One about plastic. And covid19

Yes, today we talk about Corona Virus. Well it’s not actually about Covid, rather one of the unpleasant effects of it. Well, rather, an unpleasant effect of the human behavior connected to it. I recon there are much more serious side effects, especially for people who has lost loved one, livelihood, and had their health affected. So I apologize straightaway if you think this is a petty cause of mine. Plus it is n)ot that unpleasant effect of Covid19 were in short supply: travel bans, lockdowns, frozen economic activity, roller-coaster markets.

The thing is, there is little I can do to influence said externalities. Mostly because I am just a gguy with some opinions and not much else, I prefer letting scientists do the talk. Way too many people are polluting the web, and beyond, with their unfunded opinions. And that’s fine, opinions are like armpits, everyone has at least 2, they usually stink but we have a right to hold them.

But I am digressing.

So for the previous reasons I have refrained about writing anything about Covid. But this I think I am entitled to write about.

Why? Because I am talking about plastics, bad manners and solutions.

All things I have a modicum of knowledge. Especially plastics and bad manners(not that I consider myself a boor, but unfortunately, coming from Italy, I saw a thing or two about bad environmental habit, especially when it comes to waste disposal).

Because this is what we are talking about: Trash, and its disposal, and the terrible effect it has on our health( yes on the environment too. But that affects the health directly).

It is disheartening to read that one of the first and most visual effect of the pandemic is a blooming (yeah, right) pollution of plastic items connected, mostly, with personal protection gear. Masks, visros, shields, gloves. Everywhere.

According to an article in this weeks’ edition of the Economist, consumption of single use plastic has grown by 300%in America alone. This means a lot of it ends up in landfill, or worse, in the ocean. Contributing further to a ballooning problem of pollution in the ocean. Ah, and guys, in case you forget, that plastic ends up in your Tuna and your Sushi. So although  geographically distant, it is a real health problem.

What to do about it? The first point, I am risking sounding like your mum (or mine for that matter)is: dispose of your trash responsibly. Don’t be a pig. Actually, pigs are an order of magnitude cleaner than us…Least you want to eat your own garbage, that is.

The second side is cultural. I heard all the raving about how thanks god the Covid was reducing our CO2 emissions, and we end up making the situation worse through trash. Oil based trash, at that.

Yes, plastic is made out of oil. And oil, thanks to Covid, is extremely cheap.

Hence Plastic is cheap. That’s bad, really bad. It might be cheap to produce and use, but its consumption externalities are anything but.

So how we can solve this? First thing that comes to my mind is: innovation.

We must find a way to produce cheaper plastics. People are lazy and short of a strongly orchestrated government coercion, will not reduce their plastic use. And good luck having such efforts in such a dire economic situation.

So on the end, the solution must be market based: ie.finding a way to produce REALLY biodegradable plastic and doing it cheap. So cheap in fact that traditional plastic needs to become obsolete.

Seems like it’s impossible? Well, 200 years ago seemed like Steam was the only way of producing power. Does not seem like Steam was displaced by regulation, rather by economics.

We need to do the same with plastic. Even more pressing than electrifying our cars, we need to stop choking our oceans and planet with all this trash.

And here I think I might give my own contribution.

How we can do affordable plastics?

We need a way to produce plastics from waste. Really. And it must be cheap enough to compete with its fossil-fuel based counterparts. Or else we are screwed.

There were a few attempts, more or less successful, to produce plastics out of plants. But the problem with this is that we cannot afford to cultivate land to produce plastics: agriculture is already doing quite a bit of damage with stuff we must produce in order to eat (like Soybeans or Corn).

Plus, to probably no-ones surprise, biodegradable plastic is often anything but.(see https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191030-why-biodegradables-wont-solve-the-plastic-crisis)

Does that exist? I don’t know. But I know that there are companies working on it.

There are companies trying to convert this waste into energy, or materials building blocks.

But there are surely a bunch of companies that I do not know about. Companies that need funding or advice or both.

And I am reaching out to my network: please, tell me a good company that is doing something about this.

I have a dire need to do something useful. Like investing in a company that helps the planet.

This is actually one of the reasons I do not invest in shares that much: I want to invest in stuff that makes a difference, albeit small. And where my investment, albeit small, makes a difference.

I understand it, climate change, electric cars, all the great things that are happening. But I am a firm believer in personal responsibility.

I essentially believe that if you want to change the world, start with the little things around yourself.

That is my definition of Freedom: the ability to make a difference, albeit small. Freedom is a very big world, too big for my little brain. Hence I prefer to fill it with small actions, and maybe that helps. At least can help people around me, and there is that.

So to conclude this small rumbling 3 things (in order of importance):

1.     Please, dispose of you trash appropriately. Like don’t throw it wherever happens, unless you really enjoy eating it.(and it will make you feel better, act like a civilized decent human being)

2.     Please think about your plastic usage, especially in this times. I understand for the moment we need masks and visors. But do we really need a plastic wrap for every single piece of vegetables that we buy?

3.     Please, help me find out the companies that are finding, or trying to find way to reduce plastic usage. Or are finding way to do proper biodegradable plastic. I am willing to put my time and, if the time is right, my money behind it.

We are living testing times, it is not easy on anyone, and it is not easy on our environment. We have done some progress on getting rid of the overuse of plastics. Let’s not use Covid as an excuse to revert to the old habits. Please. You owe this to yourself and your children, after all. Stay safe out there people. I am waiting for your ideas.