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> If helium is so important and rare why do we put it in balloons? Same reason why we use potable water (an expensive resource) to flush our toilets - some mi
by chimeracoder 10y ago
> If helium is so important and rare why do we put it in balloons?
Same reason why we use potable water (an expensive resource) to flush our toilets - some mixture of laziness, lack of awareness, apathy, and cost.
- zymhan 10y agoPotable water is not expensive everywhere. Also, laying a second, redundant network of water pipes so that we can flush with "gray water" would be ridiculously costly. In buildings that can recycle their own water, gray water systems work, but it's a whole new problem to retrofit buildings with one.
- mikeash 10y agoThat's a pretty good analogy. Both cases represent an insignificantly small usage of their respective resources, gain attention merely because they're immediately visible in our lives, and act as a distraction from the real problems. For water, agricultural use vastly outweighs the use from flushing toilets. For helium, medical and industrial uses far outweigh what goes into balloons.
- zymhan 10y agoI think your analogy is better than GPs, as you actually framed the issue in terms of proportional consumption.