Environmental impact of sanding discs; biodegradable plastic

[Meillo]

Hoi,

many people recommend having some sand paper in the bag to remove little platic spikes or rough edges after tree or rock hits. However, yet I've never heard anyone talk about the environmental impact of this doing. It directly creates micro plastic that is spread into the ground on the course! Ecologically responsible behavior requires to capture all the micro pieces that come off in the sanding process (which will be pretty difficult, as some even float in the air) and insert them into the recycling system. I can hardly imagine how this is achievable in practice on the course. At home it might be possible. I think that we should start looking at these aspects of our sport as well.

I much like Trash Panda's effort (and his videos). This is one important part, that I'd like to see spread.

The other part, which I still miss to be brought into focus, is the biodegradability of the plastic. I understand why it is hardly addressed: we feel pretty helpless in this regard. If my disc hits rough objects, it most likely emits small pieces of plastic into the environment. (Skipping off roads is a horror example.) I cannot avoid this when playing disc golf. If I play with recycled discs this aspect does not go away. There's only one solution: plastic that is biodegradable. We need discs (completely) out of plastic that ``goes away'' automatically after at least less than a human's lifetime. There's no other way, our sport can become ecologically friendly.

Have you heard of discussions on this topic yet? Is it on the PDGA's agenda? Do you think about it? And what do you think about it or how have you changed your behavior in some way?

 

[Smigles]

I have not heared discussion about this.

Personally i soften down my discs at home, over a bin.

Getting manufacturers to use biodegradable plastic can be achieved in two ways. We vote with our wallets or we get the PDGA to make some rules about it.

 

[Meillo]

Getting manufacturers to use biodegradable plastic can be achieved in two ways. We vote with our wallets or we get the PDGA to make some rules about it.

The third way is talking about it and creating public pressure.

 

[Jay Dub]

You would have to literally show me these piles of plastic created by sanding your discs.

Also, I sand mine at home. Rarely have I done it while playing.

This is a solution looking for a problem.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I am all for responsible stewardship of the outdoors and sustainable behavior, but...

Also , I sand mine at home. Rarely have I done it while playing.

This is a solution looking for a problem.

I with Jay Dub. I've never kept sandpaper in my bag. And if everyone who sand discs does it at home over a garbage can, then your not releasing plastic particulate into the environment. The real problem it presents it when it washed into bodies of water.

If anything, catching it in the garbage, would only accelerate the breakdown of the plastic once it eventually ends up in a landfill (admittedly only by an infinitesimal amount ...of an infinitesimal amount).

 

[Emoney]

I think we can be close to making biodegradable plastic and also using recycled/natural materials to produce plastic...

Gateway is in a prime position to do this....they could easily rebrand (or at least heavily promote)themselves as a ECo-friendly disc company and produce a full lineup of these types of discs...slap some cool modern branding on it and i think they could be hugely popular.... They dont have to reinvent the wheel, just do what everyone else does...make a buzzz, teebird, destroyer type disc but super environmentally friendly.

I bought a lotto ticket yesterday....if i win...i will make them an offer to buy their company and this is what i would do....wish me luck lol

Ocean plastic Wizard anyone?
Recycled bottle/hemp Buzzz?
Recycled Rubber blend Teebird?
Biodegradable/locally sourced recycled plastic Destroyer?

I dont know if we can completely stop environmental impact from discs but i think we can do a better job using recycled or natural material.

 

[autocrosscrx]

So....

The part that we sand down wears away. Is the impact between sanding it down with sandpaper that different than the impact of grinding it away when hyzering it off a sidewalk or a tree?

 

[Jay Dub]

So....

The part that we sand down wears away. Is the impact between sanding it down with sandpaper that different than the impact of grinding it away when hyzering it off a sidewalk or a tree?

Don't forget about the bottoms of your shoes. All that stuff that wears off has to go somewhere.

 

[jakebake91]

Can some someone show me where "biodegradable plastic" materials are being cost effectively produced? I'm absolutely not staying that they aren't, I'm just not aware of such a thing.

If such a material exists, can practical disc golf discs be made in a manner that's practical?

My personal experience tells me that the plastic sciences aren't there yet, or we would see that branding EVERYWHERE. Beverage companies, for example, would be all over that.

 

[swhite]

I am one of the people that likes to talk about sanding discs on these forums. All of my sanding is done at home over a waste receptacle. So, the plastic particles are contained in that way.
Whether that is enough to be considered ecologically responsible is, of course, up for debate, as is any activity involving producing and throwing plastic.

 

[ru4por]

While I appreciate the kind intentions toward mother earth, I dare say this is not even really a thing. In over three decades of discing, I have seen a total of NONE players sanding a disc in the woods. I too have touched up my disc at home, so I am sure people do it. The impact is not significant.

Things I see as more significant than disc dust. The impact created by transportation to the course. Tire wear on my cart, displacement of flora and fauna, erosion, footwear wear, smoking and vaping, plastic shed from donning and doffing of disc golf bags, sports/rosin bags, lost sunglasses, basket wear, tee pad deicers, cement, cigarette butts, water bottles, soda/beer cans, plastic bags....

Let's start with getting the trash picked up on our courses. :thmbup:

 

[jakebake91]

While I appreciate the kind intentions toward mother earth, I dare say this is not even really a thing. In over three decades of discing, I have seen a total of NONE players sanding a disc in the woods. I too have touched up my disc at home, so I am sure people do it. The impact is not significant.

Things I see as more significant than disc dust. The impact created by transportation to the course. Tire wear on my cart, displacement of flora and fauna, erosion, footwear wear, smoking and vaping, plastic shed from donning and doffing of disc golf bags, sports/rosin bags, lost sunglasses, basket wear, tee pad deicers, cement, cigarette butts, water bottles, soda/beer cans, plastic bags....

Let's start with getting the trash picked up on our courses. :thmbup:

This.
Let's fix some issues now what we can actually fix.

 

[Meillo]

The problem I have with the tire wear argument is that it is fatal to discussions. Yes, tire wear is huge against all else and we mainly have to accept it (if we want to drive fast and flexible). But this doesn't mean we shouldn't try to improve on lesser problems. (There's a German saying: "Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist die Mark nicht wert." In English: "If you don't value the Cent, you're not worth the Dollar.")

Equally and in parallel we should seek for solutions for the big problems. Producing less plastic is important. Littering less plastic is important. Recycling plastic is important. ... Thankfully all this is (slowly) starting to become general knowledge. I like to put some more focus on the biodegradability of plastic, because that is at least half a solution for all the worst cases. It does not reduce the amount of plastic produced, but it avoids plastic that kills animals for CENTURIES! The lifespan of conventional plastic is huge! Several lifetimes of human beings. There's no solution for that but to wait for centuries. That's like nuklear waste, with the difference that the pastic is everywhere. If at least we would use plastic that biodegrades automatically, then the worst case would not be as bad as it is now, and what we litter today would not remain for several generations after me, but would be gone away during my own lifetime.

Investing in these platics, in the research, the production ... all this takes time, decades usually. We should show our will for progress in this area ... while we're doing all the easy to fix things, that have been brought up in the posts above. That's no either-or, but an aswell.

 

[uncle pennybags]

What about every time my base plastic putter hits the basket hard? Or bounce off a tree? That seems like a bigger producer of micro-plastic litter then rubbing some flashing off once.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

See with the sandpaper I would be as worried about the aluminum oxide(?) Coming off the sandpaper than the micro plastic..

What about that fatal tree hit that renders the disc useless? If we wanted to recycle that disc there isn't a stamp to tell us what bin it may be accepted in, probably because it's a blend and that may not be recyclable.

 

[DavidSauls]

I'd think one lost disc has contributed more plastic to the environment than all the microplastic shedding I've produced over a quarter-century of playing.

And I've lost a few more than one disc.

 

[glassila]

If 1000 players all decided to sand their discs on the 1st tee at the same course for 5 years, would there even be 6 ounces of disc dust?

 

[DavidSauls]

Anyway, my experience is like some others here -- I've played a long time, with a lot of people, and I've never seen anyone sand a disc on the course. I'd consider it an infinitesimally small problem if they did, and consider it even less so with its infrequency.

 

[autocrosscrx]

I'd think one lost disc has contributed more plastic to the environment than all the microplastic shedding I've produced over a quarter-century of playing.

And I've lost a few more than one disc.

You monster!

 

[dmoore1998]

I would think if you're willing to engage in a non-critical/recreational activity which contributes huge amounts of non-biodegradable plastic into the world...then sanding off some minor shavings (which I've literally never seen anyone do out on a course) is negligible. Certainly we should seek to solve smaller problems, not just larger ones. But seeing as how disc golf is a recreational activity, if anyone really cared about the environmental impact that much...they simply would abstain altogether. That said, the environmental impact of the base activity (in this case throwing discs) seems nearly negligible, and probably not worth spending much time improving given the cost/benefit of doing so.

In considering the biodegradable plastics...the issue becomes how fast do they degrade? If they don't degrade fast enough, then what's the point? And if they do degrade quickly then they will start breaking down quicker, which means you must replace them quicker, which means any negative impacts of production are happening more often. I'd argue biodegrading discs are not necessarily a goal...though using recycled materials probably is.