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I didn't mean to make it sound like just because glass breaks we shouldn't use it. Just pointing out that there are not all positives to using glass.
Not to side track the thread, but using steel in cars may be on the way out, as aluminum, plastics, and other materials (carbon fiber for one) are making them stronger and lighter. Lighter means more fuel economy. We'll see how aluminum stands up to abuse now that Ford has replaced most of the steel with aluminum in the new F150. All eyes are on it, as far as people that use trucks for work. If it holds up, you'll see the other companies run to it. And I think we will see it used more in other applications. I don't know the negatives of Aluminum compared to steel though. (Other than it is harder to work with) Both seem to be endlessly recyclable.
Plastics in the food chain is a big problem - I read an article that Gojo is not putting plastics in their hand cleaners any more. The "grit" in hand cleaner that actually removes the grease/dirt from your hands were little plastic beads. These beads have turned up in Fish all over the world, because we wash the "gojo" down the drain. I am sure there are tons of other ways plastic gets into the food chain too.
randomparent - Sounds like you got not using plastic for food storage and transportation down to a science.
Early environmentalist were some of the big pushers for plastic and styrofoam. Switching to plastic bottles reduced the amount of fuel used by delivery trucks due to the reduced cargo weight. Switching to plastic grocery bags saved the trees. Switching to styrofoam cups and burger boxes also saved the trees since they were originally made from paper products. It was only later that they discovered the danger plastic and Styrofoam posed to the environment. Having plastic bottles isn't the problem, lack of recycling and recycling facilities is the problem. Some areas have curb side recycling pickup but not everyone participates. I wish we had recycling facilities like Japan. Having glass bottles means more danger from broken glass in stores and home. When I lived where curb side recycling was available, I sorted my garbage to the point that I had one bag of trash per week and the rest was recycled. I don't have curb side recycling nor are there recycling bins at work. I don't drink from disposable plastic water bottles, am trying to get my wife to stop doing this but she's stubborn. We reuse our plastic shopping bags as bathroom trash bags and for picking up our dog's droppings. Before styrofoam cups, we used paper cups with fold out paper handles. They worked fine.
Has anyone had BK deliver food to them... My wife occasionally orders delivery as she sometimes forgets to bring lunch and can't always get out to eat. She brought home her "leftovers" from BK as they started delivery to her building. OMG, there are more pounds of plastic and packaging then food.
Plastics have a place in society, but throwing it out needlessly is the waste. My computer monitor and TV are mostly plastic, but I don't throw those out all that often. I actually recycle those when I need to get rid of one and I am aware that ewaste is a problem, but the plastic part of ewaste isn't the whole story.
We have curbside recycling. I am one of the few on my block that switched out the 50 gal. container for the 96 gal. one, since I recycle so much I was filing up the 50 gal. one too often. I use the plastic grocery bags for trash bags and other things as well. However, I don't use them as fast as we get them.
Early environmentalist were some of the big pushers for plastic and styrofoam.
References, please. I was there, and I don't remember it that way at all.
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Switching to plastic bottles reduced the amount of fuel used by delivery trucks due to the reduced cargo weight. Switching to plastic grocery bags saved the trees. Switching to styrofoam cups and burger boxes also saved the trees since they were originally made from paper products.
Switching to plastic was cheaper. Styrofoam kept food hot longer. As I recall environmentalists were opposed to these changes but were always overruled in favor of business interests.
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It was only later that they discovered the danger plastic and Styrofoam posed to the environment. Having plastic bottles isn't the problem, lack of recycling and recycling facilities is the problem.
Actually paper and cardboard recycling is still more efficient than plastic recycling. Paper fibers can be recycled up to seven times, while plastics can barely be recycled once. A large part of the plastic that is recycled today is what is called "pre-consumer waste" which means the trimmings and overrun from manufacture.
And lets not forget that paper is a renewable product... tree farms to feed the paper industry are highly efficient operations, almost agricultural in nature, just on a larger size scale. Contemporary plastics, on the other hand, are fossil based, so the source is finite. I believe the future is in plant based bioplastics.
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Some areas have curb side recycling pickup but not everyone participates.
That's already old technology, and compliance is always going to be an issue. The best compliance seems to come in urban systems which charge heavily for garbage removal, but provide unlimited free removal of recyclables. Over time people move to smaller and smaller garbage containers, and larger recycle containers, because it is in their self interest to do so.
But, honestly, I believe the future of recycling is in single-stream processing of recyclables, rather than in collecting plastic, metal, glass and paper separately. With computerized sensors, and high speed robotic sorting of waste into separate recycling streams, it's practical and has already been implemented in several places.
And what leads to that kind of widespread change is government agencies that think in terms of "Resource Recovery" replacing "Waste Removal."
I bring my plastic bags back to Walmart as their collection bin is in the entrance.
I have never witnessed anyone else dropping their bags in the recycling bin.
Maybe someone from Walmart could post and say if they do get a lot of plastic bags returned for recycling.
I believe in recycling, but I think plastic bag collection is mostly theater. Not that long ago I saw an employee of a large chain supermarket emptying out the bag recycling station, then realized to my surprise, as my car was parked near a large garbage dumpster, that the bags they collected went straight into that dumpster.
We have a plastic-bag ban in effect here now, and I beat them to the punch a couple of years ago by switching to reusable shopping bags. I had to learn new habits, including remembering to keep them in the car for impromptu shopping, and taking them into the store with me, but once I got used to it there is really no hassle to it. Best of all... stronger handles and no ripped bags!
I didn't mean to make it sound like just because glass breaks we shouldn't use it. Just pointing out that there are not all positives to using glass.
I agree. It's a trade-off. For me, the pros outweighed the cons, but I certainly understand why others would make different choices.
Plastics are here to stay. I fully understand that the bulk products with which I fill my glass containers are packaged in plastic, because manufacturers find it preferable to package their products that way. That's unlikely to change.
Furthermore, as I look around my house, plastic is everywhere! It is in my clothing...my entertainment consoles...my furniture...even the paint that coats my home's walls. I don't know how one could rid his life of all plastics.
Last edited by randomparent; 02-06-2014 at 01:29 PM..
References, please. I was there, and I don't remember it that way at all.
Switching to plastic was cheaper. Styrofoam kept food hot longer. As I recall environmentalists were opposed to these changes but were always overruled in favor of business interests.
I graduated high school in the 80s. My elementary school teachers were hippy environmentalist wannabes. When they were teaching us, they were pushing us to save the trees and stop using paper bags and paper cups. They were celebrating the switch to plastic and styrofoam to save the trees. Saving the trees was the big thing back then. Most areas of the country didn't have paper recycling in those days. Some areas of the country still burned their garbage in a barrel because of a lack of trash pickup (I had to do this as a kid until we moved).
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