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The seafloor is covered in trash

Started by Smartmarzipan, June 26, 2013, 04:25:48 PM

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Shiranu

Quote from: "Plu"Launching it into the sun isn't dealing with the garbage problem. Recycling is. And we're slowly getting there, but there's still a long way to go.

The garbage will cease to exist and not be able to pollute ANYTHING. I think that is a pretty healthy definition of dealing with it.

I cant society existing long enough to have a recycle-based system. We simply are not that bright of species, as much as we like to think otherwise.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Plu

Sure, it's effective but it's not exactly efficient, let alone sustainable. I mean; we thought along the exact same lines when we came up with the "just dump it in the ocean" plan, and look where that brought us. Just throwing stuff away to somewhere you can't reach (yet) generally doesn't solve the problem. At best, you're just discarding valuable, rare and limited raw materials. At worst, you somehow manage to fuck up an entire ecosystem.

Shiranu

But... the sun doesn't have an ecosystem...

(And no, I don't think it would be effective or economical either).
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Plu

Are you sure? 'cause I'm pretty sure the light that reaches Earth comes from there, which makes it a pretty important part of our circle of life. It's very much within our ecosystem.

And before you claim that we can't possibly damage something that big with our junk; that's what people used to say about the ocean as well.

SGOS

Somehow, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to throw your garbage into a nuclear reactor.

Smartmarzipan

I don't see how launching garbage into the sun would hurt the sun......but launch would be out of the question, I think. What would the cost be for that?
Legi, Intellexi, Condemnavi.

"Religion is the human response to being alive and having to die." ~Anon

Inter arma enim silent leges

Shiranu

The garbage would be destroyed LONG before it got even remotely close to the sun.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Plu

QuoteI don't see how launching garbage into the sun would hurt the sun......but launch would be out of the question, I think. What would the cost be for that?

Same as launching it to the moon, mars, or anywhere else I'd guess. Once you get outside earth's gravity it's mostly free flight.

The real cost factor is the millions of tons of garbage we have lying about, when every pound of material shot into space is carefully weighed and calculated whether or not we really need it to go, because of the cost.

Also, I have no idea how it could hurt the sun either. Then again, we had no idea how it could hurt the ocean either, and there you go. It's probably harmless for quite a while. But I have no idea what happens if you send superheavy atoms that the Sun cannot handle into it. Probably nothing. Probably.

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: "GurrenLagann"Is there even a real solution to the problems dealing with garbage?

If only we could launch it into the Sun. Yep, it's gonna happen...eventually....maybe....  :-$
Ever read Bill The Galactic Hero? They tried that and made a sun go nova.  :P
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Hurt

I've wondered if knuckle-heads ever woke up and started limiting conventional oil production maybe this type of technology would be feasible:

//http://www.plastic2oil.com/site/home

[youtube:1if7gpxw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPJXbWNUML4[/youtube:1if7gpxw]

It would place a price on waste plastic diverting it from landfills and possibly make it too expensive to be used for shit like shopping bags.
Cui Bono