If this is true then is a ban even necessary? Or are just 15% of the people responsible for all single-usage of plastic?
85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
201–210 of 263 posts
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's utterly ridiculous and highly inconvenient for nearly everyone that isn't proselytizing about reusable sacks or needs to purchase more than a few items. What works for dedicated urbanists doesn't fly for the other 85% of the population. Reusable bags are nearly universally unsanitary. People let their cats play in them, never wash them, then place them on the same conveyor belt where you put your vegetables.
> Because that's utterly ridiculous and highly inconvenient for nearly everyone that isn't proselytizing about reusable sacks No Here in Aotearoa they are completely normal > Reusable bags are nearly universally unsanitary...place them on the same conveyor belt where you put your vegetables. Golly. Given the habits of growers you really should wash your vegetables before you use them. Pesticides
someone else's chicken blood is probably worse to get on your veg than pesticides. The bacteria can infiltrate the veg.
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#203A ban like that sounds good. But what would replace those plastics? For the take-out food containers a common alternative is PFAS-treated paper. Is it much better for the health environment?
Mumbai has this solved, with the Dabbawala and Tiffin system. Tiffins are standardized reusable metal containers used for food delivery in Mumbai. The food can be restaurant takeout, or it can be a home-cooked meal someone sends you. Dabbawalas are the vendors who deliver the food, and collect the used tiffins/dabbas.
https://feedr.co/en-gb/c/blog/the-amazing-dabbawalas-of-mumb...
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-mumbais-dabbawalas...
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
You use foil instead of cling wrap? And you do this for environmental reasons? I'm struggling to understand here, why in the world would you do that? Foil consumes thousands of times more resources than plastic wrap.
thousands, really? that seems unlikely; it certainly isn't thousands of times cheaper
I assume the cost of plastic is about zero, and what you're paying for is shipping, storage, markup, all the middle stuff. Using numbers provided, 1000 sqft of plastic is $10.00, which could be $9.99 logistics and $0.01 material. 1000 sqft of foil is $50.00, with the same $9.99 shipping cost, and $40.01 in material. So that's 4000x. Numbers are kinda fake, but you get the idea.
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#205Don't need a survey for that. Just go to the nearest supermarket, stand near the cash register, and count how many people buy plastic bags, and divide by how many bring their own multiple-use bag. You will get the true picture, which I suspect is 10:1 in favor of single-use plastics.
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#206I don't want a ban, I want a tax on them. There's a strong use for single use plastics - medical goods being one of the important ones that I highly suspect people don't want a ban of. They define these as "necessary" versus "unnecessary" in their poll (ie the 85% figure is specifically for "ban unnecessary single-use plastic products, e.g., shopping bags, cutlery, cups & plates"). Things get murky really quickly whe…
I can't trust a plastics poll that doesn't also ask who wants the old straws back.
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#207I think pretty much everyone wants this yet we still use these plastics… we want to end global warming yet we still drive cars. We care but to what degree do we actually care? Not much. There’s huge business interest pushing the usage of environmentally damaging products forward because it generates money. This against consumer laziness, progress will be slow
> There’s huge business interest pushing the usage of environmentally damaging products forward because it generates money.
The converse (pushing green products) is also true so we have to consider whether the environmental impact is as big as is claimed, whether it's worth it even if it is (single issue reductivism is a dangerous way to craft policy), or whether banal financial and power incentives are the true moving force behind the lobbied solution.
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
You've never had a package of meat leak a little juice in to the grocery bag? If you have, you either wash it (inconvenient) or you have rancid meat juice if you don't (it doesn't start rancid).
Yea, taking 5 seconds to rinse the bag out in the sink is _such_ an inconvenience. Life is rough. I stopped buying meat for environmental / water usage reasons a while back, so no, this isn't an issue for me anymore. Guess I'm just a stupid hippie.
> Yea, taking 5 seconds to rinse the bag out in the sink is _such_ an inconvenience.
The old "you're just not doing it right" chestnut, where have I heard that one before! Hey, by any chance have you noticed how many of those silly face masks made it (or didn't make it) to landfills?
> I stopped buying meat . . . Guess I'm just a stupid hippie.
You said it not me!
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#209Can anyone explain to me how this works in practice? Eg if i now buy meat or cheese or pre-cut vegetables or bread at the supermarket, it’s in plastic packaging. What do legislators propose we replace that by? I understand (and use) reusable shopping bags but keeping sliced ham fresh sounds less practical. For clarity, I’m not skeptical, I’m all for the strictest plastic ban that’s remotely practical. But I don’t get…
Reusable containers will work for all of these, except maybe pre-cut vegetables. You pay a deposit fee, and take your stuff in reusable containers.
Still in practice with milk bottles. Why not with everything else.
Re: 85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
#210Yes yes instead of single use bags at the store I now get more durable plastic bags that I throw away after using once. Well done.
If the grocery store made plastic bags that didn't have holes in them all the time, they make a good pooper-scooper bag and thus reusable.
We used to use them for this all the time!