4 ms·

Maybe the overarching moral of the story is that single-use "disposable" products aren't a good environmental option regardless of what material they're made of

Maybe the overarching moral of the story is that single-use "disposable" products aren't a good environmental option regardless of what material they're made of.

jolux 5y ago
This is true but the incentives are currently not calibrated to ensure that more durable products are used. Making disposable bags more expensive, or similar to, reusable bags would go a long way here, I think. And there are some cases where disposables are important for hygiene and safety, like medical usage. But it would be best to reduce production to those things that have a strong reason to be disposable.
cogman10 5y ago
I have a little bit of a different take here. Paper products represent carbon sequestration. Single use paper products are great in that they are capturing and locking atmospheric carbon. Trees are renewable resources that can be farmed. I never understood the "save the trees" argument. From what? Most modern lumber harvesting not only cuts down trees, but plants new trees for later harvest. Same way we plant other consumables. Where's the "save the potato!" movement?
- the-smug-one 5y ago
  Well, the slogan should be something like "Save diverse fauna, flora and funghi which goes through a natural life cycle inside of a vast forest with trees of varying species and ages", but that doesn't fit on a t-shirt :). Edit: Apparently all living organisms are collectively called "biota", cool.
- alkonaut 5y ago
  Fwiw I never heard the "save the trees" only "save the rainforest" (which still makes sense). I grew up with 10k trees per capita though and now it's probably more because farmland is abandoned.
- 8note 5y ago
  Sequestration only works if the carbon stays locked up. If you dispose of the bag, and it decomposes to methane in the landfill and is then burned, you've barely done any sequestration
refurb 5y ago
But that’s rarely been highlighted. Plastic bags in grocery stores are banned but I’ve always reused them multiple times. Now I just buy bags to replace the ones I don’t get now. If the message is “be diligent and minimize use of materials” that’s a pretty agreeable statement to most.
- kaybe 5y ago
  I wish the plastic packaging of the toilet paper was even better suited as a liner for the bathroom bin. It's just good enough as it is, but the producers don't even seem to be aware of this fantastic secondary function.
imtringued 5y ago
Turn the single use paper into soil erosion blankets and fight desertification.
ca98am79 5y ago
When I was traveling in India, the vendors would sell food in small terracotta bowls that you could simply throw down and step on when you were done. I thought this was a nice single-use, disposable and easily recyclable product.

Maybe the overarching moral of the story is that single-use "disposable" products aren't a good environmental option regardless of what material they're made of.

jolux 5y ago

This is true but the incentives are currently not calibrated to ensure that more durable products are used. Making disposable bags more expensive, or similar to, reusable bags would go a long way here, I think. And there are some cases where disposables are important for hygiene and safety, like medical usage. But it would be best to reduce production to those things that have a strong reason to be disposable.

cogman10 5y ago

I have a little bit of a different take here. Paper products represent carbon sequestration. Single use paper products are great in that they are capturing and locking atmospheric carbon. Trees are renewable resources that can be farmed. I never understood the "save the trees" argument. From what? Most modern lumber harvesting not only cuts down trees, but plants new trees for later harvest. Same way we plant other consumables. Where's the "save the potato!" movement?

the-smug-one 5y ago
Well, the slogan should be something like "Save diverse fauna, flora and funghi which goes through a natural life cycle inside of a vast forest with trees of varying species and ages", but that doesn't fit on a t-shirt :). Edit: Apparently all living organisms are collectively called "biota", cool.
alkonaut 5y ago
Fwiw I never heard the "save the trees" only "save the rainforest" (which still makes sense). I grew up with 10k trees per capita though and now it's probably more because farmland is abandoned.
8note 5y ago
Sequestration only works if the carbon stays locked up. If you dispose of the bag, and it decomposes to methane in the landfill and is then burned, you've barely done any sequestration

refurb 5y ago

But that’s rarely been highlighted. Plastic bags in grocery stores are banned but I’ve always reused them multiple times. Now I just buy bags to replace the ones I don’t get now. If the message is “be diligent and minimize use of materials” that’s a pretty agreeable statement to most.

kaybe 5y ago
I wish the plastic packaging of the toilet paper was even better suited as a liner for the bathroom bin. It's just good enough as it is, but the producers don't even seem to be aware of this fantastic secondary function.

imtringued 5y ago

Turn the single use paper into soil erosion blankets and fight desertification.

ca98am79 5y ago

When I was traveling in India, the vendors would sell food in small terracotta bowls that you could simply throw down and step on when you were done. I thought this was a nice single-use, disposable and easily recyclable product.