New Water Bottling Plant in Hilo Proposed

[ElysianWort]

The fact that I don't watch the whole video of the plastic in our ocean is IRRELEVANT!!

The reason I posted that clip is just to point out that it does exist.

If you are denying the plastic problem exists then you need to educate yourself.

If you are admitting that the plastic problem exists then it is foolish and petty that you are skirting around the topic by trying to make it an issue about the type of link I post. Pitiful. But at least you have a purpose and job Paul:

Sentry and Guardian of the misinformed and PunaWeb Editor of ElysianWort.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

The video you linked to does not contain a single picture of this supposedly Texas-sized garbage patch.

The Pacific garbage patch exists, but not as a solid floating connected mass. Much of it is in the form of small particles, or broken pieces of plastic. Some of it floats on the surface (visible) and some is right below the surface (not visible unless you go under the waves). What makes it so difficult to clean up, is the small size of the debris.

[My 2 cents]

If it was to be cleaned up, then what? Where do you dispose of it "properly"?

[Obie]

First it was plastic grocery bags then plastic straws and now plastic water bottles that are the cause of ocean pollution.

In all of the ocean cleanups I participated in down in Kapoho, it was fishing gear from fishermen and fishing boats that we picked up.Tons of nets and fishing line.Ropes,coolers,floats but I don't think I ever saw a grocery bag.

Let's ban water bottles, maybe if the fishermen don't have water to drink they will quit fishing and leaving their nets behind.

[PaulW]

HOTPE, yes I know, which is why I’m always amused when clueless people try to post videos of it. Dishonesty doesn’t help the cause.

That plastic should ideally be collected up and recycled. Even being in a landfill would be better than having it in the water. Best of all if we can get Asia to stop dumping it there in the first place.

[MarkP]

I think I read that most of the plastic in the pacific garbage patch comes from Asia so what we do in Hawaii is not going to change things directly.

[Rob Tucker]

This back and forth is precisely why I am not optimistic about mankind's future on this planet.

[kalakoa]

The issue at hand is: should we develop some local industry or not. Neither outcome will change the amount of plastic in the environment. It's possible that local bottling will result in more local shipping of product, which means a small reduction in fossil fuel consumption.

not optimistic about mankind's future on this planet

If humans don't leave the planet, our species will become extinct. We're running out of time. Arguments about plastic are pointless.

[MarkD]

"In all of the ocean cleanups I participated in down in Kapoho, it was fishing gear from fishermen and fishing boats that we picked up.Tons of nets and fishing line.Ropes,coolers,floats but I don't think I ever saw a grocery bag."

Next to sea life getting trapped in ghost fishing nets, one of the biggest problems is tiny (micro) pieces of plastic which form and are eaten by very small marine life, including fish hatchlings. Very debilitating to them.

Raising the question as to whether it would be better for plastic to be formulated not to break into little tiny pieces. (Do water bottles break up so?) Large pieces float, can be retrieved from the ocean surface.

Related article:

https://nypost.com/2019/01/06/giant-tras...aks-apart/

[kalakoa]

sea life getting trapped in ghost fishing nets

Ocean temperatures are warming, which will have more impact.

Ironically, the plastic patch mitigates this effect slightly.

whether it would be better for plastic to be formulated not to break into little tiny pieces

Stop putting plastic into the ocean in the first place? I know, too simple.