81–90 of 417 posts
What is the rationale ? Are disposable plastic bags really that much worse than reusable / paper bags ? From what I understand plastic waste is usually burned for electricity or heat in industrial processes, and it's not that much worse than natural gas.
Except for the ones that end up in the ocean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
http://plasticbagbanreport.com/category/world-news/philippin...
> “You can use steel products, or edible straws – or maybe you just don’t need to use straws at all,” he said. “There is no inconvenience caused at all.” This is debatable. I've definitely heard dentists recommending using straws to drink sodas to reduce the acidic decay effect on front teeth (basically just prevent the teeth from exposing the to harmful liquids). [1] [1]: https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20050…
What is the rationale ? Are disposable plastic bags really that much worse than reusable / paper bags ? From what I understand plastic waste is usually burned for electricity or heat in industrial processes, and it's not that much worse than natural gas.
> From what I understand plastic waste is usually burned for electricity or heat in industrial processes, Except for the ones that end up in the ocean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
> “You can use steel products, or edible straws – or maybe you just don’t need to use straws at all,” he said. “There is no inconvenience caused at all.” This is debatable. I've definitely heard dentists recommending using straws to drink sodas to reduce the acidic decay effect on front teeth (basically just prevent the teeth from exposing the to harmful liquids). [1] [1]: https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20050…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well apparently a 5p charge resulted in a 14x decrease in usage of plastic bags, so despite your anecdote, it does make a difference.
A little thing to bear in mind is that the new bags weigh significantly more than the old ones, so it's not actually a 14x decrease. With the switch all the stores now sell "lifetime" bags. According to my fairly inaccurate kitchen scales the old ones weigh about 10g, the new ones weigh about 25g. So it's about a 5.6x drop, which is still fantastic. I think everyone talks about the number of bags as it makes the decr…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That was a wrong decision: rather than imposing a small fee, they should have banned the sale of non-biodegradable bags altogether. Italy is doing so since 2011, and it seems to be working just fine.
Tesco used biodegradable bags but they weren't lasting long compared to the original bags. They couldn't be used for much because they started falling apart within weeks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well apparently a 5p charge resulted in a 14x decrease in usage of plastic bags, so despite your anecdote, it does make a difference.
Fair enough but I wonder how much of that has to do with simply being asked? Being given a bag was standard, as normal as expecting the store to be heated. An invisible service. Now, you don't get given a bag for your Sandwich & Water at lunch, and you don't get a free bag with your McDonalds meal to name just a couple of services. 1p or 5p wouldn't make much of a difference? A Family paying 100 pound a week on shopp…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That was a wrong decision: rather than imposing a small fee, they should have banned the sale of non-biodegradable bags altogether. Italy is doing so since 2011, and it seems to be working just fine.
Tesco used biodegradable bags but they weren't lasting long compared to the original bags. They couldn't be used for much because they started falling apart within weeks.
isn't that kind of the point?
I recently bought a set of reusable stainless steel straws. They were expensive, but have a timeless "design" and have a build quality that gives the impression they will last a lifetime. When dirty I throw them in the dishwasher with the other cutleries. They don't take any space in the washer so cleaning them is essentially "free". (Making abstraction of the ecological cost of a dishwasher.)
I've read that a dishwasher is less wasteful than hand-washing of dishes (perhaps this isn't true for people who are very, very scrupulous about their use of water while washing dishes, but that's not most of us).
and besides, not everything go in the dish washer. And moreover some the dish washer soap can attack the surface of many things => increasing the need to replace those things...