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> The real solution is sunsetting single-use anything...but $$$ Those $$$ correspond to real-world costs. For examplee, we also want to lower car usage. Do yo
by khafra 2y ago
> The real solution is sunsetting single-use anything...but $$$
Those $$$ correspond to real-world costs.
For examplee, we also want to lower car usage. Do you imagine that people who commute by bicycle or train are going to carry around durable versions of every single-use item they currently encounter? Cups, straws, plates, utensils, napkins, takeout containers, grocery bags, produce bags, tissues? Carrying around dirty versions of all the above until they get home to clean them?
Even if they do, detergent is also single-use, and damaging to aquatic environments.
I'm not some kind of hyperlibertarian, but I think we need to properly tax externalities (such as poisoning customers and destroying the viability of the biosphere), use the proceeds of that for mitigation, and let the market take care of the rest.
- RandomThoughts3 2y agoStraws are useless. Plates and ustensiles can be provided by and cleaned at the place you eat. Takeout containers don’t take more space than the non reusable container you will have to carry back anyway. They can also be provided by your place of work if you generally go for take out for lunch. Reusable tissue bags take no space or paper bags can be used for a cost. Napkins and tissues are not made of plastics. So, yes I fully expect people to carry around reusable things even when they bike. It’s not that hard. You know how I know? Because I do it every day. Honestly stopping using single use items must be the easiest thing to do to limit the amount of trash you generate. It has absolutely no impact on your daily life.
- hammock 2y ago> Napkins and tissues are not made of plastics Would you be surprised to learn that napkins and tissues and paper towels have all sorts of plastic coatings on them? It’s an untold story and I’d love one of these pubs to do some research the way they did about pizza boxes back in the day
- frmersdog 2y agoI would think that durable versions wouldn't be made out of them, unless they were synthetic fibers.
- hammock 2y agoIt's coatings, not the main material. Your 100% cotton sweater has petroleum-derived coatings on it too, which give it a soft handfeel in the store and keep bugs from eating it on its way over from SE Asia :)
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y agoI just want to be able to buy ketchup or mayonnaise in glass at the grocery store. But apparently that's not enough, you want me to bring my own container and have the grocer fill it up from the 55 gallon condiment drum?
- RandomThoughts3 2y agoDon't turn the argument into a parody of itself because you don't like what it implies. No one is asking you about buying using refilable containers you bring to the store. That's not what's talked about when people talk about single use items. I am 100% in favour of putting in place a container-deposit scheme however because these glass containers are actually reusable most of the time and should be collected back. Plastic overpackaging should just be banned. The whole thing is just a waste of ressource only possible because externalties are not priced in.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago> because these glass containers are actually reusable most of the time As far as I am aware, those are mostly obsolete/moot/whatever. Still used for pickles, to the best of my understanding. Tomato sauces (spaghetti, etc) have started to switch over already several years ago. Glass is mostly for premium products, the $12/qt organic-grass-fed-shoulder-massaged milk. Even if I'm generous and assume you're not talking about grocery stores... it's practically impossible to have a fast food industry without single-use packaging. Most of the McDonald's in my area are designed around drive-thru and delivery. The closest probably seats 30 inside, but has two drive-thru lanes and a large rack right next to the counter for the Uber Eats bags.
- RandomThoughts3 2y ago> As far as I am aware, those are mostly obsolete/moot/whatever. They won’t be if you start pricing plastic packaging generated externalities in the products prices. > it's practically impossible to have a fast food industry without single-use packaging It’s so impossible it’s actually done in France if you eat it and they are mandated by law to use your reusable containers if you bring them.
- smileysteve 2y agoAt present, yes, I believe bicyclists are more likely to carry some reusable items with them. Some of the reason being that they are planning their trips and know what they can carry, and know that they don't want to carry more. Reusable water bottles in a work backpack are an example. The other aspect is you don't have to carry all of these things. If you eat in a restaurant or at a house you are more likely to have reusable options available (ie washable plates and dinnerware). In many ways, car culture is linked to takeaway culture, which causes single use culture. Top of mind; it's easy to picture the American automobile with bags of fast food trash.
- seszett 2y ago> Do you imagine that people who commute by bicycle or train are going to carry around durable versions of every single-use item they currently encounter? Cups, straws, plates, utensils, napkins, takeout containers, grocery bags, produce bags, tissues? Carrying around dirty versions of all the above until they get home to clean them? Doesn't seem uncommon at all to me, that's what my colleagues and I do, same for my wife and her colleagues (and we work in very different environments and places, different countries even). Some of my colleagues wash their dishes at work, I just bring them back and put them in my dishwasher a home. My wife has a dishwasher at work so they just put their stuff there. The products we use for washing at home or at work claim to be biodegradable and not harmful for the environment. Properly taxing externalities is an obvious thing to do though of course.