91–100 of 141 posts
WE ALREADY HAVE CELLOPHANE
Why cant we just use a bunch of different sized reusable containers that you return to the store?
Yea. My elevator pitch for this is “shipping containers for everyday items”. If we standardize on reusable container sizes then they can be returned, washed, and reprocessed back into the supply chain.
Very few people demand sterilized shopping baskets in supermarkets, but they will for restaurant dishes, and you’ll notice more wear is present in the latter despite they are more gently handled inside a place.
Plastic packaging protects food from moisture and dirt. If you make the packaging out of a water-soluble material and then eat it, surely that's almost completely useless? Like, now you need some kind of additional outer wrapper to stop your edible packaging from getting contaminated. The article mentions muffin liners as an alternative use case, but those are usually made of thin paper and are already compostable.
Another point to add: rodents. This is an issue in large warehouses, in humid climates. Plastic is more resilient against rodents, since it is not edible.
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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...
“A reasonable estimate [for the amount of plastic produced by rich countries that end up in the ocean] might be around 5% of ocean plastics. In reality, it might be a bit lower because a tonne of waste that is bought and traded is more likely to be managed well than the average tonne of waste in a country.”
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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.
There should be some cost-benefit analysis — not just “all plastic must be avoided.” That’s a bit much.
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My protein bars need individual wrap. I am not putting them 'naked' inside of my hiking backpack. Not to mention how nasty the last one is when it takes you 2 months to finish a box... All of them exposed to air? Thanks but no thanks.
FWIW, if you're curious about the insights from somebody who's crusty enough to make their own protein bars :) If you care about avoiding "processed foods" in other domains and are consuming shrink-wrapped bars with a shelf life of 2+ months: here be dragons! I store ours in a glass container the refrigerator, where they're individually wrapped in butcher paper. I'd consider them good outside of the fridge (in the pa…
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> 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.
If world fisheries had shown that it was possible to control extraction such that we did not destroy stocks, then this would be a great way to meet a significant (~10%, it seems?) portion of world packaging plastics needs. However, it seems pretty clear that the fishing industry as a whole has any interest in ensuring sustainable production.
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From my understanding the shellfish bioplastic will trigger allergies so its not suitable for food wraps but can be okay things like straws
Huh. I don't see how those two things can both be true but OK. Anyways. I am sure the boffins are working on the shellfish allergy angle.
Best argument I could come up with.
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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.
When I go shopping, I:
* bring my own bag
* buy oat, rice, sugar, pasta, chocolate etc in bulk (w/ textile bags I bring)
* refill detergent containers in-shop
* buy fruit & veg without packaging
.. and I have no meaningful reduction of my living standard. I know it's difficult to make some sacrifices. But honestly, if we can't as a society be ars*d to do even that, perhaps we deserve to disappear after ecological collapse, and the geopolitical consequences of that.