The White House Has a Plan to Slash Plastic Use in the U.S.
The White House Has a Plan to Slash Plastic Use in the U.S.
The government said it would phase out its purchases of single-use plastics, a significant step because it is the biggest buyer of consumer goods in the world.
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Cool, so we’re going to eliminate all the plastic in packaging at supermarkets and retail, right? Right?
Plastic at supermarkets is very effective at reducing food spoilage. Ditching the plastic will result in much more food hitting the bin, and higher food costs. Given all that binned food must be created and transported again, it's a huge net negative for the environment.
If only there was some other way we can protect bananas, like a thick outer layer we could peel off.
Sure. Next you'll be saying the same about apples. Or some other silly claim like the thick outer layer on an apple can be eaten.
That’s innovation, I’d like to invest $50m into your idea.
Thank you. I've added AI and I'm calling them AIpples.
This is going to be the biggest thing since packaged pre-sliced apples.
We are still working on the technology there. You still have to buy more than one slice per package.
Not a lot more, but...
You will find a cease and desist in your mailbox tomorrow morning.
Depends on how bad you think microplastics are for us? 🤷♂️
Everything is a tradeoff. Until we develop a coat effective solution for maintaining freshness (and the other varieties of plastics usage), it's more or less the best option we have for now.
I would say a better option would to be stores only selling local (or at least regional) produce when it's fresh and local produce that can survive the winter without spoiling when it isn't. And no, don't make this the responsibility of the consumer. Don't even give the consumer the option of buying kiwis grown in Chile when it's February and they're in Chicago.
Microplastics have been found in a fair number of foods already. Fish especially.
I'm on board with reducing plastics, but grocery stores are lower on the list than say... All the non food stores like hardware, hobby, and clothing stores.
It's a tall order overall, any progress is a step on the right direction.
There are other effective ways to package food for retail they just tend not to be transparent.
mycelium wrappers can be pretty effective, and just as inexpensive, once producers are prodded into compliance.
Eating local/seasonal reduces the need for long shelf life. Not always possible, but industrial agriculture definitely pushes us away from it and is something policy could help reverse.
Cellophane
Plastic beverage bottles need to go.
100%.
Plastic works for beverage containers, but aluminum does a better job anyway. We should just use aluminum, always. There are even aluminum containers with screw tops, plastic is just unnecessary.
aluminum, always
I prefer glass.
Ok, glass is acceptable. They're both technically infinitely recyclable (unlike plastic).
Although it is easier to get aluminum back to a usable state. You can for instance melt down a whole vat of aluminum and reprocess the whole lot of it. But a similar vat of mixed glass, you can melt it down but it's hard to get all the color out of a mix of clear brown and green bottles, and you really want a clear base product.
Yeah but you don't need to melt down glass at all, you can just autoclave it and reuse it.
Keep in mind aluminum beverage cans are plastic lined while glass containers are not. Aluminum cans reduce plastic use, glass containers can eliminate it.