{"id":494,"date":"2011-10-25T19:50:37","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T19:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/?p=494"},"modified":"2011-10-25T19:52:01","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T19:52:01","slug":"plastic-pellets-from-play-guns-could-cause-lasting-environmental-harm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/?p=494","title":{"rendered":"Plastic Pellets from Play guns Could Cause lasting Environmental Harm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Looks like another consumer is starting to see the reality of the issues with traditional plastics. I find it interesting that the consumer sees such a issue with the biodegradable<\/a> pellet option which claims to break down in around a year? A year is a heck of a lot faster than 500-1000+ years. Unfortunately they did not list what type of “biodegradable” plastic pellet the store offers. I am curious in what environmental conditions it will actually break down in. In this consumers particular situation they want plastic pellets that will degrade in your yard\/grass\/dirt, are super strong, and biodegrade FAST;less than a year fast. There needs to be a balance between consumer responsibility and companies environmental responsibility. Check out the article below and let me know what you think in the comment box!<\/p>\n

Plastic Pellets from Play Guns Could Cause Lasting Environmental Harm<\/span><\/h1>\n

An Oakdale Environmental Management Commission member started researching the issue after finding hundreds of the tiny BBs in his yard while lifting sod.<\/p>\n

By\u00a0Patty Busse<\/a><\/p>\n

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When Oakdale resident Keith Miller’s son played war games with an airsoft gun occasionally when he was younger, Miller said he didn\u2019t think much about the small, plastic pellets it spit out.<\/p>\n

But when he started lifting some sod in his yard recently to expand a plant bed and found hundreds of the pellets in his grass\u2014the leftovers from numerous neighborhood games\u2014the Oakdale Environmental Management Commission chair started doing some research.<\/p>\n

He found that the pellets can be toxic to animals if eaten, and don’t break down in the environment, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be there for centuries,\u201d he said at Oakdale\u2019s Environmental Management Commission meeting last week. He said he probably has thousands in his yard, which isn\u2019t surprising when you consider there are rapid-fire automatic airsoft guns on the market that can easily shoot hundreds of pellets in a minute.<\/p>\n

There are biodegradable pellets available for the guns\u2014Oakdale’s\u00a0Sports Authority<\/a> sells them\u2014but they have downsides, too. They’re two or three times the cost of the plastic ones, and they still last in the environment for about year, he said.<\/p>\n

Miller and other environmental commissioners agreed to research the issue more to determine\u00a0 what, if anything, the city should do to limit environmental harm. Recommended solutions could range from an educational campaign to further restrictions on where people can use airsoft guns, Miller said.<\/p>\n

Although shooting BB or pellet guns with metal ammunition isn\u2019t allowed in Oakdale, airsoft guns can be used on private property as long as they\u2019re only shot at willing participants, said Oakdale Police Department Capt. Jack Kettler. Because the airsoft BBs are plastic rather than metal, he said, they are less dangerous and unlikely to break the skin.<\/p>\n

Oakdale law prohibits using the guns on public property, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had issues with kids using them in the parks and alarming people,\u201d he said. Some of the guns are made to look and feel so realistic, that the Oakdale Police Department uses them in training drills, he said.<\/p>\n

Some cities\u2014such as Maplewood\u2014prohibit using the guns within the city limits. Miller said he planned to bring more information on the issue to the environmental commission’s next meeting on Nov. 21.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looks like another consumer is starting to see the reality of the issues with traditional plastics. I find it interesting that the consumer sees such a issue with the biodegradable pellet option which claims to break down in around a year? A year is a heck of a lot faster than 500-1000+ years. Unfortunately they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[737,736,3,4,246,743],"tags":[782,783,342,33,779,784,781,780],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biodegradation-2","category-environmental-news","category-latest-blogs","category-latest-news","category-plastic-news","category-thought-provoking","tag-airsoft-gun-pellets-not-biodegrading-fast-enough-fro-consumers","tag-biodegradable-pellets","tag-biodegradable-plastics","tag-environmentally-friendly","tag-pellet-guns","tag-pellets-from-kid-guns-in-the-ground-bad-for-the-earth","tag-plastic-from-pellet-guns-bad-for-the-earth","tag-plastics-from-pellet-guns-harmfull"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=494"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":497,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions\/497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}