3 ms·
Surely this (unlike many other environmental and social issues) is effectively solved by price? If helium balloons cost $100 each vastly fewer of them would be
by neilkk 3y ago
Surely this (unlike many other environmental and social issues) is effectively solved by price?
If helium balloons cost $100 each vastly fewer of them would be sold. If they cost $100 but you could get $90 back by bringing them back to the store for the helium to be recycled, much less helium would be consumed.
If there is a limited supply of helium for essential medical use, the price should rise until either demand is affected or less of it gets discarded by hydrocarbon extractors. If this doesn't happen we are probably ok.
- orev 3y agoPrice is driven by the market, and the market has a very short timeframe where anything is relevant (it generally only cares about the timeframe when the transaction is taking place). However the management of helium as a resource needs to be thought of as “the entire time that humans will exist on Earth”, since it’s an almost completely non renewable resource where after using it once it’s often lost forever.