Stitches – plastic, transportation, business

Plastics:

This is a great place to learn about the challenges and devastating effects of plastic.

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. We need to strictly regulate labeling so that it’s easier to sort plastic for recycling.
  2. We need to install systems to easily gather, sort, and distribute waste similar to what Sweden is doing https://sweden.se/nature/the-swedish-recycling-revolution/
  3. Glass bottles should have more regulated sizes so that food manufacturers use the same bottles as each other. Make it easy to return bottles to the grocery store or numerous other locations and have a machine return a few cents to you. For a minimal environmental cost the bottles are then returned to central facilities and cleaned and sterilized before being re-sold to manufacturers.
  4. All plastic should be plant-based and compostable unless the manufacturer can prove it needs to be petroleum-based.

Transport:

Buses are the most flexible form of public transportation and use the least amount of carbon per passenger mile, around 0.25 lbs.

Current barriers to using the bus:

  • Long wait times make it inconvenient.
  • Buses often do not run 24/7.
  • Not enough routes, so it could be miles to the nearest bus stop.
  • Nobody wants to use such an inconvenient system unless they have to, so the bus system cannot afford to get better.
  • Let’s be honest, a lot of people are scared of who they might have to sit next to.
  • Many people have literally never used a transit bus and are afraid of how hard it might be to learn.

Solutions:

  • Every car will have black-out days every month assigned by the number or letter at the end of your license plate. At the same time, bus service will be increased on all routes to be minimum every 30 minutes all day long and to continue overnight, with at least one bus every hour overnight. If you want to go somewhere on your black-out day, you can use the bus, hitch a ride with a friend, ride a bike, walk, take a taxi or ride-share, or ride your skateboard there. I’m guessing around two-thirds of affected people will use the bus. Since only 1 out of 30 people will be affected on any given day, the bus system will be able to handle the increase without being overwhelmed.
  • People will get used to riding the bus, there will be less stigma because everyone does it, and people will get more comfortable and start to enjoy the ability to relax during their commutes.
  • After a few months, each license plate number will have two black-out days per month and buses will be upgraded to free wifi, even more frequent stops, and expanded routes if needed.
  • Tickets: $5 or $10 fines per instance of breaking the law. After the first 6 offenses in a year, however, each offense will add 1 point to driver’s record.
  • When truly needed, people can get exceptions for their car.
  • Continue to improve the buses and increase ridership to 80%.

Goal: 80% of North American commuting, errands, and trips are made by bus, commuter rail, or subway because it’s way easier, cheaper, uses less overall time, and allows more time for fun versus focusing on the road.

Using tax dollars wisely to help everyone transition:

People are often restricted by lack of money from making improvements. It’s important for each region to identify the biggest priorities and use a triage system to tackle the challenges they face and where to allocate money.

Task force:

It’s hard for city councils and state governments to re-invent the wheel all the time, which is why, for example, model building codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_building_code are so popular. This allows a town or county or state to adopt a pre-written set of laws and guidelines and make it part of their laws easily and quickly. We need to do the same for tackling plastic pollution, greenhouse gases, and reforming agriculture.

Carbon taxes: I think carbon taxes are a reasonable tool to decrease carbon emissions. Like all taxes, they should be planned very carefully so as not to make life harder for ordinary working people (the taxes which give back money to citizens are cool) while strongly encouraging businesses to conduct business in ways that are significantly less damaging than before. For more info see https://www.carbontax.org/