A global addiction to plastic is turning into an environmental disaster • Hacker News Board

Re: A global addiction to plastic is turning into an environmental disaster

#51

Post by bamboozled » Tue, Feb 21, 2023, 9:46 AM UTC

hammock wrote: post #28

Most plastic is not consumer but business use. As much as you think your veggies wrapped in plastic is bad, everything in the supply chain leading to your veggies was wrapped in plastic: the pallet they came on, every part that went into making the truck that shipped it (multiple times, as the truck in various states of manufacture made its way around several different geographically dispersed factories), the soil an…

Sure but on the other hand, let's say you buy a plastic bottle everyday (for water). There's ~ 6 billion people on earth, if everyone does that for 10 years...you know, it's a big number: 2.136e+13 bottles, that's a lot.

The thing is, bottled water is convenient as shit, I religiously use a insulated water bottle to avoid this type of waste, and I suspect a lot of people do.

So I don't think reducing personal consumption is insignificant, although I agree with you.

Re: A global addiction to plastic is turning into an environmental disaster

#52

Post by pksebben » Tue, Feb 21, 2023, 2:59 PM UTC

bamboozled wrote: post #51

hammock wrote: post #28

Most plastic is not consumer but business use. As much as you think your veggies wrapped in plastic is bad, everything in the supply chain leading to your veggies was wrapped in plastic: the pallet they came on, every part that went into making the truck that shipped it (multiple times, as the truck in various states of manufacture made its way around several different geographically dispersed factories), the soil an…

Sure but on the other hand, let's say you buy a plastic bottle everyday (for water). There's ~ 6 billion people on earth, if everyone does that for 10 years...you know, it's a big number: 2.136e+13 bottles, that's a lot. The thing is, bottled water is convenient as shit, I religiously use a insulated water bottle to avoid this type of waste, and I suspect a lot of people do. So I don't think reducing personal consump…

what rankles about these pieces, is that we've seen campaigns like them before, funded by industries that output levels of waste that do make personal consumption relatively insignificant [1]

https://theoceancleanup.com/press/press-releases/over-75-of-...

Re: A global addiction to plastic is turning into an environmental disaster

#53

Post by earthling8118 » Tue, Feb 21, 2023, 4:01 PM UTC

an_aparallel wrote: post #46

hammock wrote: post #28

Most plastic is not consumer but business use. As much as you think your veggies wrapped in plastic is bad, everything in the supply chain leading to your veggies was wrapped in plastic: the pallet they came on, every part that went into making the truck that shipped it (multiple times, as the truck in various states of manufacture made its way around several different geographically dispersed factories), the soil an…

this is one of the biggest frustrations i have about "making the right choices" and any other instances where organisations/governments try to make it out like individual choice makes a dent in the actual problem space. i could throw a piece of plastic rubbish every day on the street for the rest of my life - and it would still not put anywhere near a dent in the problem. All the while - technology companies continue…

What gets me is people will paint it as if it was you that made the mess since the company exists to serve consumer demand. Well I'm certainly not about to stop existing so it's too late to give up on that one. There's just no choice for a better option at our level.

Re: A global addiction to plastic is turning into an environmental disaster

#54

Post by earthling8118 » Tue, Feb 21, 2023, 4:05 PM UTC

bamboozled wrote: post #51

hammock wrote: post #28

Most plastic is not consumer but business use. As much as you think your veggies wrapped in plastic is bad, everything in the supply chain leading to your veggies was wrapped in plastic: the pallet they came on, every part that went into making the truck that shipped it (multiple times, as the truck in various states of manufacture made its way around several different geographically dispersed factories), the soil an…

Sure but on the other hand, let's say you buy a plastic bottle everyday (for water). There's ~ 6 billion people on earth, if everyone does that for 10 years...you know, it's a big number: 2.136e+13 bottles, that's a lot. The thing is, bottled water is convenient as shit, I religiously use a insulated water bottle to avoid this type of waste, and I suspect a lot of people do. So I don't think reducing personal consump…

I definitely don't understand the love for bottled water. Maybe if the water is unsafe in an area. The insulated water bottle is better in nearly every way. It's bigger which is important because I can finish a regular bottle in moments. It stays cold for longer. I can refill it much more easily so I always have water.

I also see it more of a problem in commercial settings. Different venues will stop you from bringing the bottle in (or won't provide a way to fill it up) so you can buy the $4+ Dasani. I hate Dasani. I just want to fill my bottle.

Re: A global addiction to plastic is turning into an environmental disaster

#55

Post by logimus » Thu, Feb 23, 2023, 1:56 PM UTC

aziaziazi wrote: post #25

logimus wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think paper is more sustainable? In my place they burn the rubbish and paper even if recycled is more questionable.

Paper comes from trees that extract carbon from air. Trees have a lifecycle wayyyyyy shorter that oil so when you use paper you’re on a ~50y removable scale which is more human manageable that the oil one.

Takes oil and other non renewable to cut it and process. Plastic is more or less a side product of the oil industry. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/sustainabl...