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What happens if that causes glass to become more economical? Glass is worse for climate change, partly because of the higher fuel use in transporting it's heavi

What happens if that causes glass to become more economical? Glass is worse for climate change, partly because of the higher fuel use in transporting it's heavier weight. This is the trouble with plastic - it's not simple! You can try to force a solution to one problem but exacerbate another one. And of course there are economic costs which I guess would affect poor people the most and push the wealth inequality problem along a little further. How much cost is worth paying? Not infinite. We have to find a balance somewhere but if you never even considered the trade-offs, you're not going to find that balance at all.

Spooky23 7y ago
I didn’t use the word plastic. The more fundamental problem in my opinion is single serving water - it’s dumb and wasteful. Shipping water is bad for climate change. The fud about glass and global warming is overstated — the big problem with glass is spoilage. The world would be better off with tap water in places that it is practical and filters for everyone else. The fact that it makes economic sense to import water from Fiji to Boston for about the same retail price as Poland Spring (trucked <200 miles) tells me that the economic problems are pretty easy to fix. Economics are a big part of solving any problem, but you need regulatory frameworks as well, and those frameworks will hurt incumbent companies. All packaged drinks are trading a commodity based in the utility it delivers at a point in time. A 20oz cold coke is 5-10x the cost of a fountain or 3 liter bottle. There’s no incentive to reduce package waste as the profit center for coke (or any other soda company) is a big, cold single serving.
- lopmotr 7y ago
  OK, bottled water of any sort is a different issue. I don't use it much myself but could it just be a generational thing? Old people carried their own water bottle so they don't see the point. Young people may be accustomed to the convenience.

Spooky23 7y ago

I didn’t use the word plastic. The more fundamental problem in my opinion is single serving water - it’s dumb and wasteful. Shipping water is bad for climate change. The fud about glass and global warming is overstated — the big problem with glass is spoilage. The world would be better off with tap water in places that it is practical and filters for everyone else. The fact that it makes economic sense to import water from Fiji to Boston for about the same retail price as Poland Spring (trucked <200 miles) tells me that the economic problems are pretty easy to fix. Economics are a big part of solving any problem, but you need regulatory frameworks as well, and those frameworks will hurt incumbent companies. All packaged drinks are trading a commodity based in the utility it delivers at a point in time. A 20oz cold coke is 5-10x the cost of a fountain or 3 liter bottle. There’s no incentive to reduce package waste as the profit center for coke (or any other soda company) is a big, cold single serving.

lopmotr 7y ago
OK, bottled water of any sort is a different issue. I don't use it much myself but could it just be a generational thing? Old people carried their own water bottle so they don't see the point. Young people may be accustomed to the convenience.