Extinction Events

Will the plastic straw go extinct in 2020?

It's more than plastic straws. All kinds of things made a disappearing act in 2019. This trend is likely to continue at a rapid rate in 2020 as the battles of capitalism vs environmental limits, and the 99% vs the 1%, rages on.

A few things that have gone the way of the Dodo, or continue to go that way, or have begun to go that way in 2019 include:



- Plastic straws. It is largely symbolic, but will give a boost to the end of not only single use plastic, but single use anything. The beginning of the end of the throw away society.

- Single use plastic bags. See above. Many cities are banning single use plastic bags. Next to disappear will be all the blighted garbage bag trees. After a few decades, trees will just have leaves on them.

- Jobs in extractive industries. Automation, efficiencies, and reduced demand will ensure that these jobs continue to go 'poof'. Change can be harsh when it is your job that is vanishing in the haze.

- Physical retail outlets. On line shopping is taking over (overall spending was up 3.4 %, while online spending was up 19% this shopping season). Consumers are voting with their computers and devices. It is the "Retail Apocalypse", and it is changing the landscape of shopping and communities.

- Meat based diets. Even meat eaters are eating less meat. Health, ethical, and environmental issues are all contributing to the rise of plant based diets. Remember "Revenge of the Nerds"? This is "Revenge of the Vegans".

- Car ownership. Globally car sales are down. Millennials and Get Zers prefer car sharing services to the hassle of ownership, and what these two generations want will change things for decades to come. 

- Truth. First the thrill was gone. Now the truth is gone, too. They say we are living in a post-truth world. Doesn't that mean we are post-lie as well? 

- Bunker fuel in ships, fossil fuels generally. The new year promises a cleaner atmosphere. As of January 1st, oceangoing vessels will no longer be able to use the cheapest, dirtiest fuel available. The switch to low-sulphur fuels (0.5% instead of 3.5%) will be the biggest maritime transportation energy shift since moving from dirty coal to dirty bunker fuel in the early 1900s.

- Anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 species go extinct every year. The loss is so vast that it is hard to keep track. It happened this year, and it will happen again in 2020.

- Vinyl. Just kidding. Far from disappearing, as the nerds predicted when recordings went digital, low tech vinyl recordings are making a comeback. People in the know say the quality of vinyl can not be beat. 


I wonder what other ideas will make a comeback next year? We have tossed many good ones down the memory hole in our rush toward a techno utopia, and no doubt some of them will return. 

I also wonder what else will disappear as things continue to change in new and unexpected ways. 

My hope is for war and violence to vanish from the face of the Earth. And lying. Imagine how that would change things, since they seem to go together.