastic shopping bags - some of the millions said to be used in Maine every year.

"Every time I go running on Broad Street I see them in the trees, by people's lawns - they're so light they just blow away," he says.

Not only are the plastic bags an eyesore, says Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Dave Littel - they also kill local wildlife. "They have a very poor capture rate, for how many are actually brought back (and recycled)," Littel says. "(They) create hazards to rain and fresh water, and cover and smother native ... habitat."

Plastic bags - and plastic in general - is not just a problem in Maine. "In the oceans, we know, bits (of plastic) have accumulated as part of this big mass in the Pacific," Littel says. "We know plastic is being transported around the world. ... Plastic account(s) for more than 1 million bird deaths and 100,000 marine mammal and sea turtle deaths."...

Now Maine's getting in on the act. State Rep. Ted Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, sponsored a resolution, passed in late March, hoping to decrease the number of disposable plastic bags used in the state by half, in time for this year's Earth Day on April 22. The deadline might seem a tall order, but Koffman thinks it's possible.

"People want something they can do that makes a difference," he says. "Remember after 9/11 the president was quoted as saying how he wanted people to remain calm and go shopping? I think the public would have responded to something more demanding of them - more significant. ... I think the 21st century is going to be partly defined by climate change."

Oil, and the alternatives

...For one, says Koffman, they're made out of oil. "In a sense, it is a symbolic effort to recognize that our 21st-century society has to look for alternatives to petroleum-based products."...

Full article

[Tito 0]

European "Landfill Directive" pressure has caused the British government to threaten to legislate a ban.

As far as I know, the government have said "Stop using them, or we will make them illegal". Typical looters; they need our action to justify their own. They aren't getting it from me, they can prise the bags from my hands

[Stussy88 0]

European "Landfill Directive" pressure has caused the British government to threaten to legislate a ban.

As far as I know, the government have said "Stop using them, or we will make them illegal". Typical looters; they need our action to justify their own. They aren't getting it from me, they can prise the bags from my hands

Yep, there was even a nonsense campaign a while back in the UK to sell "bags for life" (i.e. scratchy hemp) with the logo "bag for life" emblazoned on them by the supermarkets. One or two attention seeking celebs allowed themselves to be photographed carrying them and all of a sudden, people were literally queueing up to spend the £5 these things were sold for.

The plastic bags were free.

I continued to use the plastic bags and was seriously condemned at this party I was attending. I asked the hostess if they had any napkins with "We don't buy The Banner" on them (from the boycott of Wynand's paper in The Fountainhead).

Sadly no-one got the reference, (except the ever charming Mrs Stussy88).

[Tito 0]

Those "Bags for Life" will be the only option in a year or so stussy88.

Of course, convenience will come first and we will switch to throwing away more dense and expensive bags!

Paper packages like they have in the USA are good for some things, but wouldn't be useful for the ritual-shopping people do in the UK.

[Zeus 0]

Viro?

[Tito 0]

Viro?

Enviromentalist

[egochick 0]

Plastic bags are one of the best things in the universe, next to duct tape and cable ties. Plastic bags are great for quick cleanups, little trash can bags, disposable gym bags, carrying almost anything anywhere, disposing dirty cat litter, etc.

I remember when I was a little kid we were brainwashed into "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". Isn't a cheap replacement for a market need that can be reused in infinitely many ways a wonderful thing? Trash bags are expensive compared to something you get every time you go to the grocery store as an embedded cost of your food? I'm sure there are thousands of other uses for freebie bags that, if not reused, can be recycled. Shouldn't greenies be dancing in the street about how wonderful cheap plastic bags are?

[PhilO 0]

Shouldn't greenies be dancing in the street about how wonderful cheap plastic bags are?

To quote environmentalism.com regarding the nature of the viros:

The bottom line: Environmentalists want you, and everyone else, to die. It's as simple as that.

Any other supposed goals are a means to that ultimate end; the destruction of industrial civilization around the world means the death of the vast majority of current humanity. They know this - you should too. Every single smaller goal of environmentalism is consistent with that ultimate goal; do not be deluded into thinking that environmentalism is about improving your life or any human life.

[Cometmaker 0]

Paper packages like they have in the USA are good for some things, but wouldn't be useful for the ritual-shopping people do in the UK.

Really? I thought origami megabags are all the rage.

I do not like garbage strewn and blown about, and would like daily removal by contracted convict labour to work in municipal grids during the two hours before sunrise, and at any time of day on oceanic grids. I would like gum and other detritus to be removed from sidewalks and roads in each pre-dawn grid sweep as well, but back to the anti-industrial revolution at hand, one doesn't get far when stating the obvious utility of plastics among those in favour of such legislation. My response to comments like the ones in the article, made in casual discourse while I'm working, is that polyethylene shopping bags make excellent combustible fuel, whereas lots of other garbage (biodegradable but do not actually decompose in landfills due to anaerobic environment) have lower BTU than polyethylene. I'm asked why that's relevant, to which I reply that many people in less developed nations can use our shopping bags for their outdoor "stoves" rather than spend hours a day looking for firewood, usually at their peril in one way or another.

Convict labour for plastic bag gathering and packaging for airdrops should be a modest expense with a profit for anyone who wants to spent their time on such a business; non-profits would be loyal customers. We can't deprive others of something we have in plenty; we just have to caution the polyethylene fuel users not to burn it in what few truly enclosed spaces they have, and not to mix it with methane gas fuels like manure - unless they believe death by way of pyrochemical explosion is desirable. It's also be a way to teach social entrepreneurship basics to convicts, important life skills that help them reintegrate into society.

This response on this topic has shut up everyone, brainwashed and viro virago alike, for the past 3 years or so. Funny, I thought I'd get at least one response aligned with carbon footprints or the evil of profiting from the poor. Maybe some are quietly contemplating my level of insanity, which is okay. As long as they are rational about the work, I can still work with them or for them.

[Stussy88 0]

Those "Bags for Life" will be the only option in a year or so stussy88.

Of course, convenience will come first and we will switch to throwing away more dense and expensive bags!

Paper packages like they have in the USA are good for some things, but wouldn't be useful for the ritual-shopping people do in the UK.

Yep, these things start off being encouraged and when they are ignored, after the propaganda has done its work, the mandatory stuff starts and mindless drones on phone in shows parrot the government line.

For example, do you recall Sharon Stone's mocking line in Basic Instinct ~ "What are you going to do, arrest me for smoking?" Of course today the answer would be "Yes"

[Zeus 0]

Viro?

Enviromentalist

Thanks, Tito! I've spent the last few decades living in a dark dank cave.

(Actually, I'm right next door to Osama. I blast heavy metal rock 'n' roll all night long -- just to piss him off! )

[Tito 0]

Viro?

Enviromentalist

Thanks, Tito! I've spent the last few decades living in a dark dank cave.

(Actually, I'm right next door to Osama. I blast heavy metal rock 'n' roll all night long -- just to piss him off! )

Did you notice the placement of italics too?

[Lady Brin 0]

I have a question to ask. I read in a press release from AT&T where the company announced that it will work with Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) to drive recycling and reduce e-waste through the next year with a goal of doubling the number of cell phones the charity recycles by next Earth Day. CPFS collects and recycles mobile phones and uses the proceeds to buy free phone cards for U.S. military members and their families.

If I get rid of old cell phones through the above program, would I be aiding the viros in their anti-life agenda when my intention is to assist U.S. military members and their families? I find this to be a moral dilemma.

[Arnold 0]

I have a question to ask. I read in a press release from AT&T where the company announced that it will work with Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) to drive recycling and reduce e-waste through the next year with a goal of doubling the number of cell phones the charity recycles by next Earth Day. CPFS collects and recycles mobile phones and uses the proceeds to buy free phone cards for U.S. military members and their families.

If I get rid of old cell phones through the above program, would I be aiding the viros in their anti-life agenda when my intention is to assist U.S. military members and their families? I find this to be a moral dilemma.

Sometimes it makes sense to recycle. I ask if man is being sacrificed to the environment, or if the environment being improved for man. It all depends on motives.

[RayK 0]

I have a question to ask. I read in a press release from AT&T where the company announced that it will work with Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) to drive recycling and reduce e-waste through the next year with a goal of doubling the number of cell phones the charity recycles by next Earth Day. CPFS collects and recycles mobile phones and uses the proceeds to buy free phone cards for U.S. military members and their families.

If I get rid of old cell phones through the above program, would I be aiding the viros in their anti-life agenda when my intention is to assist U.S. military members and their families? I find this to be a moral dilemma.

The viros have stolen the concept of being efficient and started calling it "going green." Every home, every car, every company that is attempting or achieving efficiency is now called "green." There is nothing wrong with being more efficient and only capitalism allows one to do just that.

Why do you not just send the military members phone cards yourself, or other types of goods and forget about supporting a "green" program?

[Lady Brin 0]

I have a question to ask. I read in a press release from AT&T where the company announced that it will work with Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) to drive recycling and reduce e-waste through the next year with a goal of doubling the number of cell phones the charity recycles by next Earth Day. CPFS collects and recycles mobile phones and uses the proceeds to buy free phone cards for U.S. military members and their families.

If I get rid of old cell phones through the above program, would I be aiding the viros in their anti-life agenda when my intention is to assist U.S. military members and their families? I find this to be a moral dilemma.

The viros have stolen the concept of being efficient and started calling it "going green." Every home, every car, every company that is attempting or achieving efficiency is now called "green." There is nothing wrong with being more efficient and only capitalism allows one to do just that.

Why do you not just send the military members phone cards yourself, or other types of goods and forget about supporting a "green" program?

I do, but I send them to someone I know in Iraq instead of allowing the Red Cross to distribute them. I don't trust the Red Cross. Thanks for your reply, you made a very good point. I'm so sick of this green crap. Even my college friend is obsessive about recycling. On my last visit, there was a piece of cardboard laying on the counter. When I inquired, it was the guide for the **correct** size to fold boxes. I asked, "You're gonna do that?" (She works 80 hours a week selling real estate). When her husband asked if I would, I replied, "Are you kidding, it's not my job." If looks could kill, I'd have cancer.

[Capitalist Man 0]

This issue has sort of hit me because a city about a 2hr drive from where I live banned them. I'm surprised, I really am. I really don't understand how it's this environmental epidemic.

From the article:

"Every time I go running on Broad Street I see them in the trees, by people's lawns - they're so light they just blow away," he says.

Is this really that big of a deal? Yeah, it's sort of an eye sore. So what? I see gum, cigarette butts, cans, bottles, McDonald's bags, etc. Are these the next on the ban list?

As egochick said, these plastic bags are so useful. I don't think I could function without them. I always have them in the house. I use them as little trash bags. If they ban them, I'll have to go buy some plastic bags.

[bborg 0]

Plastic account(s) for more than 1 million bird deaths and 100,000 marine mammal and sea turtle deaths."...

I realize this is a tangent, but am I really supposed to believe that they did autopsies on millions of birds and hundreds of thousands of marine mammals and sea turtles, finding that the deaths of 1 million of one and 100,000 of the other were caused by plastic?

How many times must viros prove that they are raving loons?

[Tito 0]

Oh no Bborg, you don't get it.

Statistics are infallible evidence before you can back them up.

A week in the UK will teach you that.

[ewv 0]

Plastic account(s) for more than 1 million bird deaths and 100,000 marine mammal and sea turtle deaths."...

I realize this is a tangent, but am I really supposed to believe that they did autopsies on millions of birds and hundreds of thousands of marine mammals and sea turtles, finding that the deaths of 1 million of one and 100,000 of the other were caused by plastic?

How many times must viros prove that they are raving loons?

Viros think that whatever they say is "science" because they say it. They have used all kinds of irrelevant factoids and speculation about birds to "justify" new laws and restrictions taking private property. All it takes is for some bird fanatic viro to appear in front of a Maine legislative hearing (and many elsewhere) and whatever he says is assumed with great deference to be "science", with the political burden of proof put on anyone who disagrees with either the "science" or the new legal impositions and controls. Never mind that the "experts" are viro ideologues representing pressure groups with an anti-private property political agenda. It is simply assumed that the claims of "science" from a viro take political and moral precedence over both logical burden of proof and the entire concept of individual rights. See for example this article and this recording of an Alice and Wonderland Natural Resources Committee legislative hearing. The chairman of the committe is a director of Audubon.