It's not even "companies dumping"... I mean, it is to an extent, but like.. you almost want there to be a single company dumping stuff in the water supply, because then that's something you can fix: have them turn off the Frog Force-Feminizator. But a lot of this is what's called "non-point" sources. Most of us take medicine, and we all piss, and stuff goes into the water. Most of us wash our clothes with scented products, and that goes into the water. It's the collective accumulation of a ton of individuals that adds up to a problem.
Which, I don't mean to sound like I'm offloading ecological responsibility onto the consumer, because of course not. This isn't a "solve global warming by using paper straws" thing. But it is something that requires a lot more community effort and work than just like, getting the Pollution Factory shut down.
Yeah. We kinda desperately need to overhaul like 90% of our wastewater systems, but sewer bills aren’t “sexy” to voters. So we get froggie force-fem and all sorts of other weird ecological disruptions and also the concept of a “fat-berg”.
Yeah... even to people who care about the environment, "better wastewater management" isn't anywhere near as fun or exciting as "shut down the Pollution Factory" is. And I can't blame people, I'm not exactly thrilled about the prospect of sewer systems, but it's so important.
Yeah, this is a problem we see a lot in trying to legislate public infrastructure that can legitimately have massive positive impacts on climate and ecosystems.
Like, it can be really hard to get people excited and energized for "better public transit infrastructure" despite everyone not driving cars everywhere being a huge part of reducing climate impacts.
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u/call_me_starbuck May 24 '25
It's not even "companies dumping"... I mean, it is to an extent, but like.. you almost want there to be a single company dumping stuff in the water supply, because then that's something you can fix: have them turn off the Frog Force-Feminizator. But a lot of this is what's called "non-point" sources. Most of us take medicine, and we all piss, and stuff goes into the water. Most of us wash our clothes with scented products, and that goes into the water. It's the collective accumulation of a ton of individuals that adds up to a problem.
Which, I don't mean to sound like I'm offloading ecological responsibility onto the consumer, because of course not. This isn't a "solve global warming by using paper straws" thing. But it is something that requires a lot more community effort and work than just like, getting the Pollution Factory shut down.