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Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

sdstate.edu

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Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#311

Post by insane_dreamer »

qwerty_clicks wrote: post #139

I’ve worked for two refining companies. They aren’t about to rebuild their global infrastructure to make this happen…it doesn’t matter what possible, it’s what corporations can buy out politicians and the rich building a society that benefits them.

When you start to look at a lot of technological solutions to problems like environmental pollution, climate change, low-cost energy, healthy food production and distribution, you realize that most of the challenges are not technological in nature, but social and political -- basically human nature (fear and greed).

(This is another reason why the idea that's been floated that "AI" or the near-mythical "AGI" will "solve the world's problems" is fallacy -- unless of course by "solve" it means "make a few companies extremely wealthy at the expense of everyone else".)

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#312

Post by insane_dreamer »

fy20 wrote: post #140
latexr wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don’t you bring plastic bags from home? They are very much reusable, you don’t have to throw them out. They are also quite easy to fold into small shapes and keep on you, or your car, or whatever. I have plastic bags which have endured for literal years. I also decided early on that if I forget to bring a bag, I either do without or have to go back to get one. You start remembering really fast after a few times o…

I have a cupboard full of bags at home I can reuse. It's right next to my door. Really easy to get to. 75% of the time I forget to take a bag to my car. As well as all the single use bags (paper and plastic) I bought, I also have jute bags that I got years ago and are still holding up. I like them better as they are bigger and stronger. Even if I managed to get a bag, the other 75% of the time I forget to take it int…

> 75% of the time I forget to take a bag to my car.

I put our reusable ones on the floor in the entrance to the garage and then that reminds me to put them back in the trunk whenever I go to the car for whatever reason. Then I always have them while out.

I've sometimes left them in the car but just excuse myself at the checkout and go fetch them while the groceries are being rung up.

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#313

Post by IAmBroom »

refulgentis wrote: post #117
instagraham wrote: post #116

Why is it that we read about so many inventions like this - once - and then never hear of them again? Most countries have to import plastic along with their oil. Surely the economics of this gets worse every time oil or shipping prices rise. And more so if you account the cost of waste disposal. There are economic incentives to scaling up these biodegradable alternatives. Are they not big enough to result in a push?

Per TFA, this is a highly manual one off process with a not-well-scaled resource - a specific type of vine cutting that can only be harvested every other year without affecting the overall vibe health. So Id wager it's the brutal road from proof of concept to scaled production.

That's a kind way to put it. I'd call it a shit idea that produced a paper for someone's CV.

Do the same with bamboo, HFCS waste, or something similar in availability? Now you're talking!

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#314

Post by IAmBroom »

radium3d wrote: post #103

As an owner of 30 trees, mainly oak trees, why the heck don't we do this with leaves...? I throw away 3 bins FULL of leaves every week and I can't even keep up. They drop leaves year round.

So... vacuum the forests, like Trump believes? :D

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#315

Post by insane_dreamer »

cm2012 wrote: post #104
mrmincent wrote: post #26

I would kill for this for when I’m buying fresh produce at the shops. Right now I just raw dog the produce into my basket as putting 4 apples into a plastic bag to ease the weighing and transport home seems like a selfish thing to do to the environment, but something that starts to break down soon after that sounds great.

People dramatically over weight how bad plastic is for the environment. The impact of a 10 min car ride = 10,000+ plastic bags of emissions. And in first world countries almost no household plastic ends up in the environment.

> The impact of a 10 min car ride = 10,000+ plastic bags of emissions.

Emissions isn't the main problem with plastics.

But yes, we should also cut down on driving cars, or drive EVs, or take public transport.

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#316

Post by IAmBroom »

55555 wrote: post #98

If I’m not mistaken this is ecologically basically a paper bag that looks like a plastic bag. Remember when we all switched from paper bags to plastic bags to save the environment? The environmental issue isn’t plastic bags, it’s that you don’t reuse them.

Nope, and I'm 60. AFAICT we switched because plastic bags were far stronger, and didn't fail immediately if they got damp.

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#317

Post by philipallstar »

jraph wrote: post #282
philipallstar wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That would mean that we eat active pesticides when buying non organic food. Not that it would totally surprise me neither. Not necessarily. It could be microbes downstream of pests touching your crops that shorten the shelf life, for example. > But they might have shorter circuits as well (which is also a good thing). It's a good thing if you have the time and money to buy things that are more expensive to produce.

> It's a good thing if you have the time and money to buy things that are more expensive to produce. Again with the money! We are looping here. I really don't know what you are trying to defend, but not the same thing as me for sure. I think I will stop there, we are not having a constructive discussion. You are just opposing random stuff without answering key points.

> Again with the money!

If you claim something is good, it's maybe okay to point out that it might not be good.

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#318

Post by autoexec »

rablackburn wrote: post #112
tw04 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>People dramatically over weight how bad plastic is for the environment. I can only give a: what in the fuck are you talking about?? Modern medicine is literally finding microplastics in men's testes. "People" are dramatically underestimating how completely and utterly screwed the next dozen generations of humanity are with the plastic waste we've blanketed the earth in. Assuming humans survive that long.

At least microplastics don't make you angry and violent that we can tell. On the other hand, it's going to be around (relative to pre-emission levels) for a lot longer than the lead (paint gets chipped off and disposed of, we stopped using it in end-consumer products, etc)

There's some concern that microplastics in the brain could contribute to depression, anxiety, executive function disorders, autism, Alzheimer's etc.

As the amount of plastics in the brain increases who knows what it'll do to us.

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#319

Post by amalcon »

throwawayffffas wrote: post #267
ahartmetz wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trick is to always have them where you will need them. I always have one or two in my backpack, in my car, in my luggage when I travel... Their size and weight is almost nothing and the only effort is putting them back after use. Which is where it occasionally fails, sure.

The trick is to not bother, just make sure your bag ends recycled not in the street or in the ocean.

If you use single stream recycling for this, then this is actively bad. Plastic bags clog the sorting machines, and then get thrown out because (even if labeled) they are usually contaminated.

Re: Grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that will decompose

#320

Post by nitwit005 »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #54
exabrial wrote: post #17

Yeah that’s the problem. Plastic solves a logistics problem, not a structural problem. Are your Twinkies stuck in a hot truck in Texas for a week? No problem!

They used to make it work with waxed paper. There's no reason why that can't be used for a large proportion of food packaging again.

That's just a different non-biodegradable petroleum product: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin_wax
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