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A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

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Re: A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

#241

Post by dTal »

HPsquared wrote: post #182
xp84 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question (no agenda): How does burning plastic interact with the environment in terms of producing pollution and/or CO2, I guess compared with putting it in a landfill? I'm fine with stipulations like using some kind of (economically-viable) filter on the resulting smoke. All that I "know" about it is only based on vibes so that's why I'm asking.

I do know PVC can produce dioxin if the combustion isn't exactly right. Definitely there are some pitfalls with incinerating plastic! They could in theory capture the CO2 but nobody seems to do that. Probably not economical. It's basically an alternative to burning fossil fuel, still not great for the environment but at least you're not digging it up and it's disposed of. Recycling works okay for some plastics e.g PE…

Plastic is made from fossil fuels. You are digging it up. It's not an alternative, it's just a longer way around.

Re: A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

#242

Post by latexr »

lupire wrote: post #232
latexr wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Despite the quotes, the person you’re replying to didn’t use the word “waste” nor have they claimed using that fruit to feed animals would be bad. In short, they didn’t make the argument you’re against. However, in the interest of good faith discussion, I’ll offer a rebuttal to the argument you are making. The logic applies when (and this is very important) that food goes to farm animals which will be slaughtered of…

Inefficiency is waste

Potato potáto, that’s not what matters. The whole point of the post was to engage in good faith and see past the exact wording to focus on the argument. Obsessing about the definition is counter productive and an exercise in bad faith and derailing the conversation. That is a waste.

Re: A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

#243

Post by HPsquared »

dTal wrote: post #241
HPsquared wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do know PVC can produce dioxin if the combustion isn't exactly right. Definitely there are some pitfalls with incinerating plastic! They could in theory capture the CO2 but nobody seems to do that. Probably not economical. It's basically an alternative to burning fossil fuel, still not great for the environment but at least you're not digging it up and it's disposed of. Recycling works okay for some plastics e.g PE…

Plastic is made from fossil fuels. You are digging it up. It's not an alternative, it's just a longer way around.

Taking a bunch of waste plastic and burning it does not cause a proportional increase in oil/gas extraction. The partial derivative is going to be pretty low.

Re: A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

#244

Post by ninalanyon »

radlad wrote: post #87
calmbonsai wrote: post #78

I'm reminded of similarly useless "sustainable cardboard furniture" that came out about a decade ago. On the positive side, kudos to whomever in marketing/pr at the design firm got this useless product so much press. This is just the sort of "win" that a design consulting shop loves to have for actual briefs that lead to real moving-the-needle revenue. One example would be SmartDesign's modular slip-on "S-Grips" that…

This is a bit of a random place to mention it, but while I very much like OXO goods, IKEA makes the best (in my opinion) potato peeler for $5 - cheaper than anything OXO makes: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/ikea-365-vaerdefull-potato-peel...

I've tried swivelling peelers a few times and every time I return to my forty year old Lancashire peeler with its blade held on the plastic handle with tightly wrapped cotton string. A bit like this one: https://www.pattersons.co.uk/lancashire-peeler.html

0.96 GBP including VAT.

I had to replace the string this year though.

Re: A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

#245

Post by kijalo »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #175
kijalo wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 'dispose of it properly' is doing a lot work there. I understand that for something like plastic, properly disposing it would be to chemically render it down to it's constituents rather than just landfilling it. If the thought was to burn it, well then how are you properly disposing the released greenhouse gases?

On the other hand if a pound of plastic being burned offsets a pound of coal then that is probably better for the environment. We are nowhere near not burning anything so I'm largely OK with incinerators.

That might be true. I guess the point I was thinking of was more related to the cost of producing new vs recycling or disposing of. I think that in a lot of cases,the cost of producing new does not take into account the lifecycle of the product - it does not factor in the cost to retrieve it to be burnt, it does not factor in the cost to develop and implement technology like carbon capture. It seems that the industry that creates plastic does not pay for its proper disposal, which is why it is so cheap to make new plastic.

Re: A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

#246

Post by dTal »

HPsquared wrote: post #243
dTal wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastic is made from fossil fuels. You are digging it up. It's not an alternative, it's just a longer way around.

Taking a bunch of waste plastic and burning it does not cause a proportional increase in oil/gas extraction. The partial derivative is going to be pretty low.

Huh? It's already extracted. Burning it causes a precisely proportional increase in the amount of fossil carbon that ends up in the atmosphere. It is exactly the same environmentally as burning gasoline, except even dirtier.

Better to bury it. Put it back in the ground, where it came from.

Re: A laptop stand made from a single sheet of recycled paper

#247

Post by floydnoel »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #168
osrec wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a lot of cases, that's how it works in nature too though. Visual appeal on the tree/bush is a big part of what attracts an animal to a fruit. It's just how we're built.

Right, but animals aren't as picky as humans - they'll eat anything that isn't rotten (and then some animals actually prefer rotten stuff). Meanwhile people will avoid buying veggies that look off even if there's no risk to health or taste involved. I suppose this is because most animals in the wild are always couple hours away from starvation and just can't afford being picky eaters.

it isn't as if the grocer gives us a discount for the "worse looking" produce. so why would anyone prefer it?
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