Reducing single-use/disposable plastic
74 watchers
Aug 2019
12:30pm, 19 Aug 2019
32,209 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Yay. Got a chilly-esque rip off water bottle from Tesco for £3. So using that instead of my plastic water bottle. Can I ask, is "not single use" plastic (e.g. re-used 1,000,000 times) which at end of life is then recycled better, worse or the same as metal or glass? Fanks anti-plastic fans.  G
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Aug 2019
12:52pm, 19 Aug 2019
1,664 posts
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cackleberry
(Just to clarify, most plastics started life as hydrocarbons. They just have the other atoms added.)
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Aug 2019
1:21pm, 19 Aug 2019
10,448 posts
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MazH
I had a ponder when eating my babybel at lunch.... which led me to this. it didn't say what the candle smells like tho? |
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Aug 2019
1:36pm, 19 Aug 2019
32,211 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Depends how reductionist you want to be of course, in that hydrocarbons (coal, oil etc.) started life as hydrogen and carbon (trees and other flora) turning to hydrocarbons over millions of years of heat and pressure of layers of buried rock. And of course carbon itself started life as hydrogen, becoming carbon, along with all other elements, by application of heat and pressure in stars. Err, so it's all hydrogen, really! I can't watch Maz's vid at work, so I'm guessing - err, Candle in the Wind, Elton John; Burn that Candle, Bill Hayley; Old Flames, Dolly Parton; Errr, not those then! G
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Aug 2019
2:14pm, 19 Aug 2019
10,922 posts
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Garfield
MazH, I've wondered the same thing myself...back when hubby used to eat Babybels. My dad had a Babybel that turned out to be a covered pencil eraser in a plastic Babybel shell.
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Aug 2019
2:24pm, 19 Aug 2019
10,923 posts
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Garfield
He was rather miffed as he only had half his cheese allowance that day!
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Aug 2019
3:06pm, 19 Aug 2019
10,449 posts
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MazH
HappyG, it's a fella making his old babybel waxes into a candle
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Aug 2019
3:07pm, 19 Aug 2019
3,501 posts
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run free
:D G - all depends on what you're looking at: - reduction of chemicals leaching into stuff - glass is better - reduction of carbon emissions - plastic is better - durability - all 3 will out last us. - insulation - plastic - used in all electrical fittings, wiring - toxicity - lead (metal) water pipes have been replaced with UPvc pipes - piping - more plastic fittings now a days versus copper and metal pipes - worst type of litter - plastic - conservation of resources like water requirements to manufacture - plastic - recyclability - metal Plastic is an excellent versatile material and if we never had single-use / disposables then the world would be in a much better shape. |
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Aug 2019
3:42pm, 19 Aug 2019
32,214 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Ah, that explains it. Eww, cheese scented candles? Bleurgh. Run free, thanks for explanations. So like Mark said in page before, nothing wrong with using precious hydrocarbons to make durable, reusable plastic components for important, long-term purposes. But burning hydro carbons, and turning hydrocarbons into throw-away plastics is the trifecta of stupid? Can we make any/all plastics (or materials with similar properties as plastic) from non-hydro carbon sources? We just need to tax and legislate the shizzle out of the petrochemical industry so they can't dump their unwanted, artificially-subsidised plastics into the supply chain. Why are governments so loathe to challenge the oil industry? Is it really *that* powerful? |
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Aug 2019
4:20pm, 19 Aug 2019
3,502 posts
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run free
Everything is made from hydro-carbon as it is a building block and think the "replicator" in star trek had to have hydro-carbons to create anything and everything. Think Manchester Uni were working on a "replicator" - with 3D printing. Yes there are alternatives to "plastic" made from plants - but: 1. Doesn't solve the litter issue 2. It is not recyclable - and will contaminate the plastic that can be recycled (although this is in such a mess at the moment on planet earth) 3. Can interfere with food security like bio-fuels have. 4. Water resource will be an issue as we continue to contaminate our ground water Paper uses more water and energy than plastic but does disintegrate relatively quicker than plastic. Really convenience is killing us and needs all stakeholders in planet earth to change what is now disposable "Normal" |
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