China's going to be fine.
"In China, people burned crude oil and gas for heat and light as early as 500 B.C. By the fourth century A.D., they were drilling for these natural resources and transporting it via bamboo pipes."
#HannahOsborne, 2024
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WTF?!
"The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that under current policies, the global use of plastics could triple by 2060."
#HannahOsborne, 2024
"I couldn't even imagine health care without plastics, and I don't even think we should go there. I would argue that plastic has allowed very important innovation of medical devices and supplies, and is here to stay."
#DrJodiSherman, Founding Director, Yale Program on Healthcare Environmental Sustainability
Head in the sand, much? How will you get plastic, without the fossil fuel industry spitting it out as byproduct?
@strypey There are a lot of areas where plastic reduction is nearly impossible.
But there are a lot of areas where plastic use can be reduced.
Just because we can't do everything doesn't mean that we should do nothing.
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@roknrol
> There are a lot of areas where plastic reduction is nearly impossible
This line of argument, like the good doctor's, presumes that continuing to use plastic as we do now is an option. Thus my question.
Plastic is cheap and ubiquitous because its made from the byproducts of oil refineries. As oil use peaks and declines, in response to climate change and long term energy security concerns, so will oil refining. At which point making plastic will get *very* expensive.
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Maybe bioplastics will be a viable replacement. But I think it behooves someone in Dr Sherman's role to at least consider the possibilities of plastic-free healthcare. Not act as if just because plastic is really useful to doctors, supply will be magically sustained at or near current prices.
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