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I'm inclined to agree, but I grew up during the transitional years where both were available, and remember just so much broken glass everywhere...on the streets
by silisili 2y ago
I'm inclined to agree, but I grew up during the transitional years where both were available, and remember just so much broken glass everywhere...on the streets, sidewalks, etc. Maybe it was my poor neighborhood, but it was normal to see at least a broken bottle or two on the road each day. I don't see that now.
As I understand it, aluminum cans require a plastic lining. How is that one solved?
- moi2388 2y agoYou use copper instead
- OutOfHere 2y agoCopper is largely unsafe with foods due to copper toxicity due to it leeching into foods. It is not like aluminum in this respect which is a hundred times safer.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- lazide 2y agoCopper compounds, while being generally non-toxic for large mammals, are very toxic for insects and other smaller animals. It’s why they are widely used in everything from marine anti-fouling paint to wood ‘pickling’ treatments. And copper compounds will form in a wide variety of acidic and anoxic environments.
- adrianN 2y agoAluminum is not particularly healthy either. I heard it’s implicated in dementia.
- OutOfHere 2y agoNormal kidneys excrete aluminum just fine. Lycopene also helps. If aluminum is accumulating in the brain or the blood, there is something that's not washing it out, meaning the waste removal process of the brain or kidneys is compromised.
- mamonoleechi 2y agoIt depends where you live, but a lot of countries make you pay glass bottles now ; a fee that you get back once you take the empty bottle back to the supermarket. It does not prevent people from throwing them, but since you get money from them, homeless people usually gather them to make some money.
- OutOfHere 2y agoBroken glass on the street is an aesthetic issue, assuming one has good shoes. In contrast, with gradual plastic accumulation, life on Earth is headed for extinction. Also, for poor people, they need the money that they money back when they return a glass bottle, so they have an incentive to not trash it, certainly not on the street. Glass containers don't require any lining. As for aluminum without a lining, it is okay for certain dry foods only, nothing wet.
- Scramblejams 2y agoNot an aesthetic issue for bikes.
- varjag 2y agoIt was not an aesthetic issue alone. People were getting cut and had their shoe soles destroyed fairly routinely.
- nobodyandproud 2y agoNot a problem. Bottle and can recycling programs in the US were very successful in states that implemented them. In NYC all refundable glass bottles and aluminum cans thrown away by those that couldn’t be bothered: They would be picked up by homeless (etc), providing a market-driven solution. I never understood why it wasn’t expanded to more containers, like cans of beans. The big problem then was that state-level only made recycling inconsistent. The big problem today is that plastic bottles took over because of their lightweight; meaning only a government policy could discourage plastic food containers.
- cogman10 2y ago> As I understand it, aluminum cans require a plastic lining. How is that one solved? You use glass. The plastic is primarily used for acidic foods like tomatoes. Non-acidic goods will do just fine with no liner.
- ImPleadThe5th 2y agoGlass bottles are ubiquitous as is Public drinking in Germany. They have a pfand program that gives money for recycling bottles where the bottles are literally cleaned and refilled not melted down. So either, you return the bottles for some pocket money or you leave the bottle by a trashcan for someone (usually a homeless person) to collect all the bottles and make a few bucks for food and a shower. It's actually a bit taboo to smash a bottle because of this. Beautiful cyclical economy.
- aziaziazi 2y agoSaw the same in Russia 10 years ago. Not much broken glass on the streets but lots of empty bottles waiting beside walls and public infrastructures.
- bamboozled 2y agoShoes...
- lupusreal 2y agoThere is a pretty clever solution to that which is called not throwing your trash on the ground. This is a cultural problem, there are plenty of communities where people are poor but still carry their trash home with them, and even if they don't have any sort of trash pickup service they throw their trash into a designated dump instead of the middle of their walking paths.