The precautionary principle is a great way of slowing progress to a crawl. The only way to solve massive problems like the things you’re afraid of is to make as much progress as possible as quickly as possible.

I get the skepticism, but reality is complicated.

Plastic saves lives, conserves energy, and makes the economy faster and better. Outright removal will be nothing short of impossible.

Consumers don't want to be inconvenienced. Starbucks couldn't even keep non-plastic straws on without a massive amount of customer complaints.

Plastic alternative materials science has a long way to go to even meet the same needs. There are some interesting developments with wood and ceramics, especially in the building world, but plastics are and were nothing short of a miracle.

Unless the number of deaths directly attributable to plastics crosses some alarming threshold, nothing will be done. People would rather go about their daily lives.

It's kind of like how people continue driving cars, flying, and using coal-fired electricity despite being warned of global warming. It's not going to change until people really feel it and demand it. They'd rather keep using their iPhone and read about the issue on Twitter.

Plastic requires extraction and process of petrol which is neither clean nor energy efficient, it also requires heat to extrude and cooling to set and release from molding. Plastics have also contributed greatly to a disposable approach to consumer products instead of durable or reusable. Lastly plastics are highly detrimental to the environment as they as and breakdown into smaller plastics that contaminate the food chain. To call them lifesaving is a farce.