Scientists find worms can safely eat the plastic in our garbage

www.sciencealert.com...

Garbage is a big problem. Even with so many of us doing our bit to help out with recycling, the amount of unrecyclable and discarded plastics in the US alone comes close to 30 million tonnes annually, thanks to things like disposable coffee cups (2.5 billion of which are thrown away by Americans every year). We’re looking at you, Starbucks.

Well hot damn! We got us a way to get rid of all plastic consuming our planet because we love us some plastic! The special worm in question that can devour plastic and safely poop it out becoming plant food, the meal worm.

Science giveth and science taketh away. Congrats on a job well done Science!

a reply to: Swills

That's pretty unbelievable mealworms have an enzyme that digests plastic, and can stay healthy too. And guess what else? Mealworms are high in fat and protein. Yum yum. I see an mealworm recycling/ bug restaurant business in the foreseeable future.
www.prevention.com...

a reply to: Swills

It says half is converted into carbon dioxide. Would that be an issue if meal worms were implemented on a huge scale to eliminate plastic waste?

originally posted by: Lucid Lunacy
a reply to: Swills

It says half is converted into carbon dioxide. Would that be an issue if meal worms were implemented on a huge scale to eliminate plastic waste?

Not nearly as bad a problem as non-bio-degradable plastic lying around for centuries.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Not nearly as bad a problem as non-bio-degradable plastic lying around for centuries.

I think it would be a good deal worse.

originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Not nearly as bad a problem as non-bio-degradable plastic lying around for centuries.

I think it would be a good deal worse.

Turn dump sites into forests and it's better.

Nature saves us

Keep it in a contained environment and channel the carbon dioxide as you wish. Shouldn't be a problem. I'd package the deal as a plastic recycler turned into plant food aquaponics gig. You have the CO2 and vermiculture just need some water and plumbing to get fish, veggies and oxygen.

originally posted by: Lucid Lunacy
a reply to: Swills

It says half is converted into carbon dioxide. Would that be an issue if meal worms were implemented on a huge scale to eliminate plastic waste?

Don't most plant use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis? Don't you exhale carbon dioxide with every breath you take? So really what is the issue? global warming? Generation of CO2 is a normal thing for living creatures and that is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of tons of CO2 generated by a coal fired power plant on a daily basis.

While meal worms may consume styrofoam if they have no other food source, does not mean that is there preferred diet and in reality not necessarily a solution to plastic pollution.

Give people getting unemployment, welfare, food stamps a bit more $$ for bringing in old unused plastic for recycle. If that wont work tie the unemployment, welfare and food stamps to bringing in plastic for recycle.

Wont be any more plastic laying around.

originally posted by: mapsurfer_
Don't most plant use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis? Don't you exhale carbon dioxide with every breath you take? So really what is the issue?

The issue is carbon dioxide levels are up to 400 ppm and prior to this recent increase, they have been below about 300PPM for the last 650,000 years so it's historically a relatively high concentration. Not just CO2, but methane concentration has also increased. Here's the graph for CO2:

climate.nasa.gov...

In 2013, CO2 levels surpassed 400 ppm for the first time in recorded history. This recent relentless rise in CO2 shows a remarkably constant relationship with fossil-fuel burning, and can be well accounted for based on the simple premise that about 60 percent of fossil-fuel emissions stay in the air.

By the way most plastics have their origins in fossil fuels so mealworms releasing more CO2 from eating plastic is more CO2 ultimately from fossil fuels. Apparently plants etc can absorb about 40% of the excess emissions but the other 60% remains in the air according to that site.

Funny thing about those CO2 issues that arose in this thread is that CO2 levels and global warming and cooling events because of greenhouse gasses were occurring before we, or the industrial age ever showed to generate excess CO2.

Things are rhythmic, cyclic.

Doesn't matter what we do, the planet will fix itself....

I wouldn't mind having a composting area full of those worms though because I wouldn't have to be so mindful of the knowledge that that plastic I contribute being released into the wind to blow around or get washed away in the rain and collect in gyres in oceans and such is feeding meal-worms which I can then use for fishing or feeding to chickens and injured birds I find in the springtime....

Everything would be closer to right if the things that are obviously wrong were not used to profit somehow by so many.

I used to buy meal worms for my lizard in plastic tubs. Did not eat there way our of it.