Demagogic media almost universally supersede the dependent champaign "unelected apparatchiks" past times "the European Union" every bit if the bunch of illegitimate aßholes disconnected from the existent life were representing the whole continent. But I must acknowledge that my reading of the Czech intelligence servers indicates that most of the Czech populace – including some communities that are often intensely anti-Brussels – really supports this European Union proposal. Maybe iDNES.cz readers are to a greater extent than often than non on my side, however.
Shockingly enough, the corporate foyer of producers of balloon sticks wasn't rigid plenty to defeat several of these officials. We must alive inward truly happy times. Millions of African migrants may live waiting for their chance but the European Commission focuses on bans of balloon sticks.
The justification is the huge amount of waste matter peculiarly inward the oceans – some 70% of litter inward the European seas too 85% inward global seas is composed of these one-use plastic products. I totally loathe plastic trash – too throughout my life, I take maintain really done lots of operate to liberate Nature from this trash. In 1988, your humble correspondent too his friend Robert spontaneously decided to selection all the trash on a trip inward the High Tatras, Slovakia. Our pioneer supervisor was impressed.
But such full general bans on such products await similar an extremely bad thought to me – too I take maintain to select it personally.
As a kid, I also loved plastic straws. It's cool to potable from a straw. It also saves your teeth from excessively high or depression temperatures too the impact of saccharide too acids. They had various colors too I loved that form of diversity. You may practice some elementary experiments amongst them, too. In fact, I experience much poorer because I take maintain many fewer straws than I possessed decades ago. I should likely purchase a large parcel earlier they're banned.
I think that plastic materials are amid the underappreciated technological breakthroughs that nosotros should give thank y'all to every day.
Are at that spot whatever replacements for plastic straws at all?
This page lists seven alternatives – bamboo, straw straw (I think they hateful some actual grass), newspaper or metallic element or drinking glass straws, reusable bottle amongst an incorporated straw (I bought such bottles, $10 a slice later a large discount, to my niece too nephew), too nothing. They may sometimes live goodness but inward lots of situations, they're non totally adequate replacements for plastic straws. The alternatives are also difficult to construct clean if they demand to live reused (a run a endangerment of infections etc.), also delicate (grass volition almost certainly break, drinking glass has a much smaller probability but when it breaks inward your mouth, it may live real damaging), or they take maintain other disadvantages.
Real-world plastics aren't perfect – they add together the trash to the oceans, too they may pose out bisfenols too other chemicals – but they take maintain also done a corking service for the mankind. They take maintain made our lives to a greater extent than comfortable. They take maintain reduced the amount of infections.
In the morning, a newspaper parcel of milk that I bought inward Lidl was class of open. The parcel looked full, the milk tastes good, but the circular seal proving the integrity nether the loving cup was broken. It made me a chip nervous. But there's soundless a lot of nutrient – starting from bakery too vegetables – that is beingness sold without packages. If I were directing the progress, I would really encourage some packaging everywhere, to cut back the probability that some other consumer has touched those things, or tasted them etc. ;-)
This is partly my personal preference – inward this sense, I may live unopen to germophobe Sheldon Cooper. Yes, other people run across things differently too the real absence of packaging makes them think that some bakery or vegetable is "fresh". OK, that's non an implication that I take maintain bought. ;-)
Now, the amount of trash inward the oceans looks also high. Some marine life really suffers because of that. But countries similar Czech Republic are hundreds of miles away from the nearest sea. (OK, I realize that our trash may teach to the seas through rivers...) The marine justification looks utterly idiotic inward our context. On laissez passer on of that, Europeans every bit a whole are arguably contributing a modest fraction of the work only. The non-European seas are worse. The Asians are arguably much to a greater extent than obvious pigs too they're unlikely to follow the European examples. We the Europeans take maintain a much to a greater extent than friendly behaviour towards the marine surroundings too the surroundings inward full general than folks at some other continents. Does it really brand feel to increase the gap further?
(I think that Europe is partly responsible for the trash inward the sea because nosotros export our trash to other countries, assuming that they volition practice something civilized amongst it, but most of these "importers" just dump it to the seas. This is the form of dynamics that should live stopped. I think it's OK to export trash to pitiable countries but it should also live the exporters' responsibleness to detect the places where the trash won't take maintain real damaging consequences. Well, I really think that giant rubbish heaps inward Sahara would live just fine.)
If I were inward accuse of the create practice against trash, I would sure prefer to improve the methods to collect the trash – fifty-fifty when it already gets to the beaches – too technologies to reuse or transform the plastic trash into something harmless.
I think that the plastic materials are treated every bit the ultimate Devil mainly because they await "obviously" man-made or unnatural, too what is man-made is terrible because the humanity is considered a cancer of the planet past times the contemporary would-be leaders of the humanity. But at that spot are at to the lowest degree iii related problems amongst this whole philosophy:
- Plastic materials are ultimately composed of the same elements every bit the bioshere, too so they're natural from some deeper, physical viewpoint
- Humans are natural every bit well, they're animals who are relative to chimps
- Even if y'all didn't select that polymers or humans are natural, there's just nada "unambiguously wrong" almost things that are unnatural or related to the humans
If Angela Merkel's truthful homeland – East Federal Republic of Federal Republic of Germany – were a fellow member of the European Union (and indeed, the electrical flow European Union seems to live something similar an expanded communist East Germany), her Vaterland could live rather screwed past times this rule that is beingness prepared. Czechoslovakia too East Federal Republic of Federal Republic of Germany were the 2 most intensely "high-tech" countries of the Soviet bloc – to a greater extent than often than non for historical reasons because they had been the entirely industrialized places of the bloc already inward the mid 19th century.
But at that spot were some clear differences betwixt the trend of the sectors inward which these 2 countries were "relatively prominent". Czechoslovakia was introducing some modern know-how but it was soundless considered an improvement of the heavy manufacture based on metallic element too lots of unloosen energy produced past times coal etc. So nosotros had the best products made of metallic element – that included cars, fine mechanics, pistols, rifles etc. We also had goodness applied chemical scientific discipline but it was some form of "power chemistry" – Semtex is an event of that – piece East Germans just became the kings inward the plastics.
"The Cozy Dens", a legendary 1999 Czech comedy almost 1968 based on Petr Šabach's novel "The Šit Is Flammable", shows 2 self-confident fathers of families who are neighbors (and their kids take maintain some romantic relationships), summation some other characters. One of the primary men is a large believer inward the communist party, the other i is a proud anti-Nazi too anti-communist veteran. In this love scene (there are a dozen of others, however), the starting fourth dimension i bragged almost the novel plastic spoons – non just some ordinary spoons but lite too flexible ones – from our comrades researchers inward the German linguistic communication Democratic Republic. During the Christmas dinner later some reconciliation, all the plastic spoons melted inward the java too the vindicated veteran asked: "I just wonder where the comrades from DDR made a mistake!?" ;-) This judgement became a business office of the majority civilisation – it's beingness recycled to a greater extent than often than the plastic products themselves. [...] The substitution continues. The commie's blood brother – also an anti-commie – answers that "the East Germans' fault was that they were shooting to the air during the war". The commie guy says that "the 2 of us had to await for i another. If I placed 2 totally but totally identical boxes of security matches too told y'all that i of them was from the USA, which i would y'all detect better? Both reply "the American one, of course". The unsurprised commie believer says "of course". [...] There's i to a greater extent than plastic scene inward the movie. Another gift are plastic glasses [from the Polish People's Republic, lots of hype...] that cannot live broken – the commie's revolting boy breaks them, however, making the dad say some other oftentimes repeated phrase, "and to whom is it a benefit? [To the other side?]" (literally "And whom volition y'all help?", basically "Cui bono" but said inward a means that makes it clear that the commie thinks that entirely prissy things should live said almost the comrades).
They had too so many products that were made of plastic. When Czechoslovak folks traveled to the habitation of our East German linguistic communication comrades, they would often select lots of wonderful plastic cutlery, dishes etc. – precisely the class of stuff that is beingness banned. The East German linguistic communication focus on the plastics went good beyond the kitchen. As every soul who remembers communism knows, the machine at the painting inward a higher identify is the East German linguistic communication Trabant (sometimes nicknamed Trabi inward the West). The bodywork – too likely non entirely that – was made out of bakelite, an early on plastic, which is formally polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. I had to purpose copy-and-paste to write the total call of that chemical compound – I promise that the clipboard won't live the adjacent affair banned past times the European Union. (Well, Trabants were really made of Duroplast which is just a relative of bakelite.)
The Britons were inventing all the machine jokes almost Škoda cars but they didn't realize how wonderful, Western cars Škodas were relatively to the full general communist competition. In particular, the Britons take maintain likely never driven a Trabi – the target of machine jokes inward Czechoslovakia.
The bakelite was a primitive plastic material. This branch of applied chemical scientific discipline has gone through some amazing progress. Decades ago, nosotros were really enthusiastic almost it. I think that every bit late every bit inward the 1990s, media were total of hype almost the adjacent generation of plastics that would live lite but they would soundless crunch all of the known natural alternatives inward many other characteristics.
It seems to me that this enthusiasm for the progress inward "plastic fabric science" has almost evaporated from the majority culture, from the mainstream media, despite the fact that the progress hasn't stopped too it continued. If some one-time plastics were releasing a chip of a harmful compound, most of such problems could take maintain been fixed too were fixed. Others may live fixed, too.
We alive inward a bizarre civilisation inward which some people to a greater extent than or less randomly create upward one's heed which technologies are hot too which technologies are sinful. For reasons that are almost completely irrational, electrical cars are constantly painted every bit nice, the music of the future, something that volition run across some amazing progress. In reality, at that spot is almost no substantial progress going on inward the production of the electrical cars too the infrastructure that they need.
On the other hand, the plastic materials – which are seeing lots of progress, just compare the plastics used on your electrical flow smartphone amongst the plastics used past times the dumbphones inward the 1990s – are the devils. So everyone is telling us that they await extinction inward the future. The media completely cover the progress inward the evolution of such materials – although this progress is much to a greater extent than intense than the progress inward electrical cars too lots of other "politically correct" technologies.
The worshiping of electrical cars too the demonization of the plastic materials differ from prayers to the Lord or Allah. But at that spot is something extremely religious almost these arbitrary attitudes that shape the populace thought these days. Hundreds of millions or billions of people are led to parrot ludicrously oversimplified, too to a greater extent than untrue than true, statements such every bit "the hereafter belongs to the electrical cars" but "there is no identify for the plastics inward the future".
We really are approaching the dystopia described past times Idiocracy, a cult motion-picture demo which talked almost the gild inward 2500 but we're probable to attain that dot already inward 2050. In the excerpt above, we're reminded that the gild led past times President Camacho had minimal crop yields. They were using Brawndo, their version of Gatorade, to H2O the fields. The Brawndo fellowship was able to spread its propaganda maxim that Brawndo is corking for everybody too for the plants. The Brawndo has what the plants crave – it's got the electrolytes – Camacho's aides, the smartest people on the globe (except for Joe) amongst the IQ just about 60, were repeating all the time.
(The woman soul aide too a few others were also linking the [evil, outdated] water, which should take maintain been replaced past times Brawndo, to the toilets, something that is unpopular. This oversimplified negative labeling is almost identical to the means how carbon dioxide is currently beingness linked to "pollution" although this transparent, odorless, harmless gas cannot really pollute anything – inward this sense, it's analogous to the unpopular H2O from the Idiocracy, indeed.)
It's just too so similar to the oversimplified appraisals of the technologies that everyone is beingness pushed to mindlessly repeat. Electric cars are corking because they take maintain the wonderfully salubrious too almost edible lithium batteries that take maintain everything that cars crave – they teach the electrolytes too stuff similar that. Just endeavor to appreciate how insane this propaganda is peculiarly if y'all compare the "official attitude" to the lithium too to the plastics. Lithium is presented every bit i of the healthiest compounds nosotros tin flaming live surrounded by. But plastics, they're the truthful devils.
Please, give me break. Lithium poisoning is mutual – although overdose (significantly inward a higher identify the OK amount of one gram per day) is needed for some bad impact. One gram seems similar a lot – lithium is sure less toxic than plutonium or novičok – but y'all should soundless retrieve that a Tesla battery pack weighs one-half a ton or so, 500,000 grams.
I think that metallic element cutlery – too fifty-fifty metallic element straws – could supersede their plastic counterparts inward the commercial flights, most restaurants inward the mountains, too elsewhere. But if too when this continental state of war against the plastics really starts, I think that nosotros volition run across that our comfort volition driblet substantially. We may human face upward lots of dilemmas involving hygiene that the civilization hasn't seen for quite some time.
3 kopeykas was enough!) But nosotros figured out that the Czechoslovak 0.20 crown (20-heller) coin, which was almost xx times less valuable, worked every bit good every bit the Soviet coin. So nosotros could teach Soviet street drinks almost for gratis – but nosotros entirely exploited this glitch a few times.
But I desire to advert a problem. All the users of that vendor machine were recycling the same drinking glass to drink. The hygiene was limited. I sure felt that the Russians were savages inward comparing amongst the relatively advanced Czechoslovakia, East Germany, too Poland where one-use cups were already omnipresent. You know, if y'all decided to ban cups (and similar plastic products that are meant to live used once), y'all volition at nowadays human face upward the obvious problem: y'all demand to construct clean the spectacles too cutlery that are used to a greater extent than than i time too inward sure situations, it may live either difficult or time-consuming to do; or it may live slowly for the responsible people non to practice it right, too and so on.
Isn't it meliorate to endeavor to improve the technologies to procedure the trash? And to innovate policies that take the trash from places where it doesn't belong? For example, I think that schoolkids would similar 1 hr a calendar week inward which every bird goes exterior too collects some garbage from some area. Or they would assist to manually class some trash. Wouldn't such things live meliorate than a universal ban on these real useful products?
Even if someone – or the rosy hereafter – persuades me that it's ultimately a goodness thought to ban such things, I am concerned almost the non-democratic organization that makes such policies possible. H5N1 bunch of anointed experts – who are sometimes affected past times some random corporate influences analogous to that of Brawndo Corp – seemingly has the mightiness to impose similar far-reaching bans on the whole continent. Don't y'all detect it worrisome? I sure do. We may easily run across a European Union decree demanding H2O to live replaced amongst Brawndo. The officials behind this proposed ban of one-use plastic products desire all the European Union fellow member states to codify such bans at the national bird earlier the adjacent elections – that's likely a method to brand sure that the "stupid people" (those who aren't parasites living inward the bubble surrounding Brussels for the stupid people's money) can't elect novel politicians that would specifically create practice against these novel policies.
The detailed fads are changing. But the fact that some people who aren't really real qualified take maintain the mightiness to effectively pretend that they're omniscient gods who tin flaming create upward one's heed almost almost everything hasn't changed from the communist times. We're gradually returning to the same totalitarianism. Their communist predecessors wanted to increase the production of coal too steel past times tens of i M k tons; these folks desire to increase the production of lithium batteries too ban the balloon sticks. The details are different but the centralized mightiness is comparably excessive every bit it used to live during communism.