Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

modernfarmer.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 141 posts

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#81

Post by dr_dshiv »

Mistletoe wrote: post #77
radu_floricica wrote: post #76

This is a very good time for this link: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/grocery-bag-environmental... (look at the last graph, with averages). This is the kind of misguided environmentalism that does a lot more harm than good. It's not fashionable to say so, but plastic is a trivial issue on pretty much every possible count - when you do the math. Trying to "fix" it on the other hand often makes our lives miserable…

There is no bar for the massive amount of plastic trash we are putting in the ocean there though. The cranberry film would be about microplastics and damage to wildlife, not greenhouse gas emissions.

I thought the vast majority of plastic in the ocean was from fishing and developing countries?

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#82

Post by Mistletoe »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #81
Mistletoe wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no bar for the massive amount of plastic trash we are putting in the ocean there though. The cranberry film would be about microplastics and damage to wildlife, not greenhouse gas emissions.

I thought the vast majority of plastic in the ocean was from fishing and developing countries?

I mean my understanding is a lot of it was our plastic recycling going there and being dumped in the ocean…

https://www.treehugger.com/europe-s-plastic-recycling-is-get...

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#83

Post by simonh »

RF_Savage wrote: post #74

I doubt it can do it for many items. But at the same time, it could replace some in some applications and that is worth doing. Anything that lowers the amount of plastics being used and contributes towards it is a good thing. It does need to replace all and every use of transparent plastics, but even some is good. And I don't believe we can find a silver bullet biopolymer that 1:1 replaces or even exceeds plastic for…

It’s only a good thing if it actually reduces environmental impact, but as others have pointed out, for biopolymers that’s not the case.

Anything that reduces environmental impact is worth pursuing, but many products like this are actually even more environmentally harmful, just sometimes in different ways. It turns out sometimes the best approach for now is reducing and mitigating the impact of plastics rather than eliminating their use at all costs. Sometimes those costs can be too high.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#84

Post by simonh »

Sparkyte wrote: post #60

The problem with everything is cost. If the cost was there to do so we would have. Plastics are too cheap and mainstream to use anything else. America could change and go this way but the rest of the world would have to do so to actually make a massive impact. This is where the cheap alternative packaging never reaches anyway because it isn't cheap enough, check how much plastics are used in Asia and you'll understan…

Not sold on biopolymers, but I don’t like this line of reasoning based on finger pointing. Every country can claim they’re just a small part of the problem and everyone else should change first. What should matter is whether it’s the right thing to do.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#85

Post by radu_floricica »

Mistletoe wrote: post #77
radu_floricica wrote: post #76

This is a very good time for this link: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/grocery-bag-environmental... (look at the last graph, with averages). This is the kind of misguided environmentalism that does a lot more harm than good. It's not fashionable to say so, but plastic is a trivial issue on pretty much every possible count - when you do the math. Trying to "fix" it on the other hand often makes our lives miserable…

There is no bar for the massive amount of plastic trash we are putting in the ocean there though. The cranberry film would be about microplastics and damage to wildlife, not greenhouse gas emissions.

Who's "we"? I'm pretty sure developing countries don't throw plastic in the ocean, if only because there is already a non-green much more profitable alternative: burn it. In Europe there is a well set up "recycling" industry that takes plastic and burns it at high temperatures for applications like cement making. Not great, not terrible, and definitely not throwing away money in the sea.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#86

Post by jonasdegendt »

lazide wrote: post #53
Renaud wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s what tin boxes are for. They keep their content fresh and protect it.

So a container for your wrapped product? That gets full of random lint and dust? Meh.

You seem quite hell-bent on denouncing containers. Yet, a good container with a plastic seal on the lid will keep your food completely clean and be pretty airtight to keep it fresh for a while.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#87

Post by cseleborg »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #80
cseleborg wrote: post #75

This seems unsustainable. Cranberry fields forever? Seriously, we need legally imposed limits on the use of single-use plastic wrapping, a correction of the economics and a change in habits. Our family consumes two kinds of crispbread. One manufacturer (Wasa) uses paper for its wrapping. The other (FinnCrisp) use a plastic wrapping inside a carton box. That's just absurd. Other products may not have a single-use alte…

Why is wrapping in thin plastic a problem if it prevents food waste? I think of the cucumbers covered in plastic. It’s a very small amount of plastic—and I imagine that it ends up saving energy if it means fewer cucumbers are wasted. Perhaps there is a way to model when plastic is “good” or “bad?”

I haven't bought a cucumber wrapped in plastic in years (I actively avoid them) and have thrown away maybe two cucumbers in the same time.

At this point, I think any plastic is a problem, and it needs very serious consideration whether plastic should be used. I'm fine with wrapping sterilized medical equipment in plastic. Crispbread, not so much.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#88

Post by cseleborg »

kupfer wrote: post #78
cseleborg wrote: post #75

This seems unsustainable. Cranberry fields forever? Seriously, we need legally imposed limits on the use of single-use plastic wrapping, a correction of the economics and a change in habits. Our family consumes two kinds of crispbread. One manufacturer (Wasa) uses paper for its wrapping. The other (FinnCrisp) use a plastic wrapping inside a carton box. That's just absurd. Other products may not have a single-use alte…

The paper packaging of Wasa has a thin plastic liner, which you can see stretching by slowly tearing the paper. It is probably better that the thicker FinnCrisp plastic, but Wasa paper does not belong in the paper bin for recycling.

That was news to me, although I guess I'm not surprised. It's frustratingly difficult to buy groceries at the supermarket without plastic.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#90

Post by TylerE »

Grimburger wrote: post #69
RajT88 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this specific bio-material probably doesn't make sense for moisture and dirt. However, the bio-plastics made from shellfish leftovers (think: crab, lobster, shrimp) would be appropriate for this. The problem with petroleum based products (Styrofoam, plastics) is that they are crazy cheap due to our oil based economy. At some point the economics of that industry will change, and with it the prevailing winds on u…

> shellfish leftovers There's nowhere near enough of that and it's a natural resource we are already plundering at brutal levels.

It’s not like if throw the shell back in it’s gonna grow a new crab.
Post reply on HN