<story><title>Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says</title><url>https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/ocean-plastic-waste-probably-comes-ships-report-says-doc-1kv8e91</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>MichaelApproved</author><text>And here you are creating a &lt;i&gt;straw&lt;/i&gt; man argument.&lt;p&gt;Reducing straws won’t “save the planet” on its own. We will improve the planet by doing multiple things.&lt;p&gt;Reducing plastic use (less packaging, fewer straws, reusable shopping bags) all play a &lt;i&gt;role&lt;/i&gt; in a much bigger effort.</text></item><item><author>rantwasp</author><text>This is known. The number I have heard floated around is 45%. So, commercial fishing nets are a big problem when it comes to plastic in the oceans.&lt;p&gt;And here we are &amp;quot;saving the planet&amp;quot;, by reducing the plastic straw consumption:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.usatoday.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;anti-straw-movement-based-unverified-statistic-500-million-day&amp;#x2F;750563002&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.usatoday.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;anti-straw-mo...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;opinion&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2018-06-07&amp;#x2F;plastic-straws-aren-t-the-problem&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;opinion&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2018-06-07&amp;#x2F;plasti...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;19&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;plastic-straws-ban-fact-check-nyt.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;19&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;plastic-straws-b...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mental gymnastics at its best:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; “Whether it’s 500 million or 500 a day, we shouldn’t lose sight of the real issue: Straws should be disposed of properly and should never, ever be littered on land or in waterways,” she said.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ibeckermayer</author><text>Except that’s not improving the planet even a bit — chances are, every one of those straws being used in an American city would end up in a well run landfill and have minimal impact on the environment. It’s yet another example of knuckle dragging elites using state force to virtue signal. Meanwhile the real sources of the problem get ignored.</text></comment>
<story><title>Ocean plastic waste probably comes from ships, report says</title><url>https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/ocean-plastic-waste-probably-comes-ships-report-says-doc-1kv8e91</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>MichaelApproved</author><text>And here you are creating a &lt;i&gt;straw&lt;/i&gt; man argument.&lt;p&gt;Reducing straws won’t “save the planet” on its own. We will improve the planet by doing multiple things.&lt;p&gt;Reducing plastic use (less packaging, fewer straws, reusable shopping bags) all play a &lt;i&gt;role&lt;/i&gt; in a much bigger effort.</text></item><item><author>rantwasp</author><text>This is known. The number I have heard floated around is 45%. So, commercial fishing nets are a big problem when it comes to plastic in the oceans.&lt;p&gt;And here we are &amp;quot;saving the planet&amp;quot;, by reducing the plastic straw consumption:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.usatoday.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;anti-straw-movement-based-unverified-statistic-500-million-day&amp;#x2F;750563002&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.usatoday.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;anti-straw-mo...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;opinion&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2018-06-07&amp;#x2F;plastic-straws-aren-t-the-problem&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;opinion&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2018-06-07&amp;#x2F;plasti...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;19&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;plastic-straws-ban-fact-check-nyt.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;19&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;plastic-straws-b...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mental gymnastics at its best:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; “Whether it’s 500 million or 500 a day, we shouldn’t lose sight of the real issue: Straws should be disposed of properly and should never, ever be littered on land or in waterways,” she said.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rantwasp</author><text>is it a straw man though? i&amp;#x27;m not proposing anything, I was just providing some links and maybe hinting at the fact that if we want to reduce plastic in the oceans we should focus on the biggest sources of plastics.&lt;p&gt;if everyone stops using plastic straws tomorrow it will not matter and will not make an impact on how much plastic keeps accumulating.&lt;p&gt;here are a few more ideas for helping the planet: have fewer kids - this weird trick works, learn to love GMOs - this is the future, there is no way we can sustain the population growth we are experience with everyone eating organic, drive your car into the ground or until it&amp;#x27;s too expensive to repair it.</text></comment>