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‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

cam.ac.uk

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Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#91

Post by dehrmann »

bushbaba wrote: post #17
mytailorisrich wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Something I don't fully understand is why single-use plastics are still in use. Because it's not so simple to replace them in the supply chain, taking everything into account. I am also not convinced that there really are better alternatives in term of pollution in all cases. I think analysing the pros and cons fully in the complete chain (e.g. from mining to disposal of waste) is also complex. For instance: Is a t…

When I buy rice at the store. It’s in a plastic bag. This is totally in necessary. It could be in a paper bag or even a bulk-bin. I think banning the majority of single use packaging would go a long way at reducing our waste.

But by mass, the plastic bag is an incredibly small portion of your purchase. Plastic getting into the ocean is a valid concern, but beyond that, the rice bag is a pretty negligible concern compared to the rest of your lifestyle.

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#92

Post by elric »

criddell wrote: post #21
pizza234 wrote: post #2

Something I don't fully understand is why single-use plastics are still in use. Every once in a while, a replacement is advertised, but still not used. The reasons I can think of are: 1. cost - this could be an very simple reason; 2. conflictual requirement - the supposition that chemical indestructibility is what makes plastic at the same time necessary but problematic. Is there any other factor/complexity I'm missi…

Maybe retailer requirements. Walgreens (for example) might require clamshell-type packaging for store displays. I always wonder why it's used on things that don't need the benefits that plastic provides. For example, I just replaced my keyboard and the new one came in a box but the box was taped shut (single-use plastic) and the keyboard was in a bag (another single-use plastic).

Plastic bags are such a red herring. They are not a problem in any place that has reasonably decent waste collection and inceneration. You can reuse all the plastic bags you want for the rest of your life, and it won't come close to saving the same amount of energy (or carbon or pollution or whatever metric) of skipping a single transatlanic flight. Or of owning a car. Or living in a stupidly big house.

Environmentalism is full of these pointless "little things" which people think add up to "a big thing", but don't. Tin foil. Cling film. Plastic bags. Paper towels. These are all convenient in daily life and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. This seriously detracts from the message of real environmentalism.

It's much easier to wag a finger at someone and tell them "you mustn't use plastic bags, they're bad for the environment!" than it is to tell them "don't go on vacation to Hawaii, flying is criminally wasteful".

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#93

Post by Synaesthesia »

mediaman wrote: post #84
Synaesthesia wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The plastics/oil industry mislead the public and government about how recyclable plastic is (it's not) to prevent legislation from passing which would reduce unnecessary plastics. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-...

Plastic is recyclable. However, the cost of recycling it is generally more than the reclaimed value of the material, especially for mixed recyclables. So, we have to do one of two things: either subsidize the recycling of plastic (e.g.: tax plastic packaging, send tax money to subsidize conversion), or switch back to segregated bins (downside: consumers put less material in). Many people have been spreading misinform…

What the oil industry said and still says is that it's profitable to recycle plastics and it's "a gold mine".

But thanks that was all very interesting.

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#94

Post by shadowlight »

robertlagrant wrote: post #12
shadowlight wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3. Business Incentive. It's very simple. If I'm the owner a plastic factory not only will I fight any product that can potentially replace the product I make, but I will delude myself and pay to delude others into thinking the replacement product is inferior. No system is perfect and one of the negative side effects of capitalism is that short term individual interests often overpower long term collective interests.

I think they generally only do this in the short term, though.

Short term is relative though. Is it short term relative to a couple years, a human lifetime, or the life times of generations?

Two good examples of industries that historically only looked at short term interests: Oil and Tobacco.

These companies fought and tried to change reality as we know it. They tried to spin a narrative that said global warming was fake or that cigarettes are healthy. The long term effects of global warming will ultimately harm everyone including the companies that make these lies. However, the detrimental short term effects arguably happen after the span of one or two human lifetimes, that's why it's hard for companies to see beyond this horizon.

What about nuclear power? The fallout from the waste spans generations. The price of building these plants now could be paid by our distant progeny.

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#95

Post by alex_stoddard »

dahfizz wrote: post #56

How is it that this is waterproof and durable packaging material, but also easy to decompose at home? It seems to me on the surface that those two things are at odds with each other.

They do specifically say single use plastics where I suppose a lot of applications are in food packaging. It just has to last significantly longer than the food spoilage time to be useful.

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#97

Post by dragonwriter »

ReptileMan wrote: post #49
withinboredom wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in the NL, plastic bags are an extra charge (at least where I shop), it costs just a tiny bit extra to get nice reusable ones or bring your own - you can return most other single use plastics — like bottled water — and get your money back. This alleviates #1 above, but I don’t think it would ever fly in the US. Here, grocery shopping is almost a daily experience in the city. You can’t walk 10 minutes without pas…

The problem with bags is - let's call it the bachelor shopper. A modern man's clothes may have pockets, but he rarely wears any kind of handbag in which to hold the reusable shopping bag. So it doesn't matter if they cost 1c, 10c or 1 eur - I am always buying new bags, have nowhere to put the bag when I am going outside. At least I also use them to throw away trash.

> A modern man's clothes may have pockets, but he rarely wears any kind of handbag in which to hold the reusable shopping bag

typical store-issued reusable shopping bags easily fold to pocket size, and bags that fold into convenient, integrated pocket-size holders are readilt available, too.

“I don’t have a way of carrying reusable bags” is a rationalization, not a reason.

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#98

Post by jiofih »

elric wrote: post #92
criddell wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe retailer requirements. Walgreens (for example) might require clamshell-type packaging for store displays. I always wonder why it's used on things that don't need the benefits that plastic provides. For example, I just replaced my keyboard and the new one came in a box but the box was taped shut (single-use plastic) and the keyboard was in a bag (another single-use plastic).

Plastic bags are such a red herring. They are not a problem in any place that has reasonably decent waste collection and inceneration. You can reuse all the plastic bags you want for the rest of your life, and it won't come close to saving the same amount of energy (or carbon or pollution or whatever metric) of skipping a single transatlanic flight. Or of owning a car. Or living in a stupidly big house. Environmental…

The two great ocean plastic patches are hundreds of km large, and made of mostly plastic bags (polyethylene) and plastic containers (polypropylene) from household items. Not any kind of industrial source. It adds up pretty quickly when there are 8 billion of us.

I suspect you got it backwards here - the plastic you use in a year does much, much deeper damage than emissions from a flight. But in the end these different types of environmental issues are not exclusive. You can reduce your plastic consumption and plane travel!

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#99

Post by mountainriver »

jiofih wrote: post #98
elric wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastic bags are such a red herring. They are not a problem in any place that has reasonably decent waste collection and inceneration. You can reuse all the plastic bags you want for the rest of your life, and it won't come close to saving the same amount of energy (or carbon or pollution or whatever metric) of skipping a single transatlanic flight. Or of owning a car. Or living in a stupidly big house. Environmental…

The two great ocean plastic patches are hundreds of km large, and made of mostly plastic bags (polyethylene) and plastic containers (polypropylene) from household items. Not any kind of industrial source. It adds up pretty quickly when there are 8 billion of us. I suspect you got it backwards here - the plastic you use in a year does much, much deeper damage than emissions from a flight. But in the end these differen…

Didn’t Seaspiracy show that it was largely fishing plastics

Re: ‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

#100

Post by criddell »

elric wrote: post #92
criddell wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe retailer requirements. Walgreens (for example) might require clamshell-type packaging for store displays. I always wonder why it's used on things that don't need the benefits that plastic provides. For example, I just replaced my keyboard and the new one came in a box but the box was taped shut (single-use plastic) and the keyboard was in a bag (another single-use plastic).

Plastic bags are such a red herring. They are not a problem in any place that has reasonably decent waste collection and inceneration. You can reuse all the plastic bags you want for the rest of your life, and it won't come close to saving the same amount of energy (or carbon or pollution or whatever metric) of skipping a single transatlanic flight. Or of owning a car. Or living in a stupidly big house. Environmental…

I'm not certain that the keyboard in a box required a plastic bag. If it isn't needed, then why not skip it?
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