Guest essay By Steve Goreham April 22 was designated by the Earth Day Network as Earth Day 2018. This year’s Earth Day was dedicated to ending global plastic pollution. While efforts to reduce plastic pollution are needed, the campaign missed the mark by emphasizing measures to eliminate the use of plastics. Earth Day Network’s “Plastic […]
via Earth Day 2018 Was About Plastics Pollution—But Greens Missed Target — Watts Up With That?
Green Jihad 
I think one of the concerns raised in terms of landfills is that while developed nations do regulate their wastes effectively, it is not the case in developing countries. There are very few landfills in India, for example, and the size is not very impressive. Unfortunately, a lot of the plastic waste does end up in open grounds and water bodies.
In such situations, and in places where proposing the ideas of landfills and it’s application is very difficult (sometimes met with ridicule), proposing to do away with plastic completely HAS helped curb the environmental pollution caused by it.
This is just an example from my experience. I do agree with the overall proposal of the article to accept biodegradable wastes. Plastic is too practical to be done away with completely, and an industrial world can never live with that.
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Very interesting and thanks for your comments. If plastics are banned then the result is to turn to paper products which results in using more trees. Doing so can lead to more deforestation and high carbon emissions. But the environmentalists probably already know that.
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The solution really is biodegradable plastics. That would be the best case scenario.
In India, the alternative given to plastic bags in jute bags; it is made from the fibres of the jute plant and is extremely strong and reliable. Paper bags are also in use here, most of which is sourced from plantations and not natural forest.
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