Suggestion Box

[Tinkrbl44]

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@U of M Go Blue wrote:

I have a plastic bag stuck in a tree too high up for me to get it down. Its been up there for 1 1/2 years. Everytime I see it I get erked.

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@U of M Go Blue 

This may not be possible for you, but I wonder if you have some teenage boy in the area with a drone that could possibly "grab" it?    Call a local high school science teacher and ask if that's possible.  

Or, maybe this just sounds good to me because my morning coffee hasn't kicked in yet, lol.  

[Bella8888]

@Tinkrbl44 

//I've no idea what happened to that poor package during its trip to your front door.  

I do know this ... if that outer bag had been paper, you may have never received it.//

Clearly that is true!  LOL

Still advocating for less plastic in our environment. 

[Marp]

@Bella8888,  there is hope.  The following is an excerpt from an article I read last June.  Unfortunately I haven't found any follow up to know the status of this discovery but I'll continue to watch for it.

WAKO, Japan, June 4 (Reuters) - Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace.

At a lab in Wako city near Tokyo, the team demonstrated a small piece of plastic vanishing in a container of salt water after it was stirred up for about an hour.

While the team has not yet detailed any plans for commercialisation, project lead Takuzo Aida said their research has attracted significant interest, including from those in the packaging sector.

Scientists worldwide are racing to develop innovative solutions to the growing plastic waste crisis, an effort championed by awareness campaigns such as World Environment Day taking place on June 5.

Excerpted from:  reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/scientists-japan-develop-plastic-that-dissolves-seawater-within-hours-2025-06-04/

[Bella8888]

@Marp //@Bella8888,  there is hope.  The following is an excerpt from an article I read last June.  Unfortunately I haven't found any follow up to know the status of this discovery but I'll continue to watch for it.

WAKO, Japan, June 4 (Reuters) - Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace.

At a lab in Wako city near Tokyo, the team demonstrated a small piece of plastic vanishing in a container of salt water after it was stirred up for about an hour.

While the team has not yet detailed any plans for commercialisation, project lead Takuzo Aida said their research has attracted significant interest, including from those in the packaging sector.

Scientists worldwide are racing to develop innovative solutions to the growing plastic waste crisis, an effort championed by awareness campaigns such as World Environment Day taking place on June 5.//

Thank you for sharing!  I had heard of this but nothing recently.  It is a good step, but many other steps need to be taken too. The gears for change are excruciating slow! 

[77yangya]

Yeah, love it!  I was watching a trial on TV and the guy was asking...so what do you do for a living?  I said...rip up boxes....LOL!!!!

[CalminHeart]

We don't need anymore plastic. Everyone should be able to see the damage plastic trash is causing to our health as well as oceans & waterways, land, air, etc.

I use biodegradeable garbage bags, cloth bags, and paper. I recycle everything possible.