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Originally Posted by xepherys
Not true.
* Organic meats and vegetables: Negatives? They cost more. Positives? They put less harmful chemicals into the environment and into our bodies making us and the Earth healthier.
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Negatives, lower crop yields on top of the higher cost. Mmmm doesn't sound good for feeding the growing population. This will be handled of course by genetic modification.
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* Recycling: Negatives? If done wrong, can be harmful to the environment. Positives? If done right, can be quite beneficial. Recycling can also go on ad infinitum, more or less. Plastic bags turn into pop bottles which can turn back into bags, or sandwich bags or milk jugs which can be recycled back into pop bottles. This goes for most metals and paper and MOST plastics. Also less of a need to deforest the planet entirely.
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Negatives, higher costs in some cases than making the product new. Recycling is fine but won't solve the population puzzle.
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* Alternative fuels: Negatives? High cost in R&D. Also can be bad if done wrong. Positives? Hydrogen and electric vehicles could SIGNIFICANTLY reduce ozone depleting chemicals and smog producers. The creation of electricity can be done using solar/wind/water power for ultra-clean, and controlled nuclear power for semi-clean (still much better than coal and the like which is used is many countries around the world, including the US). Hydrogen can be created using reduction methods that do not have harmful byproducts.
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This one is the kicker. THIS is where the standard of living takes the dive. Cheap and plentiful energy = higher standard of living. Currently solar, water, and wind can't do it. Nuclear is fine with me, but anything that makes energy more expensive is bad.
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* Soaps and detergents: Negatives? Neutral and biodegradeable products are considered "niche" and are more expensive. If they were requested 100% then they would not be niche and would cost less (probably not as much as 'cheaper' stuff, but still). Positives? They are better for you, the Earth, animals that must swim in, live in or drink our planets water.
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Very minor problem, the real water problem in most areas is fertilizer run off.