There’s so much plastic lining that paper otherwise everything would get too soggy anyway. Yay for glass and metal. Reusable beats disposable, no matter what it’s made of
You’re discounting transportation and manufacturing (energy) costs.
Reusable only works if it’s manufactured fairly locally and actually gets recycled, which a lot of stuff doesn’t, even if it’s made from glass or metal.
It’s quite thin for aluminum, and the downside with glass is the high energy cost of melting it. I’d like if we went back to washing and reusing bottles, but I suppose that’s a big shift in processing capabilities.
Glass bottles of lemonade, iced tea, soft drinks and beer contained on average around 100 microplastic particles per litre, which is between five and 50 times more than plastic bottles or cans. Source
Forgive any ignorance or arrogance on my part, I’m not a materials scientist at all, but wouldn’t the plastic caps on plastic bottles also have the same deleterious effect?
I didn’t read anything in there about them exploring the source of the plastic particulates in plastic bottles. Whether from the bottle or from the cap too.
Some poorly made reusable shopping bags rip or otherwise break before they get used enough times to break even with the single use disposable plastic shopping bags they are supposed to replace. Especially the cheap ones bring given out as freebies.
That’s bullshit from the oil companies. They did a “study” that concluded that, but if you read the methodology, they made the assumption that the reusable bag would be unusable after 20 uses.
Meanwhile I’ve been going to the grocery store every week for quite a few years using the same bags without much issue. I’ve had one strap on a bag break after ~10 years of use, so there’s that I guess. Still haven’t thrown it out, keep meaning to repair it which I never get around to doing.
Anyway, if you read between the lines of the study conducted by the oil companies, if you reuse the bag more than 20 times (half a year of going to the grocery store every week) you are reducing plastic waste.
It was a donation from a food bank, but thanks for the thought.
Also, how do you know what bags are and aren’t shitty? Do you have a list of such bags, with weight limit capacity, plus age limit before the threads start to come loose or dryrot?
Most of my bags are given to me by boomers that can never remember to take their bags to the store and just buy more. I think I’ve only actually bought one shopping bag about 25 years ago, which is the one that had it’s handle tear off after about near to two decades of service. I don’t put more weight in the bag than a plastic bag would be able to carry. I have a fabric tote bag and a backpack to use for heavier stuff. I just exercise some common sense with my shopping bags, I guess.
Are you claiming that disposable plastic bags would never have the handles tear off (or the bag just split open) if you put too much weight into them? I think the same rules apply to either, it’s a mess either way if you put too much weight into a single bag, so… don’t do that.
There’s so much plastic lining that paper otherwise everything would get too soggy anyway. Yay for glass and metal. Reusable beats disposable, no matter what it’s made of
You’re discounting transportation and manufacturing (energy) costs.
Reusable only works if it’s manufactured fairly locally and actually gets recycled, which a lot of stuff doesn’t, even if it’s made from glass or metal.
We need to move away from packaging altogether.
Bring-your-own-container is the only way.
Theres a plastic lining in aluminium cans too. So glass is the way.
It’s quite thin for aluminum, and the downside with glass is the high energy cost of melting it. I’d like if we went back to washing and reusing bottles, but I suppose that’s a big shift in processing capabilities.
Not 100% win though:
Glass bottles of lemonade, iced tea, soft drinks and beer contained on average around 100 microplastic particles per litre, which is between five and 50 times more than plastic bottles or cans. Source
Forgive any ignorance or arrogance on my part, I’m not a materials scientist at all, but wouldn’t the plastic caps on plastic bottles also have the same deleterious effect?
I didn’t read anything in there about them exploring the source of the plastic particulates in plastic bottles. Whether from the bottle or from the cap too.
and tin cans. i think with tin it might be wax though
Some poorly made reusable shopping bags rip or otherwise break before they get used enough times to break even with the single use disposable plastic shopping bags they are supposed to replace. Especially the cheap ones bring given out as freebies.
That’s bullshit from the oil companies. They did a “study” that concluded that, but if you read the methodology, they made the assumption that the reusable bag would be unusable after 20 uses.
Meanwhile I’ve been going to the grocery store every week for quite a few years using the same bags without much issue. I’ve had one strap on a bag break after ~10 years of use, so there’s that I guess. Still haven’t thrown it out, keep meaning to repair it which I never get around to doing.
Anyway, if you read between the lines of the study conducted by the oil companies, if you reuse the bag more than 20 times (half a year of going to the grocery store every week) you are reducing plastic waste.
No, that’s no bullshit, we just recently had a reusable shopping bag’s handles literally rip off after only the third use…
Consider buying less shitty bags then.
It was a donation from a food bank, but thanks for the thought.
Also, how do you know what bags are and aren’t shitty? Do you have a list of such bags, with weight limit capacity, plus age limit before the threads start to come loose or dryrot?
Didn’t think so.
Most of my bags are given to me by boomers that can never remember to take their bags to the store and just buy more. I think I’ve only actually bought one shopping bag about 25 years ago, which is the one that had it’s handle tear off after about near to two decades of service. I don’t put more weight in the bag than a plastic bag would be able to carry. I have a fabric tote bag and a backpack to use for heavier stuff. I just exercise some common sense with my shopping bags, I guess.
Are you claiming that disposable plastic bags would never have the handles tear off (or the bag just split open) if you put too much weight into them? I think the same rules apply to either, it’s a mess either way if you put too much weight into a single bag, so… don’t do that.