• shalafi@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Won’t they just replace it with tougher plastic that takes even longer to break down?

    I think I’d rather have Styrofoam pollution. It’s almost totally air vs. a cup that’s solid plastic, less material in total. Shove some in a pickle jar with unleaded. I can jam the boxing from a 55" TV in a single, small jar. (And now you have napalm! Best campfire starter ever, especially dried into chunks.)

    And of the trash I pick out of the woods and waterways, Styrofoam seems to break down faster. Yes, I know it doesn’t truly degrade, just gets smaller, but the same is true of any plastic.

    • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      A solid plastic cup is at least reusable. Styrofoam cups are always single use. Breaking down faster is what makes them worse.

    • asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      All “break down” means here is to turn into extremely small micro / nano particles. With hard plastic the damage you’re doing to the environment is more constrained to one piece which you can scoop up if you want. It’s way worse if it’s turned into dust and distributed in rain water, ocean water, the veggies you eat, etc.