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originally posted by: Indigent
The non fuel use of oil is about 5% of the total use, most of what you listed are polymers that can be replaced by ones produced by crops, not cheaper or better but can be done.
originally posted by: Indigent
a reply to: skunkape23
There is also the problem you need to replace land that is used for food for crops to make polymers, that is a big problem
originally posted by: hydeman11
a reply to: skunkape23
If you plant crops in your lawn, you might grow food to feed yourselves, but you end up depleting the soil of nutrients and you change an already established ecosystem. A lot of organisms live in lawns, eat the grass, rely on the protection it provides... You'd change the natural soil fungi (which would not originally be suited for most crops, so that'll take time too...) You'd need to fertilize your land, spray pesticides if you want to dependably and reliably have food... Then you get runoff of excess fertilizer, then you must worry about hypertrophication... We also have to worry about soil erosion... compaction... possible flash floods.
I get your point though, and I hope I haven't seemed too... offensive. I merely wanted to flesh out the idea. And I agree, alternatives to oil are important. All I ask is that we take some time and think about what effects our actions might have. It's not thinking about how our actions play out that gets us into trouble more often than not.