6 ms·

Subscription things are something I wish would have died in the media wars of cable TV. Also, on a more tangential note, allow me to gripe briefly: Blue Apron,

by 0des 4y ago

Subscription things are something I wish would have died in the media wars of cable TV. Also, on a more tangential note, allow me to gripe briefly: Blue Apron, and other with this model, consider how much garbage you are creating for the minimal value of your schemes.

paulgb 4y ago
> Blue Apron, and other with this model, consider how much garbage you are creating for the minimal value of your schemes. This is getting a bit tangential, but I've been wondering about whether the environmental footprint of grocery delivery really is lower or higher than going in-person to pick it up. Grocery stores have a huge, air-conditioned square footage just so that I can walk around and pick stuff out. Lots of food gets thrown out unused. I bring less packaging home, but stuff is still delivered to the grocery store in packages, I'm just outsourcing the guilt of throwing it out to the grocery store. Meanwhile, companies like Blue Apron and Imperfect batch deliveries to my building, so the carbon footprint of delivery is amortized over everyone who benefits from it.
- jdlshore 4y ago
  I read about a study that concluded meal delivery kits resulted in less CO2 emissions, mostly because because store-bought food required people to buy larger quantities, so there was more food waste. I don't remember the details, but remember being somewhat skeptical about the way the study was conducted. The point being that there's lots of factors and packaging isn't necessarily the biggest one.
  - 0des 4y ago
    I hate to get all "That's just what they want you to believe maaaan!" but I'm going to wear my tinfoil hat on this matter while we both look up who may have funded that study.
    - jdlshore 4y ago
      The same thought crossed my mind. :-)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- drewzero1 4y ago
  At the same time, the carbon footprint of the grocery store's whole system is amortized over everyone who gets their food there. It's not just so one person can walk around, but to serve a large percentage of local residents over the course of each week. (To be fair, a lot of them drive their own cars, so that needs to be taken into account as well.) The food comes in on densely-packed semi trucks, on reusable pallets stacked with largely recyclable or reusable distribution packaging, which is sent back to the distribution center to be used again on the next delivery. There's an economy of scale with some long-developed efficiency tactics that, at least in my area, delivery services just can't touch. It is certainly true that grocery stores throw out food that goes bad before it sells. What do services like Blue Apron (or their suppliers) do with perishables that aren't up to par?

by 0des 4y ago

paulgb 4y ago

> Blue Apron, and other with this model, consider how much garbage you are creating for the minimal value of your schemes. This is getting a bit tangential, but I've been wondering about whether the environmental footprint of grocery delivery really is lower or higher than going in-person to pick it up. Grocery stores have a huge, air-conditioned square footage just so that I can walk around and pick stuff out. Lots of food gets thrown out unused. I bring less packaging home, but stuff is still delivered to the grocery store in packages, I'm just outsourcing the guilt of throwing it out to the grocery store. Meanwhile, companies like Blue Apron and Imperfect batch deliveries to my building, so the carbon footprint of delivery is amortized over everyone who benefits from it.

jdlshore 4y ago
I read about a study that concluded meal delivery kits resulted in less CO2 emissions, mostly because because store-bought food required people to buy larger quantities, so there was more food waste. I don't remember the details, but remember being somewhat skeptical about the way the study was conducted. The point being that there's lots of factors and packaging isn't necessarily the biggest one.
- 0des 4y ago
  I hate to get all "That's just what they want you to believe maaaan!" but I'm going to wear my tinfoil hat on this matter while we both look up who may have funded that study.
  - jdlshore 4y ago
    The same thought crossed my mind. :-)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
drewzero1 4y ago
At the same time, the carbon footprint of the grocery store's whole system is amortized over everyone who gets their food there. It's not just so one person can walk around, but to serve a large percentage of local residents over the course of each week. (To be fair, a lot of them drive their own cars, so that needs to be taken into account as well.) The food comes in on densely-packed semi trucks, on reusable pallets stacked with largely recyclable or reusable distribution packaging, which is sent back to the distribution center to be used again on the next delivery. There's an economy of scale with some long-developed efficiency tactics that, at least in my area, delivery services just can't touch. It is certainly true that grocery stores throw out food that goes bad before it sells. What do services like Blue Apron (or their suppliers) do with perishables that aren't up to par?