this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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I don't believe it's that simple.
First of all: The ban on plastic straws is clearly an attempt to distract from more pressing isses when it comes to protecting the environment. That said, outside of a few people with disability, straws are basically pointless - banning them has no effect on most people's lives.
Herbicides/pesticides make agriculture more efficient. Banning an effective pesticide would probably lead to either decreased production of agricultural goods (bad for humans, especially poorer people) or an increased need for space (which might be worse for the environment than the pesticide itself).
Ultimately glyphosate wasn't banned due to its impact on the environment, but due to its suspected carcinogenicity.
At least speaking for Germany we used a.lot more space in nature in the past. The difference is, that in the past it gave room for animals to live, elwhereas today fields are like a desert for wildlife. As long as we had agriculture in a way where it gave place for wildflowers and thereby insects and used hedges, which protected lots of other species, we did not have that much of an ecological problem.
Of course it's better to use less space and have less of a risk for famines, but without the surrounding ecosystems, which we are destroying, this also does not bear much value.