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[triplestation]

plastic is cheap, it is light, it is excellent for shipping

i guess if you're buying a non food thing that comes in plastic that poses no threat to the body

but what about plastic wrap, plastic bottles, plastic utensils, etc.?

this lady on JRE is saying that exposure to plastic basically halts development in babies

i personally can get behind using a glass bottle to take to the gym

but a lot of foods get packed in plastic

what do you think?

 

[JayK47]

I think we really need to reduce plastics, in particular single use. We are addicted to plastic and it will be our undoing.

 

[n0razi]

People can't even be bothered to get a free vaccine.... good luck getting everyone to hop on the no-plastic train

 

[Mistake]

I remember this. The problem is actually not plastic exactly, but the chemical used to make it hard or soft. Phthalates. These are also in creams and a variety of other stuff, so we're kind of screwed unless we find a replacement

 

[HoodWinked]

There is a non profit essential plastics I think does a good job of highlighting how our approach should be. By thinking of which plastics are essential and are high value. Things like medical supplies, preserving meats and bottle water are all single use but high value (bottle water due to it's deployment during emergencies). Where as single use low value should be things we should first look to eliminate with alternatives.

 

[nush]

The problem is actually not plastic exactly, but the chemical used to make it hard or soft. Phthalates.

Correct and they are banned or only allowed in very low levels in products sold in the US.

 

[TrueLegend]

Removing plastics is not a solution, paving a way for removing plastic is. There are many alternative to plastics now, many plant-based but they need subsidization and protection. Because changing the manufacturing process will hurt bottomline of many big companies and they will lobby against such action. In few cities in world where this was done together with onetime usable plastic ban things have improved.

 

[BigBooper]

What kind of halted development? Because we still got babies being squirted out all over the place and they aren't staying cute forever.

I don't have a problem shifting to glass.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Without plastic, good luck having things shipped or packaged safe and cheap.

The mouse you are using right now to surf the net is plastic.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

We need to cut the fuck down on plastic. Ideally all plastics should be removed but that will be impossible. If we can we need to change packaging to other materials where possible. Any new plastic products should be made from recycled plastic. We need easier to recycle plastic and make it easier to actually recycle them. If you make a plastic product it should meet certain standards to make it easier to break down/disassemble. for example my pc mouse broke and tearing that thing down to remove all the plastic was a pain in the ass.

reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Governments need to start taking it seriously and regulate plastic manufacturing/usage/recycling. you should be fined or punished if you don't use it properly. we can't rely on people/businesses doing the right thing so government need to set out rules. plastic is a huge issue and we need to take extreme measures to sort it out.

 

[synchronicity]

In my view we ought to be moving towards more natural existence in general. The industrial and tech revolutions, while providing some comforts and conveniences, have been a net negative (by a huge margin) when looking at the health of our *home*, planet Earth. We need to find harmony/balance with our home or be relegated as a footnote along with the dinosaurs.

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

I feel like we had this thread two weeks ago. And no, we still don't need to "ban plastic". As with most environmental activism it's a solution that doesn't actually target the problem. If your concern is plastic toxicity you should know there's very little evidence for it. If it's the environmental impact of manufacturing plastics the reality is that "environmentally friendly" alternatives are all worse for the environment. And don't get me started on marine plastic...

The person talking about recycling above is on the right track. That's all we should be focusing on really.

 

[John Bilbo]

I have no idea. Just none. It is impossible to wrap my mind around it.

But it is not impossible to wrap plastic around my mind, so.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The vast majority of construction of product or packaging involve either plastic (pretroleum based), metal, paper/wood, glass, or stone/granite (building material stuff). There's others too including biodegradable organic stuff.

But think of it.

For anyone wanting to replace plastic (or anything petroleum based that forms hard material that lasts 1000 years), good luck trying to replace it with something just as durable, cheap, and light.

Easy to criticize. Not easy to R&D a solution. If it was that easy and cheap to do people would had not bothered with plastic and would had continued making more things out of metal and wood like the old days. And if you dont like bulky wood or metal, then make everything out of glass or ceramic materials. Enjoy having everything break if you drop it.

 

[Ailynn]

 

[Buggy Loop]

Thousands is being nice, more like 96 million plastic balls.

With engineers or governments that think this is a good solution, we're fucked.

 

[Wildebeest]

Plastic packaging helps stop food waste, so I don't think it is going away. The thing is that the problem is invisible. You think your old water bottle is an issue because you drink water from it. Meanwhile, you are handling receipts printed with a thermal printer which are covering your hands with invisible chemicals, then you eat a sandwich. The chemicals from that one receipt might give you several years of the dose you get from using your plastic water bottle regularly.

 

[BigBooper]

Thousands is being nice, more like 96 million plastic balls.

With engineers or governments that think this is a good solution, we're fucked.

Makes you wonder who's cousin owned the plastic molding plant.

 

[RoboFu]

We give too much credit to anyone with a theory.

 

[Bogeyman]

If it's the environmental impact of manufacturing plastics the reality is that "environmentally friendly" alternatives are all worse for the environment. And don't get me started on marine plastic...

I doubt that, in many cases.

We try to choose grocery stores where you can buy stuff free of plastic packaging (within reasonable bounds).

No need to buy cucumbers individually wrapped in plastic, or apples/tomatoes/potatoes/onions/almost any other veg really in plastic casing. We just buy them loose without packaging. Even meats - I tend to take a container to butcher and just ask them to put stuff in there. Zero plastic for most groceries, and it's just as convenient.

I'm quite confident supermarket's could do without the vast majority of plastic when it comes to fruit, veg, and to a certain extent meat.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Absolutely there's a deep hatred for plastic. Once again people make wrong decisions it's plastic man.

 

[teezzy]

I'm just trying to get through the day man idk

 

[bender]

We should move towards killing all humans. It is the solution to all of the planet's problems.

 

[Amiga]

There are a bazillion types of plastics, so it depends on the compound.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I doubt that, in many cases.

We try to choose grocery stores where you can buy stuff free of plastic packaging (within reasonable bounds).

No need to buy cucumbers individually wrapped in plastic, or apples/tomatoes/potatoes/onions/almost any other veg really in plastic casing. We just buy them loose without packaging. Even meats - I tend to take a container to butcher and just ask them to put stuff in there. Zero plastic for most groceries, and it's just as convenient.

I'm quite confident supermarket's could do without the vast majority of plastic when it comes to fruit, veg, and to a certain extent meat.

Some produce bruises easy. Cucumbers have ultra thin skins that nick and scratch easy. Thats why they are wrapped. The other stuff you listed I see as loose or in a dusty potato bag. The packaging would be if it's some fancy prepacked baked potatoes in foil or Parisian potatoes which I've never seen loose here. I'm surprised apples arent wrapped more. A good portion of apples are bruised or have a nick in it. I never buy those. The amount of produce stores throw out must be insane because most people avoid the ones dinged up.

As for the meat section. I have never seen ever someone bring their own container to the meat section. If it works for you thats fine, but I dont think many stores would even allow that.

 

[Taxexemption]

Drinking containers should be made of glass.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

There are a bazillion types of plastics, so it depends on the compound.

This. Depends on the plastic type and what kind of contact it has. Ingesting some plastic might just pass through you, while some chemicals getting directly into the blood stream might be in there for life. Skin contact vs. mucosal membrane vs. ingestion vs. blood...and entirely depends on the type of plastic...it's not at all clear cut.

 

[Narasumas]

Makes you wonder who's cousin owned the plastic molding plant.

Pardon me…but wouldn't balls or spheres be the dumbest choice? Evaporation is a function of surface area, and spheres tend to roll rather easily in water, hence exposing a fresh side of the ball/sphere that is has water on it to the elements to be evaporated.

I don't know anything about this situation, or what the water is used for…but pending it's availability to be treated later like at a wastewater treatment facility…could they not inject the water with something natural (and easily removed in the post processing phase) that would form a protective film/layer on the top of the water…like an algae or something?

 

[Fuz]

i personally can get behind using a glass bottle to take to the gym

Aluminum bottles are safer and lighter. Just sayin'.

Hard disagree on bottled water being high value plastic. Complex problem, but we should completely re-evaluate the value and ownership of water, and we should start by going back in history with the empty to return model.

 

[Bogeyman]

Some produce bruises easy. Cucumbers have ultra thin skins that nick and scratch easy. Thats why they are wrapped. The other stuff you listed I see as loose or in a dusty potato bag. The packaging would be if it's some fancy prepacked baked potatoes in foil or Parisian potatoes which I've never seen loose here. I'm surprised apples arent wrapped more. A good portion of apples are bruised or have a nick in it. I never buy those. The amount of produce stores throw out must be insane because most people avoid the ones dinged up.

As for the meat section. I have never seen ever someone bring their own container to the meat section. If it works for you thats fine, but I dont think many stores would even allow that.

Hm, not really my experience so far to be honest - the (loose) cucumbers and apples in our local grocery store are absolutely fine, never had an issue with bumps or dents.
Not sure about transport before it hits the shelves - I'd reckon layers of paper or other buffer material would do though.

Meat really is super easy to get in your own box, stores just need to come around to supporting and promoting that more.

Not sure where you live, probably depends a lot on country and even region - our butcher (London) mentioned about 1 in 5 people or so bring their containers, so it's at least not unheard of.

 

[Trogdor1123]

The math around single use and food preservation and the good it does is pretty damn incredible. Getting rid of it would be tough.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Hm, not really my experience so far to be honest - the (loose) cucumbers and apples in our local grocery store are absolutely fine, never had an issue with bumps or dents.
Not sure about transport before it hits the shelves - I'd reckon layers of paper or other buffer material would do though.

Meat really is super easy to get in your own box, stores just need to come around to supporting and promoting that more.

Not sure where you live, probably depends a lot on country and even region - our butcher (London) mentioned about 1 in 5 people or so bring their containers, so it's at least not unheard of.

A meat place would allow this? They would be opening themselves to a crap ton of liability for people getting sick.

 

[nush]

Remember when we were kids and fresh produce wasn't all wrapped in plastic? We obviously managed to survive.

Yet, we've managed to get to this point...

 

[Ionian]

A meat place would allow this? They would be opening themselves to a crap ton of liability for people getting sick.

I've never heard of this and sounds disgusting. From London and uses a "box"? I assume tupperware and that is rancid.

This is not normal. A glass box maybe?

Hey butcher, stick your meat in my glass box! (ooer).

 

[Ionian]

Remember when we were kids and fresh produce wasn't all wrapped in plastic? We obviously managed to survive.

Yet, we've managed to get to this point...

Now those do look horrible, a banana with that packaging for $2? An already hardboiled egg?

That's just asking for trouble. I've never ever seen that here or anywhere I've lived or travelled to.

 

[nush]

Now those do look horrible, a banana with that packaging for $2? An already hardboiled egg?

That's just asking for trouble. I've never ever seen that here or anywhere I've lived or travelled to.

I've seen the egg before and many individually trayed and wrapped fruit and veg. I'll get a picture of the "Egg" later.

 

[IDKFA]

Remember when we were kids and fresh produce wasn't all wrapped in plastic? We obviously managed to survive.

Yet, we've managed to get to this point...

That banana picture kills me. What a waste of resources. Who the fuck packages a banana, which lets not forget, has its own natural protective skin?!

 

[jufonuk]

Dietary Plastics?
This the new thing added to American food besides corn syrup ?

they should release the bio degradable plastics. Would sell like crazy.

 

[Tams]

It really depends on the type of plastic and where it is used.

For electronics, other than the benefits of plastics (easily to colour, easy to mould, durable, allow radio waves through), it would be interest to see the environmental cost to manufacture a good polycarbonate compared to a metal or glass case. Water usage, energy usage, waste products, etc.

As for the food use of plastic: when I lived in the UK it was pretty bad (but there always were often meat, fish, cheese counters in supermarkets that didn't smother the food in plastic), but in Japan its quite shocking. I fill up the plastic rubbish bag quicker than the burnables one here.

 

[Tams]

Aluminum bottles are safer and lighter. Just sayin'.

Hard disagree on bottled water being high value plastic. Complex problem, but we should completely re-evaluate the value and ownership of water, and we should start by going back in history with the empty to return model.

I think that diagram is about the quality of the plastics generally used for those products (you need good PET for drinks bottles as the contents is for consumption and long term storage), not about the 'value' of the use of those plastics.

 

[Bogeyman]

I've never heard of this and sounds disgusting. From London and uses a "box"? I assume tupperware and that is rancid.

This is not normal. A glass box maybe?

Hey butcher, stick your meat in my glass box! (ooer).

Tupperware indeed yea. If it's good enough to store cooked food, it's good enough to store raw meat for a day too!

(given what's generally going on in the wider food industry, storing stuff in a container I just cleaned tends to be very very far down my list of concerns)