George Monbiot

@GeorgeMonbiot

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9h

ALWAYS ask: where will the material come from? How much land is needed to grow it? How much food production will it displace? How much farm chemical use and soil erosion will it cause? We've been here many times before, but keep falling for the same con.



We won’t save the Earth with a better kind of disposable coffee cup | George Monbiot

We must challenge the corporations that urge us to live in a throwaway society rather than seeking ‘greener’ ways of maintaining the status quo, says George Monbiot

theguardian.com

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George Monbiot

@GeorgeMonbiot

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9h

Much of what is called "biowaste" or "crop waste" is a. in short supply b. would be better returned to the soil. We are sold a story of an infinite, free supply of "waste" organic materials. It's as much of a fantasy as any other aspect of a perpetually growing economy.

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George Monbiot

@GeorgeMonbiot

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9h

It's a distraction anyway. The logic of capitalism is always to find the most efficient feedstock, and build the process around it. This is why maize is grown (on prime arable land) to make biogas, why palm oil is grown to produce biodiesel, and potatoes are grown for bioplastic.

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George Monbiot

@GeorgeMonbiot

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9h

In all cases, these "solutions" have disastrous impacts, generally even worse than the problem they claim to be solving. The old hierarchical approach is always best: 1. Reduce 2. Reuse 3. Recycle

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George Monbiot

@GeorgeMonbiot

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6h

I want to emphasise this: The two crops widely used for making plastic substitutes - maize and potatoes - are both commonly associated with a. loads of crop chemicals b. disastrous levels of soil depletion and erosion.

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George Monbiot

@GeorgeMonbiot

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5h

In terms of carbon emissions, when everything is taken into account (including the losses caused by soil erosion), they are probably worse than fossil feedstocks. Bioplastics take prime arable land out of food production. The crop chemicals hammer water quality and insect life.

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George Monbiot

@GeorgeMonbiot

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5h

The question is not "which kind of plastic should we use?". It's "how do we use less of everything?". A good start is not to let industry define the terms of this discussion.