4 ms·

Meta: is it just me or is there an unusually high amount of pollution/plastic related articles on HN recently?

makerofspoons 7y ago
There have been a number of major reports published in the last few months that detail just how much environmental damage we have caused since industrialization. I believe the uptick in articles is a result of people becoming aware of the extent of the problem.
- lelima 7y ago
  >>I believe the uptick in articles is a result of people becoming aware of the extent of the problem. Totally agreed, That encourage me to stop buying/using plastic bottles. Quite challenging in Dublin where Everywhere you go water comes with plastic bottles/glasses, Ireland #1 plastic generator in Europe per person 61kg/yr [1]. [1]: https://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-plastic-waste-3786393-Jan2018/ https://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-plastic-waste-3786393-Jan2...
  - 52-6F-62 7y ago
    I've been enjoying seeing the gradual proliferation of water-bottle refill stations being installed by the city here in Toronto. They should be bloody everywhere.
    - logfromblammo 7y ago
      I used to refill my stainless-steel canteen from faucets and drinking fountains. The container was round, and the hole was on an edge of the circular side, rather than poking out of the cylinder wall, so it could fit almost anywhere that water was available, including a stream 15cm (6") across and 5cm (2") deep (filtered with bandana, made potable by iodine). It even had a canvas case, so that you could wet the outside with non-potable water to swamp-cool the drinkable water inside. Unfortunately, everything you can find close to the same form factor today is shoddily constructed and near-worthless. We wouldn't need water-bottle refill stations everywhere, if the water containers themselves were more easily refilled. All the bottles are tall cylinders. Where did all the short, wide cylinders go?
      - 52-6F-62 7y ago
        There are a wide variety of taller bottle designs used. Nalgene-style plastic bottles, blender bottles, and other flip-lid bottles are very popular here. The new refill stations accommodate all of those. I'm not sure I've ever seen the design you're referring to. And "canteen" style bottles are impractically shaped for existing infrastructure like cup-holders, etc. Maybe not crucial things, but definitely finicky. The idea being keeping the barrier of entry as low as possible for people who are otherwise probably more resistant to the conditions you outlined.
        showdead 7y ago
        > I'm not sure I've ever seen the design you're referring to I think this style is what was being referred to: https://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Aluminum-Scout-Canteen-1-Quart/dp/B00069PFJG/ https://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Aluminum-Scout-Canteen-1-Qu... This particular item does not appear to be well made, which lends credence to the difficulty of finding a high quality product.
        logfromblammo 7y ago
        It was probably constructed in the 1960s, as it originally belonged to my father. Not a canteen-style bottle, but a bona-fide canteen. Imagine two pie pans, one inverted over the other, and welded together at their rims, with the cap hole drilled through the bottom of one pan. That's the basic shape. Smooth out the edges to be more like spherical sections, and put the result in a snap-shut canvas holder, with a shoulder strap. You have likely never seen the shape I am referring to. At some point, someone decided to move the caps to the cylindrical sides, rather than keep them on one of the round faces, and then you couldn't fit the thing under a bathroom sink faucet any more, and a drinking fountain needed a bit more arc to fill it. Difficult fill locations might only fill those up halfway. This was likely done to accommodate blow-molded plastic canteens, and to manufacture from flat and rolled sheet metal, rather than pressed. So now, even if you buy a "real" canteen, the cap is pointing in the wrong direction, and you might as well just have a large, awkward bottle.
undersuit 7y ago
I always upvote them, I even tried to post a recent finding on global warming after seeing the other submissions die. Much as I enjoyed reading about how Flamin' Hot Cheetos were made, our effects on the world we live in and how it's going to affect the future are the articles I upvote.
- thomasjudge 7y ago
  If only we could come up with a way to turn plastic into Flamin' Hot Cheetos.. (startup idea!)... (You'll probably downvote me..)
  - undersuit 7y ago
    We might as well try. Everyone probably laughed at the guy that first ate old, soggy grains, now it's a multi-billion dollar industry.
dajohnson89 7y ago
I wish the concerns about plastic pollution were overblown. But wherever I go in the world, you can see how much litter plastic has caused.

There have been a number of major reports published in the last few months that detail just how much environmental damage we have caused since industrialization. I believe the uptick in articles is a result of people becoming aware of the extent of the problem.

lelima 7y ago
>>I believe the uptick in articles is a result of people becoming aware of the extent of the problem. Totally agreed, That encourage me to stop buying/using plastic bottles. Quite challenging in Dublin where Everywhere you go water comes with plastic bottles/glasses, Ireland #1 plastic generator in Europe per person 61kg/yr [1]. [1]: https://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-plastic-waste-3786393-Jan2018/ https://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-plastic-waste-3786393-Jan2...
- 52-6F-62 7y ago
  I've been enjoying seeing the gradual proliferation of water-bottle refill stations being installed by the city here in Toronto. They should be bloody everywhere.
  - logfromblammo 7y ago
    I used to refill my stainless-steel canteen from faucets and drinking fountains. The container was round, and the hole was on an edge of the circular side, rather than poking out of the cylinder wall, so it could fit almost anywhere that water was available, including a stream 15cm (6") across and 5cm (2") deep (filtered with bandana, made potable by iodine). It even had a canvas case, so that you could wet the outside with non-potable water to swamp-cool the drinkable water inside. Unfortunately, everything you can find close to the same form factor today is shoddily constructed and near-worthless. We wouldn't need water-bottle refill stations everywhere, if the water containers themselves were more easily refilled. All the bottles are tall cylinders. Where did all the short, wide cylinders go?
    - 52-6F-62 7y ago
      There are a wide variety of taller bottle designs used. Nalgene-style plastic bottles, blender bottles, and other flip-lid bottles are very popular here. The new refill stations accommodate all of those. I'm not sure I've ever seen the design you're referring to. And "canteen" style bottles are impractically shaped for existing infrastructure like cup-holders, etc. Maybe not crucial things, but definitely finicky. The idea being keeping the barrier of entry as low as possible for people who are otherwise probably more resistant to the conditions you outlined.
      - showdead 7y ago
        > I'm not sure I've ever seen the design you're referring to I think this style is what was being referred to: https://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Aluminum-Scout-Canteen-1-Quart/dp/B00069PFJG/ https://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Aluminum-Scout-Canteen-1-Qu... This particular item does not appear to be well made, which lends credence to the difficulty of finding a high quality product.
      - logfromblammo 7y ago
        It was probably constructed in the 1960s, as it originally belonged to my father. Not a canteen-style bottle, but a bona-fide canteen. Imagine two pie pans, one inverted over the other, and welded together at their rims, with the cap hole drilled through the bottom of one pan. That's the basic shape. Smooth out the edges to be more like spherical sections, and put the result in a snap-shut canvas holder, with a shoulder strap. You have likely never seen the shape I am referring to. At some point, someone decided to move the caps to the cylindrical sides, rather than keep them on one of the round faces, and then you couldn't fit the thing under a bathroom sink faucet any more, and a drinking fountain needed a bit more arc to fill it. Difficult fill locations might only fill those up halfway. This was likely done to accommodate blow-molded plastic canteens, and to manufacture from flat and rolled sheet metal, rather than pressed. So now, even if you buy a "real" canteen, the cap is pointing in the wrong direction, and you might as well just have a large, awkward bottle.

undersuit 7y ago

I always upvote them, I even tried to post a recent finding on global warming after seeing the other submissions die. Much as I enjoyed reading about how Flamin' Hot Cheetos were made, our effects on the world we live in and how it's going to affect the future are the articles I upvote.

thomasjudge 7y ago
If only we could come up with a way to turn plastic into Flamin' Hot Cheetos.. (startup idea!)... (You'll probably downvote me..)
- undersuit 7y ago
  We might as well try. Everyone probably laughed at the guy that first ate old, soggy grains, now it's a multi-billion dollar industry.

dajohnson89 7y ago

I wish the concerns about plastic pollution were overblown. But wherever I go in the world, you can see how much litter plastic has caused.