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Honest question: What will plastic bottles be replaced with that's more environmentally friendly? I can easily see plastic bags being replaced by jute bags, but
by majewsky 8y ago
Honest question: What will plastic bottles be replaced with that's more environmentally friendly? I can easily see plastic bags being replaced by jute bags, but the only alternative material for bottles that I know of is glass, which does not seem like a good alternative given its weight and fragility (and possibly energy use during production).
- matt4077 8y agoI suspect that only single-use bottles are banned. The sturdier, reusable plastic bottles, with a deposit encouraging returns, should be the best option in terms of energy and material over its lifetime.
- Arnt 8y agoThe headline of the article says as much ;)
- bladecatcher 8y agohttp://www.algopack.com/indexgb.php http://www.algopack.com/indexgb.php makes bottles out of seaweed (brown algae) and there're other companies trying to make reuseable bioplastic bottles out of sugarcane
- bpicolo 8y ago> reuseable bioplastic bottles That's not any better if they still don't degrade, no?
- hammock 8y agoBioplastic (PLA) is biodegradable in a commercial facility, unlike petroleum-based bottle plastic (PET)
- saagarjha 8y agoThe key point being that someone has to get the bottle back to the facility instead of throwing it in the trash, or worse, littering.
- bladecatcher 8y agoThat's true, but bioplastics degrade on timelines that are magnitudes smaller than actual plastic.
- xxxdarrenxxx 8y agoA paradigm shift helps. Many people go buy stuff and ask for a bag to go with it. I have done so for half my life, but since I'm aware of the impact I now just bring my own bag/crate. I must have saved 500 bags and thats just me as 1 person. If everyone would do something as simple then the upfront nature cost will be so much lower. Funnily enough bags often cost 10 cents so it even saves money albeit a trivial amount saved nonetheless.
- athenot 8y agoGlass bottles can be made to be sturdy. In Germany there is a glass beverage reuse system, where the empty bottles get returned for credit, washed, refilled and relabeled. The bottles exhibit dull rings where they rub against each other in the process, but otherwise they look new.