Item — HN Reader

Potential downsides to consider:

1. What happens when we remove the "negative" side of using plastic products? Why use less if the worms can eat it all? I'm guessing production and consumption of single use polyethylene products will increase.

2. What if the worms escape control, (like the possums in New Zealand, the farmed salmon in the pacific etc etc) then what sort of new disaster do we have on our hands?

2 comments

To your first point, I don't think we currently reduce plastic at all. There are some people who want to reuse and switch to alternatives but in general, plastic usage is not limited by environmental factors currently. So I doubt we'd use more plastics if we can safely recycle it all.

Even if the worms turn out to be good for plastic disposal, I still don't see how that implies your first point. The products with which plastic is made are still a limited resource.