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Paper, especially when made stronger, or water resistant, or anyhow special has a lot of additions. And paint. Just saying.

I just checked something: Germany is EXPORTING the plastic waste to China. 87% of it. Can you believe that? This is not what they promised as they established the "green point" system. We are basically paying some extra for the packaging, so they can beeping RECYCLE it. But actually the better way would probably be to burn it, to at least get some energy out of it. Germany has enough infrastructure for burning general waste, actually we are importing waste as fuel from abroad, while shipping tons of plastic to China that burns part of it anyway. Did someone say "CO2 footprint"? 😕

The situation will change though, because China stopped the imports recently - because they cannot control it anymore.

The most plastic in the sea comes from the countries with poor waste disposal, many of them being the tourism centres.

The only way seems to reduce the consumption - but the consumption = milions and milions of jobs.

I think we are beeped. That's why I sympathise with Thanos.

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3 hours ago, J.P. said:

The most plastic in the sea comes from the countries with poor waste disposal, many of them being the tourism centres.

That would be my first guess, for sure.  With an assist by individuals littering in coastal areas.

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19 hours ago, J.P. said:

I just checked something: Germany is EXPORTING the plastic waste to China. 87% of it. Can you believe that? This is not what they promised as they established the "green point" system. We are basically paying some extra for the packaging, so they can beeping RECYCLE it. But actually the better way would probably be to burn it, to at least get some energy out of it. Germany has enough infrastructure for burning general waste, actually we are importing waste as fuel from abroad, while shipping tons of plastic to China that burns part of it anyway. Did someone say "CO2 footprint"? 😕

 

Most western countries export waste. Now the countries that have been importing it are overrun and are stopping imports. Some are even shipping it back! We need alternatives and fast.

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A few years back, the husband of a friend was working with a company in Japan that had invented a "furnace" that would turn anything into plasma -- no smoke, no ashes.  Then he retired, so I hadn't heard anything more, but now I see that Wikipedia describes it as a "clean" waste-disposal process that even powers itself.

I just keep thinking what a great gimmick that would be for a crime show!

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Since we know that Mycroft writes Wikipedia, do we need to worry?

After all, he said that the government need a scalpel, a delicate way to 'take care' of things.....

Or maybe all he did was writing thousand of words about  toilet paper orientation ...

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The great toilet-paper debate clearly deserved a thread of its own -- and a poll!  So I've split it off so y'all can express your opinions.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I guess this is more for my fellow Americans because it's kind of a cultural question: Is it very common to have a graduation party?  I mean, is it more unusual not to have a graduation party than to have one?  I'm asking because I'm seeing a lot of them right now, and thinking back, it seems like a good majority of the people I knew had one.  I didn't have one, but I didn't have any friends, and my family doesn't celebrate my accomplishments.  I guess I'm just curious if that's far outside the norm or not.  I didn't get any money or presents from my parents (or anyone) upon graduation either, and whenever that's come up in conversation, people tend to act like it's really strange and crazy, 'cause they all got something.

 

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Eeek, you're asking me to really stretch my memory... :blink:  If by graduation party, you mean a party thrown on an individual graduate's behalf, no, I don't recall that being a thing. There may have been group parties to which some of the grads were invited, but I sort of think that would just have been for the kids who were friends already. I certainly didn't go to one, nor do I remember there being one to go to. But I most likely wouldn't have gone even if asked, so who knows.

Gifts, on the other hand … I got gifts from lots of people. Money's a very common grad gift, they even make special cards for the occasion that you can tuck the money into. I think Ms. Manners would say that it's … er … good manners … to give gifts to a grad. :smile: 

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This goes back a good ways for me as well.  I recall an informal party that one of the teachers gave for my entire high-school graduating class.  I don't believe that anyone gave a party for just me (though my mother may have baked a "Happy Graduation" cake for dessert that night), but my parents gave me a watch (they bought it used, then had it engraved with my name and graduation year).  Also, my father's younger brother gave me a good hardback dictionary (which saw a great deal of use, especially during college), and his older brother may also have given me something.  I don't recall getting anything from my mother's side of the family.

When I graduated from college, I remember my parents and my father's older brother (quite possibly his younger brother as well) attending the ceremony.  They may have given me presents, but I don't actually remember, and I don't recall any parties.

But as I said, that's been a long time.  I have no idea what the current customs are.

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7 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I think Ms. Manners would say that it's … er … good manners … to give gifts to a grad. :smile:

I guess my people missed that lesson, lol.

I think grad parties are more common for high school graduates than college, but I'm not sure.  Do either of you have any younger relatives, or friends with younger relatives, who you've heard of having a grad party?

 

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Both my brother and my sister had parties for their children when they graduated high school; my oldest niece graduated in 1997 and my youngest in 2009. So during that time span grad parties where the custom, and my sister just went to a grad party for a friend's son. Our parties were cookouts/picnic outdoor parties. Many years ago when I graduated I got several gifts from family and friends but no party.

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I can't fathom how having an individual party would work around here. With around 1500 graduates a year in the county alone (and who knows how many in the two incorporated cities), if each one had a party, who would they invite? Since everyone else is having their own party … unless it's just for family, I suppose that's possible.

On the other hand, while I was researching the number of grads, I ran across this: another mass shooting ... this time at a graduation party.

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11 hours ago, Arcadia said:

... if each one had a party, who would they invite? Since everyone else is having their own party … unless it's just for family....

 Yeah, a lot of them would probably be basically family parties.  Most of the other parties would probably be small, mostly just a circle of friends, and the one party might be for all of them.  Plus the parties could be spread over a week or two.

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Yeah, but that still seems like it would be an awful lot of parties ..... Maybe I'm imagining that most kids have more friends than they actually do. I know it always seemed that way when I was in school; I'd have maybe one or two friends, but everyone else (it seemed) was friends with everybody … because they'd all grown up in the same neighborhood, and I was always the newcomer. But maybe I mistook familiarity for closeness.

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4 hours ago, Arcadia said:

... that still seems like it would be an awful lot of parties....

Maybe it really is an awful lot of parties!  When I went to the prom, the guy borrowed the family car and picked me up.  Nowadays a lot of kids apparently hire limos.  So things do seem to have changed.

4 hours ago, Arcadia said:

... everyone else (it seemed) was friends with everybody … because they'd all grown up in the same neighborhood, and I was always the newcomer. But maybe I mistook familiarity for closeness.

Yes, you probably are.  I was one of those twelve-years-in-the-same-school kids, and nevertheless generally felt like an outsider.

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On 6/16/2019 at 8:58 AM, Artemis said:

I guess my people missed that lesson, lol.

I think grad parties are more common for high school graduates than college, but I'm not sure.  Do either of you have any younger relatives, or friends with younger relatives, who you've heard of having a grad party?

 

Both my cousins in the US had parties thrown for them by their parents recently when they graduated high school and college, respectively. They were day time affairs with mostly relatives as guests. Definitely involving presents, I sent mine because I couldn't travel. Dunno if they did something with peers in the evenings too. 

Over here in Germany, there's usually a prom type event and an after party for the high school graduates but families throwing parties for the individual (ex-) students isn't so common afaik. 

I hate parties and don't even really celebrate my birthdays so I certainly didn't want one. When I finished university, my then boyfriend (now husband) and I went out to dinner and that was it. There was a ceremony half a year later (why?) on campus that I couldn't attend because I was already working. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
4 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

Wishing everyone over the pond a happy 4th of July 🇱🇷👍

Isn't it the 4th of July over there too?  ;)

 

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Yes enjoy your liberty day, people....

Sorry Carol, can't quite get my head around that!

(In Molly vein): you probably should say thank you.

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Maybe a bit of clarification is in order.

The 4th of July is simply the date we celebrate ...

Independence Day!

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6 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

Wishing everyone over the pond a happy 4th of July 🇱🇷👍

 

1 hour ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Isn't it the 4th of July over there too?  ;)

 

1 hour ago, besleybean said:

Sorry Carol, can't quite get my head around that!

 

Just in case I've actually confused anyone, there's an old joke here:

Q:  Do they have a Fourth of July in England?

A:  Yes, it comes between the third and the fifth.

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3 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Isn't it the 4th of July over there too?  ;)

 

Most people that know me say that I don’t know what day it is.☹️

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