4 ms·

Hope you never have to drive to the grocery store

by dymk 2y ago

forgetfreeman 2y ago
Hope you never have to haul a family of 4 worth of groceries on a bus.
- dashundchen 2y ago
  I do on a bike or walking weekly, it's not that crazy. In a prewar US mid sized city, the density supports multiple grocery stores I can reach in about the same time as driving and finding parking.
  - forgetfreeman 2y ago
    Groceries. For a family of four (4). On a bicycle. Sure. How many times a day do you make the trip?
    - andrewshadura 2y ago
      What's so crazy about that? Never seen a bicycle with panniers and a basket? Or a cargo bicycle?
      - forgetfreeman 2y ago
        I've seen what a week's worth of groceries looks like for four people and short of a rickshaw you ain't getting all of that on a bicycle with or without panniers. I'm fairly certain the respondent is coyly ignoring the headcount requirement in my original sneer.
        ta8903 2y ago
        >I've seen what a week's worth of groceries looks like for four people >short of a rickshaw you ain't getting all of that on a bicycle with or without panniers Four Americans, maybe.
        forgetfreeman 2y ago
        Pfft. 56,000 calories doesn't pack but so dense unless you're routinely feeding your family pemmican.
    - dashundchen 2y ago
      I make at least trip one trip a week. Why would I need to go every day? I may stop by a store again during the week for a smaller trip if there's something I really need, or pop to a corner store if I need to grab something like drinks for guests, but it's not out of my way. It's really not a big deal. Bike panniers can hold a ton.
    - hombre_fatal 2y ago
      Trivial if you leave near a grocery store. If you live in most US cities, much more the suburbs, then being dependent on your vehicle to do literally anything is part of the problem. In very few places in the US can you choose to do otherwise.
mc3301 2y ago
15 minute cities is the answer.
bilbo0s 2y ago
Not only that, but if you're close to a road at all, you'll intake the micro-plastics and nano-plastics. So you really need to move away from roads. That's possible, but it's really hard to do in most developed nations. Just moving away from a city won't get you to where you need to be. Even when you get there, you have other issues. Like, food, energy, water/sewage treatment, etc. I don't think people realize how difficult it would be to get away from this particular pollutant in our environment. I mean most of us don't own 500 acres in the Brazilian, Namibian, or Ghanaian countryside that we can retreat to. Even Brazil may be too far gone at this point to be honest. And Brazil is enormous. A lot of space. The number of tolerable nations that would have unaffected areas is decreasing fast. This really is a global problem. ETA: Some remote parts of Canada and Alaska might fit the bill? Assuming you're not big on quality of life.
- idiotsecant 2y ago
  You can have really very good quality of life in remote areas. You just might die before you get help if you have a heart attack or something. But the rest of the time it's great!
mythrwy 2y ago
I don't think you understand where I'm living. "Microplastic Free", no, there is no such thing right now. But I'm very far from any major roads/interstates and hundreds of miles to any big city. I didn't move out here to avoid microplastics though, it just (maybe) turned out that way. I'm actually not terribly afraid of microplastics at all, I just don't like urban environments.
epistasis 2y ago
Imagine a grocery store that is within a short walking distance, such that you don't need to haul a weeks worth of groceries but can get fresh food every single day. US supermarkets are massive, take forever to buy small amounts of groceries, and even the walk to and from the car is long. A better world is possible! (If better grocery stores constitute a "better world")
- bluefirebrand 2y ago
  > you don't need to haul a weeks worth of groceries but can get fresh food every single day I lived that life in my 20s Turns out I don't actually want to go to the grocery store every day. I want to go once a week and stock up, which I can do thanks to inventions like the refrigerator and the automobile
  - lurking_swe 2y ago
    no judgment on you in particular, but i’m not a fan of this thought process. I believe it’s a major cause for why americans (statistically) are so obese. and i say this as an american that lives in a city but has family in the suburbs. running errands with your own two feet every day by walking, cycling, etc keeps people healthy and lean. this country has a major car problem. it’s sad. of course one can go to the gym to stay lean and healthy, but that’s even more time consuming than stopping by the store for 5 minutes on the way home, and it requires extreme motivation. Hardly an improvement i’d say.
    - imp0cat 2y ago
      one can go to the gym And by that you mean drive to the gym, right? ;)
    - bluefirebrand 2y ago
      > running errands with your own two feet every day by walking, cycling, etc keeps people healthy and lean. this country has a major car problem I did live this exact lifestyle in my 20s. I was definitely more active but my diet was way worse. I was closer to a lot of restaurants, and I was closer to a lot of bakeries and convenience stores and such as well. A healthy lifestyle also requires a healthy diet and city living gave me far too much easy access to snacks and junk food. A lot of "it's only 5 minutes to go buy a snack". Daily stops for coffee that often included a pasty Yeah, the walkable city does mean people are more active It doesn't necessarily mean they are much more healthy. It still requires other forms of self control (which I admit, I struggled with)
nozzlegear 2y ago
My grocery store is literally in another town 20 miles away. I have an EV but apparently those are even worse for microplastic generation. Am I screwed?
- raddan 2y ago
  An EV is objectively not worse for the environment. And virtually all vehicles contain large amounts of plastic (eg PVC). I recently heard model year 2024 vehicles are ~30% plastic by weight. I’d wait until somebody can clearly state what the demonstrated harms of microplastics are before you conclude that there’s nothing you can do. An EV reduces emissions that we KNOW are bad, and over their lifetimes, the reduction is huge compared to an ICE vehicle. If you’re worried, though, walk or bike whenever you can. Biking to grocery store is not an option for you, but you can still make a difference if you think about it. Eg, go to the store less frequently. Switch to a chest freezer for perishables. And so on. Draw up an energy budget and do the math. There is a cost to human life, sure. But you can make it work if you really care enough. You are definitely not screwed.

Hope you never have to drive to the grocery store

by dymk 2y ago

Hope you never have to drive to the grocery store

forgetfreeman 2y ago

Hope you never have to haul a family of 4 worth of groceries on a bus.

dashundchen 2y ago
I do on a bike or walking weekly, it's not that crazy. In a prewar US mid sized city, the density supports multiple grocery stores I can reach in about the same time as driving and finding parking.
- forgetfreeman 2y ago
  Groceries. For a family of four (4). On a bicycle. Sure. How many times a day do you make the trip?
  - andrewshadura 2y ago
    What's so crazy about that? Never seen a bicycle with panniers and a basket? Or a cargo bicycle?
    - forgetfreeman 2y ago
      I've seen what a week's worth of groceries looks like for four people and short of a rickshaw you ain't getting all of that on a bicycle with or without panniers. I'm fairly certain the respondent is coyly ignoring the headcount requirement in my original sneer.
      - ta8903 2y ago
        >I've seen what a week's worth of groceries looks like for four people >short of a rickshaw you ain't getting all of that on a bicycle with or without panniers Four Americans, maybe.
        forgetfreeman 2y ago
        Pfft. 56,000 calories doesn't pack but so dense unless you're routinely feeding your family pemmican.
  - dashundchen 2y ago
    I make at least trip one trip a week. Why would I need to go every day? I may stop by a store again during the week for a smaller trip if there's something I really need, or pop to a corner store if I need to grab something like drinks for guests, but it's not out of my way. It's really not a big deal. Bike panniers can hold a ton.
  - hombre_fatal 2y ago
    Trivial if you leave near a grocery store. If you live in most US cities, much more the suburbs, then being dependent on your vehicle to do literally anything is part of the problem. In very few places in the US can you choose to do otherwise.

mc3301 2y ago

15 minute cities is the answer.

bilbo0s 2y ago

Not only that, but if you're close to a road at all, you'll intake the micro-plastics and nano-plastics. So you really need to move away from roads. That's possible, but it's really hard to do in most developed nations. Just moving away from a city won't get you to where you need to be. Even when you get there, you have other issues. Like, food, energy, water/sewage treatment, etc. I don't think people realize how difficult it would be to get away from this particular pollutant in our environment. I mean most of us don't own 500 acres in the Brazilian, Namibian, or Ghanaian countryside that we can retreat to. Even Brazil may be too far gone at this point to be honest. And Brazil is enormous. A lot of space. The number of tolerable nations that would have unaffected areas is decreasing fast. This really is a global problem. ETA: Some remote parts of Canada and Alaska might fit the bill? Assuming you're not big on quality of life.

idiotsecant 2y ago
You can have really very good quality of life in remote areas. You just might die before you get help if you have a heart attack or something. But the rest of the time it's great!

mythrwy 2y ago

I don't think you understand where I'm living. "Microplastic Free", no, there is no such thing right now. But I'm very far from any major roads/interstates and hundreds of miles to any big city. I didn't move out here to avoid microplastics though, it just (maybe) turned out that way. I'm actually not terribly afraid of microplastics at all, I just don't like urban environments.

epistasis 2y ago

Imagine a grocery store that is within a short walking distance, such that you don't need to haul a weeks worth of groceries but can get fresh food every single day. US supermarkets are massive, take forever to buy small amounts of groceries, and even the walk to and from the car is long. A better world is possible! (If better grocery stores constitute a "better world")

bluefirebrand 2y ago
> you don't need to haul a weeks worth of groceries but can get fresh food every single day I lived that life in my 20s Turns out I don't actually want to go to the grocery store every day. I want to go once a week and stock up, which I can do thanks to inventions like the refrigerator and the automobile
- lurking_swe 2y ago
  no judgment on you in particular, but i’m not a fan of this thought process. I believe it’s a major cause for why americans (statistically) are so obese. and i say this as an american that lives in a city but has family in the suburbs. running errands with your own two feet every day by walking, cycling, etc keeps people healthy and lean. this country has a major car problem. it’s sad. of course one can go to the gym to stay lean and healthy, but that’s even more time consuming than stopping by the store for 5 minutes on the way home, and it requires extreme motivation. Hardly an improvement i’d say.
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    one can go to the gym And by that you mean drive to the gym, right? ;)
  - bluefirebrand 2y ago
    > running errands with your own two feet every day by walking, cycling, etc keeps people healthy and lean. this country has a major car problem I did live this exact lifestyle in my 20s. I was definitely more active but my diet was way worse. I was closer to a lot of restaurants, and I was closer to a lot of bakeries and convenience stores and such as well. A healthy lifestyle also requires a healthy diet and city living gave me far too much easy access to snacks and junk food. A lot of "it's only 5 minutes to go buy a snack". Daily stops for coffee that often included a pasty Yeah, the walkable city does mean people are more active It doesn't necessarily mean they are much more healthy. It still requires other forms of self control (which I admit, I struggled with)

nozzlegear 2y ago

My grocery store is literally in another town 20 miles away. I have an EV but apparently those are even worse for microplastic generation. Am I screwed?

raddan 2y ago
An EV is objectively not worse for the environment. And virtually all vehicles contain large amounts of plastic (eg PVC). I recently heard model year 2024 vehicles are ~30% plastic by weight. I’d wait until somebody can clearly state what the demonstrated harms of microplastics are before you conclude that there’s nothing you can do. An EV reduces emissions that we KNOW are bad, and over their lifetimes, the reduction is huge compared to an ICE vehicle. If you’re worried, though, walk or bike whenever you can. Biking to grocery store is not an option for you, but you can still make a difference if you think about it. Eg, go to the store less frequently. Switch to a chest freezer for perishables. And so on. Draw up an energy budget and do the math. There is a cost to human life, sure. But you can make it work if you really care enough. You are definitely not screwed.