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Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

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341–350 of 417 posts

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have that. They choose the plastic bags because the toilets are in disarray.

They really don't. Trying to find a toilet you can use in downtown San Diego even as a regular looking person is a struggle and you will probably end up having to buy something. Businesses won't let you use their facilities if you look dirty or homeless, and there aren't any city owned bathrooms at least that I've seen in the 2 years I've been here so far.

Likewise in San Francisco. I like to take very long all-day or late night walks and bathrooms are very hard to come by. Sure as long as it’s daytime and I look presentable I can usually find a cafe/store that will let me use the bathroom, but after 9pm if I don’t happen to be near a hotel it’s often impossible for me to find a restroom. Many restaurants and convenience stores will say the bathroom is broken (even when it’s clearly not). Also it’s common to find places that physically block access to the restroom with boxes or whatever. Long story short, I’ve had to get used to peeing outside in shadows since it’s rarely possible to find bathrooms. I’m not sure what I’d do if I was female or needed to take a crap.

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, other developed countries don't have so many homeless people, so that should be less of a problem there.

> other developed countries don't have so many homeless people Not true. Here are per-night homeless statistics from UN: China has 2.6 million Russia has 5 million Ukraine 1 million Germany 860,000 US has 554,000 ... But more profoundely, by homeless ratio, the US is not even close. Germany, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Canada, the UK, Australia, Sweden, Luxembourg, Croatia, Bosnia, Russia, Peru France, Austria, the…

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Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implicit step one being that sale of guns / assault rifles were banned, as it should be.

The War on Drugs is a testament that simply banning something definitively means it disappears.

People don't get psychologically addicted to guns like they do to most drugs. Gun bans are perfectly successful in drastically reducing gun violence in countries other than the US.

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#344
post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The polypropylene bags sold at many retailers (REI, Whole Foods, etc) only need to be used a few times to offset their increased cost of production. “Nonwoven PP, on the other hand, is less costly than cotton. These bags need to be reused only 11 times to break even with the conventional plastic.” Of course these are less durable that heavy cotton canvas. I doubt I could use one of these 200 times. I could definitely…

How about I use a plastic bag twice? Now you have to use the canvas one 400 times. Its just a losing gambit. You know how many shopping bags we have around the house? Supposed to save energy, but once you have 4 or 5 of them, you're up to a lifetime supply of plastic bags. And I'm sure we're not the only once. This 'issue' is eco-theatre, in my view.

I don't think people tend to use plastic bags twice. Instead they double bag.

And as I alluded to above, not all bags of the same material are made equal. The original British source has a range of 80-250g for cotton bags. The ones I use weigh in at less than 50g.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-cycle-assess...

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#345
post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The War on Drugs is a testament that simply banning something definitively means it disappears.

People don't get psychologically addicted to guns like they do to most drugs. Gun bans are perfectly successful in drastically reducing gun violence in countries other than the US.

I don't disagree, but most guns bans in other countries don't include paying $10k per weapon, which is the proposal here.

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile when I moved here in New York I was shocked at the common practice of "double bagging" where they literally put a plastic bag into another plastic bag. The argument being that 1 bag isn't strong enough.

It's dumb for light items, absolutely. But New Yorkers tend to carry their groceries home in their hands for as far as a mile, instead of wheeling them out in carts to a car trunk and then carrying them 20 feet to the door of the house. Heavy items (liquids and canned goods and stuff like potatoes) WILL tear through plastic bags if not double bagged. The worst offenders are half gallons of milk/juice, which have shar…

Even the super strong HDPE bags at "luxury" grocery stores like Citarella, Grace's Market, Agata and Valentina, etc., get double bagged for absolutely no reason other than this is what the people who shop at these places have come to expect. It is long, long past time for NYC to impose a charge on plastic bags. My wife and I are honestly the only people who bring their own bags to Citarella.

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two economists have claimed that the ban in San Francisco led to an increase in food-borne diseases. The proposed mechanism is that people don't wash their reusable bags, and dangerous bacteria gets onto them. It isn't clear to me how strong the evidence for this is. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/02/16/is-sa...

I’ve seen this also and have not seen any evidence to the contrary. Considering how damning this study is to plastic bag bans, I’m guessing this means there aren’t any studies that rebut these findings.

So we need studies now to tell you to occasionally clean the bags you put raw meat into?

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have that. They choose the plastic bags because the toilets are in disarray.

They really don't. Trying to find a toilet you can use in downtown San Diego even as a regular looking person is a struggle and you will probably end up having to buy something. Businesses won't let you use their facilities if you look dirty or homeless, and there aren't any city owned bathrooms at least that I've seen in the 2 years I've been here so far.

You're probably not looking in the right spots.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/hepatitis-crisis/sd...

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any examples of the special dishwashing brushes? I'm curious.

These sort of things, with a handle and nylon bristles: https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Dish-Brush/dp/B00004OC...

Oh, that's what I use (I'm in California). They're pretty common here as well. I don't understand people who use sponges. They're mold applicators as far as I'm concerned :)

Re: Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030

#350

> uniform invoices – widely used in Taiwan I wondered what this meant, so I looked it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Invoice_lottery To encourage businesses to report their earnings, Taiwan's tax authorities operate a receipt lottery. Genius.

It's pretty common to buy something then be asked to pay 5% more if you want a receipt - 5% being their sales tax.

Wut?! No, they ask you to pay 5% more when you want to pay by card: it's the Visa/Mastercard fees.
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