this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
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https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/germany-climate-seagrass/
People restoring sea grass to the Baltic Sea.
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/08/the-serial-killer-and-the-texas-mom-who-stopped-him
This woman stopped a serial killer.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/28/plastic-eating-bacteria-enzyme-recycling-waste
Plastic eating bacteria could change the world.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-28/quoll-thought-extinct-found-south-australia/102911364
An animal called a quoll thought to be extinct for 130 years has been rediscovered.
That’s a significant step forward from when the last time I read up on the plastic eating bacteria. Granted, I’d prefer it if it was recycled into something other than more plastic… but I’ll still take it.
I think it's highly likely there's a catch, like you have to grow 250 tons of bacteria. Usually there is with amazing advances which get a news story but not a lot of reaction from other academics.
They’re still in the process of genetically engineering the bacteria, so their efficiency is still a work in progress.
There’s also the issue that economies of scale tip heavily in plastics direction,
It’s not a carbon neutral process. There’s significant both heating and cooling involved.
And, it doesn’t really solve the issue of retiring plastics.
The last update I read on the bacteria, prior to the genetic engineering, mentioned that the bacteria didn’t actually like the plastic and would only really break it down for want of something more practical. Presumably that has been solved, but I didn’t see it brought up in the article.
This feels like an ice 9 situation