Plastic recycling has always been a lie

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/09/23/california-sues-exxonmobil-plastics-recycling/

 

“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” Bonta said in a statement. “ExxonMobil lied to further its [record]-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardizing our health.”

 * * * * *

Just like there's a geological layer that shows the meteorite hit that killed the dinosaurs, so there will be a geological layer full of plastic that shows how we drowned ourselves in waste.

Sustainable aviation fuel on the way!

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg64pwxzln4o

 "Sustainable fuels are synthetic alternatives to fossil fuels, made from renewable sources.

These can include waste cooking oils, vegetable fats and agricultural waste, as well as captured carbon dioxide.

The advantage of burning fuels like these is that it does not add to the overall load of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."

* * * * *

The only stickler seems to be difficulty ramping up production.  But once the economic fundamentals are figured out, that should not be a problem.

 

Another successful basic income project!

 https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/world/video/denver-basic-income-project-duerson-digvid

 

"The Denver Basic Income Project gave over 800 unhoused Coloradans up to $12,000 over the past year with no strings attached. 12 months later, with a funding proposal up for renewal, CNN’s Meena Duerson examines the pilot’s impact and what may happen to the participants if funding runs out."

 

Another success!  People don't want to be poor. Many are poor just because they are barely under what they need to survive in our society.  A little nudge makes a huge difference in most cases.

Finding replacements for plastic

Plastic is in our bodies now.  It's in the Arctic.  It's everywhere.  And it hardly breaks down.  We need an alternative.

 

Making products from recycled tires

 

This seems entirely possible in any country.

more tiny homes going up

 https://www.newscenter1.tv/news/black-hills-tiny-homes/article_e643a0f6-0700-11ef-9e19-87718a560000.html

 

"When she originally got her tiny house, it was decorated farmhouse/ranch style. Being an interior decorator by degree, Kira revamped her tiny house to fit her style – modern and colorful with a yellow ceiling. She says tiny homes can range from $50,000 to $100,000 with hers being on the ‘tinier’ end of the spectrum.

As far as winter preparation, Kira says her tiny house came insulated, but she had to get creative with snow solutions. One technique she used was spray foam to seal the cervices on the exterior metal sheeting. She’s still working on making it more aesthetically pleasing, she says. Her tiny home is also snow-load appropriate as it was inspected by a private contractor for her own peace of mind and local compliance. It is the landowner, her mother, who took care of the local ordinance compliance with Pennington County for the WeeCasa resort and tiny houses."

* * * * *

The history of homes in the US was a gradual growth in size, but now it appears to be going the other direction.  Home prices are surging, so one way to counter that is to reduce the size of homes.

 

 

Be careful of Fascism

“If one can convince a population that they are rightfully exceptional, that they are destined by nature or by religious fate to rule other populations, one has already convinced them of a monstrous lie.” [How Fascism Works, by Jason Stanley, p. 13]

  “Allowing every opinion into the public sphere and giving it serious time for considerations, far from resulting in a process that is conducive to knowledge formation via deliberation, destroys its very possibility. Responsible media in a liberal democracy must, in the face of this threat, try to report the truth, and resist the temptation to report on every possible theory, no matter how fantastical, as long as someone advances it. What happens when conspiracy theories become the coin of politics, and mainstream media and educational institutions are discredited, is that citizens no longer have a common reality that can serve as background for democratic deliberation.” [How Fascism Works, by Jason Stanley, pp. 70-71]

 

This is a good book!