I'd take that tradeoff in a heartbeat. We can find solutions for drip irrigation and other flexible piping.
Not having to worry about landfills or microplastics or other contamination would be a godsend, even if it meant we had to go back to using wood and metal and clay and cloth in numerous circumstances.
they just siphon the nutrients out of the plastic, and then shit out the toxins.
:jesse-wtf:
Plastics don't really have nutrients. PVC has chlorine in it but so does sea salt. The polymer breaks down into simple components, and the chemical energy would come from the single carbon bonds of the skeleton.
:shrug-outta-hecks: i just remember getting excited about hearing about mealworms being able to eat styrofoam and someone said to me "Nah, it's not gonna save the environment because they shit out a lot of bad stuff that still isn't broken down". Now obviously they worded it smarter than that, but I'm a dumbass and can't remember.
Breaking down bigger pieces into smaller pieces. It really only stops being a microplastic when the last dimer is converted to a monomer, and those sizes of 0.01-1.0 micrometers can interfere with a lot of cellular functions.
In other words, if you break it down, you want to break it down all the way.
I'd take that tradeoff in a heartbeat. We can find solutions for drip irrigation and other flexible piping.
Not having to worry about landfills or microplastics or other contamination would be a godsend, even if it meant we had to go back to using wood and metal and clay and cloth in numerous circumstances.
in every case I have looked at so far where bugs eat plastic, they just siphon the nutrients out of the plastic, and then shit out the toxins.
so you would just have bug poop filled with microplastic toxins everywhere
:jesse-wtf:
Plastics don't really have nutrients. PVC has chlorine in it but so does sea salt. The polymer breaks down into simple components, and the chemical energy would come from the single carbon bonds of the skeleton.
:shrug-outta-hecks: i just remember getting excited about hearing about mealworms being able to eat styrofoam and someone said to me "Nah, it's not gonna save the environment because they shit out a lot of bad stuff that still isn't broken down". Now obviously they worded it smarter than that, but I'm a dumbass and can't remember.
Breaking down bigger pieces into smaller pieces. It really only stops being a microplastic when the last dimer is converted to a monomer, and those sizes of 0.01-1.0 micrometers can interfere with a lot of cellular functions.
In other words, if you break it down, you want to break it down all the way.