S08.E06: Plastic

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic:  Plastic

Also: Hate crimes against Asian-Americans; local news on St. Patrick's Day

Top of the morning to you! 

Original air date 2021.03.21

[Annber03]

Excellent segment on the mass shooting in Atlanta this past week. My favorite response to that "bad day" bullshit:

It is very refreshing indeed to have a president that actually acknowledges tragedies like this, yes. But John is also sadly very right about the awful history of discrimination against Asians, and Asian-Americans, as well. Obviously we've got a hell of a long way to go with these issues, but I do hope the discussion around this tragedy does lead to better education on that painful, horrific history of discrimination, and allows for significantly needed change as well. 

(Also, while sex addiction is a thing, in cases like this, I think it's also very true that it can be used as a really convenient excuse to justify some men's entitlement to women's bodies.)

As for the plastics story, I don't know what was less surprising to me: the fact that the U.S. didn't join in that ban that other countries signed on for last year, or the fact that my state is among those who don't support regulations regarding plastic bags. Have I mentioned how frustrating it's been to live in Iowa in recent times? 'Cause, yeah. 

Those shots of those landfills in other countries were horrifying. Indeed, though, I definitely agree this would be a very good issue for this administration to take up and address, so hopefully that can be another thing to put on their "to do" list as soon as possible. So much mess to try and clean up, literally and figuratively, but any support and push towards any kind of change, even if it's small stuff to start with, would be great. 

"Because the worst thing white people ever did to Native Americans was apparently to toss trash onto the freeway." Ha. Well said. That PSA came out a good number of years before I was born, but I still remember seeing it as a little kid whenever I'd be watching stuff on Nick at Nite with my parents, and that was in the late '80s/early '90s. 

Breaktime already, eh? Aw. Eh, well, it's only a couple weeks. Let's just hope nothing too dramatic happens in that time period, as often tends to be the case whenever this show takes a break. 

[Robert Lynch]

April 4th!?!? Was that really Richard Kind as the blobfish?

Edited March 22, 2021 by Robert Lynch

[paigow]

Disappointed that the lack of recycling could not be linked to Tucker Carlson....

[swanpride]

...I don't get the "where are you really from" question. I mean, I get it if you ask the question some European countries (though I wouldn't frame it that way there either) because if you encounter someone who looks Asian, you can assume that said person has an immigration background. But Asians have immigrated to the US for ages, if I were living there I would assume that anyone I encounter there is an American unless said person looks like a tourist.

The whole plastic segment...honestly, I can't emphasis enough how backwards the whole thing looked for me. The German system of plastic recycling is 30 years old (and I mean that literally, it was introduced exactly 30 years ago). We are currently discussing that it isn't good enough and that we need a strategy which involved more avoidance of plastic, coupled with a discussion which kind of plastic can actually be recycled and which not (because it is mixed with too many different things to be taken apart that easily).

[Robert Lynch]

The Meghan McCain slam from John Oliver was worth it!

[Lantern7]

George Carlin had a routine about how “saving the Earth” was actually a selfish movement, given that the planet has gone through so much turmoil in its existence. His point: “The planet isn’t going anywhere. (beat) WE ARE!” He also figured that if humanity ceases to exist, the planet would essentially be “Earth plus plastic,” which would be the answer to the eternal question, “Why are we here?”

*sigh* I’ll need to figure out what can actually be recycled. I got a plastic carton of Mango Chicken leftovers. The plan was to put that in a plastic bag, eat the lunch, then dump the carton and bag in the nearest recyclable area. Now I’m thinking I should keep the bag for further use. John raised some valid points, and he gave us something to fear if we fuck up: Totes McGoats haunting us forever.

6 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

Was that really Richard Kind as the blobfish?

I thought it wasn’t. Turns out the name I read was the poor bastard in the goat mask. When I hit pause on HBO Max, I couldn’t see his name.

7 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Breaktime already, eh? Aw. Eh, well, it's only a couple weeks. Let's just hope nothing too dramatic happens in that time period, as often tends to be the case whenever this show takes a break. 

It’s just for one week. 🤷‍♂️

ETA: “You have more writers than the Jonestown massacre!” I don’t get it. I get the reference, but I’m stuck on “writers.” Or maybe i misheard that.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Lantern7

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Robert Lynch said:

The Meghan McCain slam from John Oliver was worth it!

I NEED to watch this!

[paigow]

Yes. It was writers.

[Robert Lynch]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

George Carlin had a routine about how “saving the Earth” was actually a selfish movement, given that the planet has gone through so much turmoil in its existence. His point: “The planet isn’t going anywhere. (beat) WE ARE!” He also figured that if humanity ceases to exist, the planet would essentially be “Earth plus plastic,” which would be the answer to the eternal question, “Why are we here?”

*sigh* I’ll need to figure out what can actually be recycled. I got a plastic carton of Mango Chicken leftovers. The plan was to put that in a plastic bag, eat the lunch, then dump the carton and bag in the nearest recyclable area. Now I’m thinking I should keep the bag for further use. John raised some valid points, and he gave us something to fear if we fuck up: Totes McGoats haunting us forever.

I thought it wasn’t. Turns out the name I read was the poor bastard in the goat mask. When I hit pause on HBO Max, I couldn’t see his name.

It’s just for one week. 🤷‍♂️

ETA: “You have more writers than the Jonestown massacre!” I don’t get it. I get the reference, but I’m stuck on “writers.” Or maybe i misheard that.

Thanks. I wonder who the voice actor is.

[swanpride]

Here are some tricks to save plastic (for those who care...and naturally in the end, the whole system has to change):

1. Use a bag for your shopping. You save a LOT of plastic just by not picking up a new bag every time you shop.

2. Tupperware!!!! Better than wrapping the stuff you want to eat later into plastic. (And yes, Tupperware is plastic too, but the average tupperware can last for a long, long time, so less plastic in the end).

3. Don't use one-way plastic bottles!!!! Glas bottles or bottles which are used multiple times are preferable. (That one is easier if you life in a country with a proper recycling system, though)

4. Go back to your lunch in a lunch box and your coffee (or whatever else you like to drink) in a thermos.

5. Look out for brands who scale down their packaging material.

Btw, how much rubbish a household produces in a week hasn't changed that much in the last decades...what has changed is what the rubbish consist of.

[nickp1991]

John Oliver does a great job explaining the issues with plastic production/pollution

[PrincessPurrsALot]

According to IMDB, that was Richard Kind as the Blobfish.  Noel MacNeal, who was also Mr. Nutter Butter, appeared as Totes McGoats.  

[RedbirdNelly]

my only nit pick was criticizing the add on not littering as part of the "it's your fault" switcheroo by the plastics industry. Not littering is something individuals control--and as someone who has adopted a weekly litter pickup as part of my pandemic response/way to fill time, something I wish people though more about. I don't follow why someone fills the need to eat fast food and then throw all the wrappings out the window. I digress.

that goat thing really was scary. Is this the first time any person/thing has shown up on screen with John since the white void started? 

[IvySpice]

Great episode, but I was surprised that John left out a really important parallel with the racist deputy excusing the Atlanta murderer: 

One guy held Vincent Chin down while the other bludgeoned him to death with a baseball bat. Those murderers WALKED. NO JAIL TIME, just a $3000 fine and three years' probation. Like, they got the sentence that would have been right had they taken the baseball bat to a streetlight instead of a human being.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Vincent_Chin

[swanpride]

Well, the issue is less the littering but the fact that the stuff was bought at all. Weather on a street or in Malaysia, the stuff ends up somewhere. So maybe the question is less "why did you throw this out of the window" and more "why the hell can't the fast food restaurant use packaging which is easily recyclable?"

[RedbirdNelly]

3 hours ago, swanpride said:

Well, the issue is less the littering but the fact that the stuff was bought at all. Weather on a street or in Malaysia, the stuff ends up somewhere. So maybe the question is less "why did you throw this out of the window" and more "why the hell can't the fast food restaurant use packaging which is easily recyclable?"

Yeah, but I pick up plenty of glass bottles and paper so lack of recycling is not what causes the yahoos in my neighborhood to litter. I also live 1 mile from a school with recycling bins for anyone to use. The plastic bin tells you it takes plastics 1-7 although that's not entirely true as John pointed out.

I do agree they need packaging that is easily recyclable. 

[Ceindreadh]

8 hours ago, swanpride said:

Here are some tricks to save plastic (for those who care...and naturally in the end, the whole system has to change):

1. Use a bag for your shopping. You save a LOT of plastic just by not picking up a new bag every time you shop.

2. Tupperware!!!! Better than wrapping the stuff you want to eat later into plastic. (And yes, Tupperware is plastic too, but the average tupperware can last for a long, long time, so less plastic in the end).

3. Don't use one-way plastic bottles!!!! Glas bottles or bottles which are used multiple times are preferable. (That one is easier if you life in a country with a proper recycling system, though)

4. Go back to your lunch in a lunch box and your coffee (or whatever else you like to drink) in a thermos.

5. Look out for brands who scale down their packaging material.

Btw, how much rubbish a household produces in a week hasn't changed that much in the last decades...what has changed is what the rubbish consist of.

 

In Ireland, there isn't a ban on plastic bags, but there is a levy on them (currently 22cent per bag). 

It's led to a 90% drop in the use of those bags.  These days, most people will bring their own tote bags or 'bags for life' with them and reuse them.  Most retailers will have carrier bags, but they'll have to charge you for them. 

It's simple, but it works and it's a source of revenue for a fund supporting environmental projects. 

 

Those St. Patrick day local news bits...oh dear, just, oh fucking dear.

 

 

[Annber03]

15 minutes ago, Ceindreadh said:

Those St. Patrick day local news bits...oh dear, just, oh fucking dear.

Rather fitting clip to play right after the segment on the Atlanta shooting, too-one minute John's talking about stereotypes surrounding Asians, and then there's a segment highlighting people making the most obvious, played out Irish stereotypes imaginable. 

[paigow]

14 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

In Ireland, there isn't a ban on plastic bags, but there is a levy on them (currently 22cent per bag). 

People here in Toronto were outraged when a 5 cent bag tax was introduced several years ago. More people are re-using bags. The Irish have it tough.... 

Edited March 23, 2021 by paigow

[LBS]

My husband and I watch this late and we both got the alert of another mass murder in the middle of John’s segment of the Atlanta mass murder.  Less than a week apart.  

[Quilt Fairy]

11 hours ago, swanpride said:

Well, the issue is less the littering but the fact that the stuff was bought at all.

Or that the stuff is made at all.  I remember - well, I don't remember if I read an article or saw a documentary, but anyway - something about sweatshop girls in China making necklaces of plastic Marti Gras beads that will end up being worn for perhaps a few hours before being thrown into a gutter and lasting forever in a trash dump. 

[meowmommy]

On 3/22/2021 at 12:40 AM, swanpride said:

...I don't get the "where are you really from" question. I mean, I get it if you ask the question some European countries (though I wouldn't frame it that way there either) because if you encounter someone who looks Asian, you can assume that said person has an immigration background. But Asians have immigrated to the US for ages, if I were living there I would assume that anyone I encounter there is an American unless said person looks like a tourist.

I had a friend in college, in the mid-70s, who was born in Pennsylvania to an American father and a Japanese mother.  She said she was routinely presumed by others to be a Vietnamese refugee. 

[xaxat]

I wonder when this was filmed. Last week I ordered a recently released book that I'm pretty sure John's crack researchers would have included had it been available.

Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race

From an interview with the author.

Quote

The opening of epidemiologist Shanna Swan's new book sounds a bit like science fiction: We are half as fertile as our grandfathers were. And if the trend continues, we may very well reach a point where the human race is unable to reproduce itself. . . 

Yet the more insidious and worrying cause of these changes is likely an omnipresent class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors, which interfere with the body’s production of the hormones testosterone and estrogen. Plastics have made many wonderful things possible, but, as we wrote in 2018, “it turns out that many of the compounds used to make plastic soft and flexible (like phthalates) or to make them harder and stronger (like Bisphenol A, or BPA) are consummate endocrine disruptors.” Men with excess phthalates in their bodies, for instance, will produce less testosterone and, as a result, fewer sperm.

ETA From Today's Washington Post.

Opinion: My team found 2,000 plastic bags inside a dead camel

Quote

Digging between the ribs of a dead camel buried in the sands of Dubai, I couldn’t believe what my colleagues and I found: a mass of plastic bags as big as a large suitcase. At least 2,000 plastic bags were lumped together where the animal’s stomach would have been.

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by xaxat

[swanpride]

They should have used THAT as part of the segment. Nothing gets men move faster than the notion of producing less sperm….

[xaxat]

On 3/23/2021 at 9:07 PM, xaxat said:

Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race

OK, this book is terrifying. Plastics fuck up every aspect of male and female fertility.

[b2H]

On 3/22/2021 at 10:01 AM, swanpride said:

Here are some tricks to save plastic (for those who care...and naturally in the end, the whole system has to change):

1. Use a bag for your shopping. You save a LOT of plastic just by not picking up a new bag every time you shop.

2. Tupperware!!!! Better than wrapping the stuff you want to eat later into plastic. (And yes, Tupperware is plastic too, but the average tupperware can last for a long, long time, so less plastic in the end).

3. Don't use one-way plastic bottles!!!! Glas bottles or bottles which are used multiple times are preferable. (That one is easier if you life in a country with a proper recycling system, though)

4. Go back to your lunch in a lunch box and your coffee (or whatever else you like to drink) in a thermos.

5. Look out for brands who scale down their packaging material.

Btw, how much rubbish a household produces in a week hasn't changed that much in the last decades...what has changed is what the rubbish consist of.

I am a cashier at Target part time.  I cannot tell you how many of these unrecyclable containers I stuff into plastic bags every shift I work.  

As John said, why is it up to us?  Why is there not food and goods rules that simply bans these containers? 

[swanpride]

It's not JUST up to us (in fact, it mostly isn't), but we can actually influence things through our behaviours. In places where we have options we should use them. Otherwise we naturally need to lobby politics to change things by setting different rules.

Plus, it is much cheaper to pack your own lunch anyway. And currently saver, too, because it limits contacts.