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I don’t know why people drink from plastic. Just because we know about BPA doesn’t mean there are hundreds of other things in plastic not on our radar. Just use
by bergenty 4y ago
I don’t know why people drink from plastic. Just because we know about BPA doesn’t mean there are hundreds of other things in plastic not on our radar. Just use glass, fired clay (with no additives, just wood ash) or metal containers where container strength is required (copper ideally).
- germinalphrase 4y agoWhy copper rather than stainless steel (the more common, less costly option)?
- e40 4y agoPerhaps because copper has antibacterial qualities? I use stainless steel, myself. Never plastic.
- bergenty 4y agoStainless steel is just as good.
- potatochup 4y agoIt could be that some people are sensitive to nickel (which is the 10 in typical 18/10 stainless steel)
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoCopper gets into acidic food, and is actually poisonous in large quantities
- michaelsshaw 4y agoCopper is actually a reactive metal, will leach into acidic liquids, and is generally not permitted for restaurant use for this reason.
- sneak 4y agoFor me personally? My favorite flavor of bottled water costs 3x in glass as it does in plastic. While traveling, plastic-contained beverages are almost all that is available. 100% of the drinking water on a commercial flight is in plastic. 100% of the drinking water in airport vending machines, etc.
- bergenty 4y agoTake your own water with you. Some things are unavoidable (like flights, airports etc.) but this is a harm reduction exercise. It doesn’t have to be perfect. If you take your own water with you, you should be able to cover 90%+ of your consumption.
- deathanatos 4y ago> Some things are unavoidable (like flights, airports etc.) You can "take your own water with you" for those, for the amount that it matters to this discussion. It's not going to be literally your own water — generally speaking, TSA will force one to dump "dangerous" water into a giant trash bin in the middle of the checkpoint¹ — but you can normally refill the bottle once inside the secure area from a water fountain. Now … it might be tap, unfiltered, the local jurisdiction might be bad at water, IDK. But it's not quite an entirely lost cause. Specifically, an empty reusable water bottle can traverse the security checkpoint. (We own some mostly non-plastic ones, too.) ¹comically, we were once forced to discard water that came from within the secured zone at the checkpoint.
- sneak 4y agoTap water is way worse for me, personally. This is why I drink bottled in the first place. My point is that drinking out of plastic is basically unavoidable in many circumstances. It isn't a choice we make.
- nradov 4y agoWhy is tap water worse? Is your local water contaminated?
- SoftTalker 4y agoMost bottled water is just filtered municipal tap water. And there are fewer regulations over bottled water quality than there are municipal water.
- lovich 4y agoWell all of those cost more than plastic containers and I am unaware at the point of purchase if that’s because externalities aren’t priced in and someone else is paying to give me a deal or if it does take less resources to create and damages the environment less. I, and I presume most consumers, have a number of values we are always trading off when making purchases, but any single items ranking on those tradeoffs is usually obfuscated other than price.
- bergenty 4y agoBut they’re completely reusable. You can technically use one for the rest of your life.
- lovich 4y agoThey are technically reusable. I don’t doubt most people buying a reusable bottle get at least a few uses out of it. However, you have to deal with the risk of misplacing it, theft, destruction, moving without taking it, etc. All of these risks make the value of the reusable bottle possibly better but the low cost of the plastic one use bottles are a real benefit that can be immediately realized
- schroeding 4y agoI'm in the same boat (preferring stainless steel), but plastic sure is handy. Almost indestructible compared to glass and clay and way lighter and cheaper than metal. And then there is also "sneaky plastic" in places people may not expect, e.g. in "bamboo" mugs that are mostly resin. So exactly the kind of mug that people may buy to avoid plastic ones... :/
- SoftTalker 4y agoAlmost all utility water is delivered in PVC piping. There is not really any avoiding it. So I don't really worry about the Nalgene bottle I use to drink water from.
- bashinator 4y agoYeah but Nalgene started as laboratory kit and I would imagine doesn’t leach nearly as badly as an 0.25¢ soda bottle.
- debacle 4y agoNalgene was one of the worst offenders in the BPA space.
- bergenty 4y agoThat’s not true. Most of the utility water pipes are metal, concrete or clay. PVC pipes make up 22% of the US’s total utility water piping. Many homes in the US have wells so this generally doesn’t apply evenly to everyone. Finally, it’s an exercise in harm reduction.
- nikolay 4y agoThe only luxury my family has is buying bottled water from Europe (Aqua Panna, San Benedetto) to avoid routinely ingesting microplastics. We only use natural fiber fabrics at home (cotton and wool) but it has become really hard to buy pure cotton wear nowadays - especially socks! Even brands like Cotton:On now have plenty of plastic wear, so, one needs to be very careful. Unfortunately, due to the supply chain issue, there's almost no more glass-bottled water from Europe anymore and the American one is grossly expensive! Not only glass bottles are hygienic and make water intake dosing easy, they also reduce pollution in nature as people perceive them differently, I believe. Kids love fleece, which is one of the worst airway and lung pollutants wit microplastic fibers, I believe.
- ParksNet 4y agoLook on Etsy for locally made cottons socks. Investigate getting a reverse osmosis home water machine installed under your kitchen sink, and ensuring the tubing coming out of it all the way to the faucet is metallic.
- schroeding 4y ago> there's almost no more glass-bottled water from Europe anymore and the American one is grossly expensive! Wait, was european bottled water cheaper than american bottled water in California or am I misunderstanding this? That would be kinda insane, IMO :D
- nikolay 4y agoYes [0] [1] [2], including the subscription services, which offer glass gallon jugs for astronomical prices - that's why I chose individual bottles! Even Voss from Iceland is cheaper on per-case basis! [0]: Saratoga (https://sswc.com/ https://sswc.com/) [1]: Mountain Valley Spring (https://www.mountainvalleyspring.com/ https://www.mountainvalleyspring.com/) [2]: Starkey (https://starkeywater.com/ https://starkeywater.com/)
- schroeding 4y agoOuch. Then let's hope the supply of glass-bottled european water returns to normal soon. ^^ (Those gallon jugs look really cool, though, never seen such massive glass bottles. But my god must they be heavy! :D)
- graypegg 4y agoOne thing that’s always freaked me out (admittedly without any evidence beyond anxiety) are those triangular tea bags made entirely out of plastic. Very thin strands of plastic, heated to around boiling. I can’t imagine that the plastic remains completely inert there, so I’d guess you’re consuming some amount of plastic, and probably more than just drinking cold water out of a bottle.
- jjtheblunt 4y agothey're not necessarily plastic (some may be): i used one earlier and it states on the box it's some plant material, so edible truly. i was reading the box because of exactly what you said above, had thought the same!
- forum_ghost 4y ago"derived from plant material" = bio-plastic. Most likely PLA. polylactic acid derived from starch.
- jjtheblunt 4y agothat's possible : will look when i next have access, now curious too
- nerdponx 4y agoI usually rip those open, brew the loose tea in a cup or bowl or whatever, and strain the tea into a mug afterwards.
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoHuh? Is 'normal' loose tea not avaliable near you? Ripping the plastic you will end up with small threads or pieces of it in your drink
- nerdponx 4y ago
- formerly_proven 4y agoIV drips are made from soft PVC (both IV bag and tube) and I've always wondered how on earth they managed to get that certified for medical use. Interestingly, the tubes used with vacutainers for drawing blood samples are silicone.
- lifeisstillgood 4y agoI think we need to stop seeing this (and many other things) as a personal choice behaviour. Why is this seen as "leave it to informed choice reflected through the market" and not simply "No, you can't sell that".
- sacrosancty 4y agoIs there any evidence that plastics we use for food containers are harmful? The continued life expectancy of humans seems to show that any harm is very small. This study wasn't feeding them food from a plastic container, it was feeding them two of the isolated chemicals in a solution, so it really doesn't show any harm in itself. Even drinking water from lead pipes is safe as long as there aren't failures that cause the lead to get carried away by the water. Same with asbestos building materials, etc. Just touching a toxic substance doesn't necessarily poison you.
- reedjosh 4y ago> The continued life expectancy of humans seems to show that any harm is very small Life expectancy is a bad measure for two reasons. 1). The major bump in life expectancy of the 20th century is largely due to the number of infants that survive compared to the past. 2). We wouldn't see a decline in life expectancy that's due to exposure in womb until said children were of an age that mattered. Not to mention pure quality of life issues.
- rajup 4y agoHarm does not necessarily mean only life threatening issues IMO. There have been a bunch of studies recently indicating dropping male fertility with strong links to plastic consumption.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago> The continued life expectancy of humans seems to show that any harm is very small. This is terrible logic. If something causes deafness, blindness, or missing toes it will not affect life expectancy. Additionally, suppose in same year a drug against cancer i.proves life expectancy by 5 years and plastic pollution causes it to go down by 5 years - so you will never find out.
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoIf you ever buy takeaway coffee, you can't avoid it. All milk in UK is in plastic containers. In fact i struggle to find sny food that isn't
- Gigachad 4y ago> copper ideally Copper is toxic though. Especially bad with acidic drinks which a lot are.
- jokoon 4y agoUnless laws come into place, and unless it's strongly proven on humans with extensive research, BPA will just be treated as a conspiracy theory. To be completely honest, reducing plastic packaging seems impossible to do right now, the economic impact would be so huge.
- refurb 4y agoYou realize how ubiquitous plastics are in healthcare? I mean we even implant plastics into the human body. But regardless, IV solutions are manufactured and stored for months in plastic bags. I think you’re understating what we know about safety.
- bergenty 4y agoYou drink close to a gallon of water a day. How often do you have to get IVs.
- refurb 4y agoWhen you've got a central line implanted, like people undergoing dialysis, then you're exposed for the rest of your life.
- analyte123 4y agoComposite dental fillings and sealants are literally made out of BPA in many cases.