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  1. Do not apple with me, my bibliography includes a cracked.com article about why recycling is bad, actually

    Sunday, 21-Jul-19 23:29:02 UTC from web
    1. @mrmattimation Recycling plastic is bad because it's a dead-end product and gives the public the illusion that using it can be consequence-free. Each time it's recycled it degrades more and more until it's useless. Recycling paper is bad because paper biodegrades pretty well and more recycling discourages tree replanting. Don't know about aluminum and glass. I thought those are okay.

      Monday, 22-Jul-19 09:08:59 UTC from web
      1. @thismightbeauser Actually I am sure that pretty much all recycle programs are bad on the human psyche. A lot of people think "Hey I can use this and feel less guilty ( or even good ) about the environment"

        Cashier: "Care to have your groceries bagged ?"
        Fictional halfwit : "Recycled plastic bags ?"
        Cashier: "That or recycled paper bags"
        Fictional halfwit : http://rainbowdash.net/url/874954 ( 3 second clip )

        Monday, 22-Jul-19 12:22:03 UTC from web
        1. @drinkingpony No packaging is best packaging, but it's not always realistic. Shopping bags are the least of the problems when half of the products you buy regularly are in plastic containers. Beauty and hygiene products are the worst, like tampons with plastic applicators, cheap disposable razors (because people are afraid of safety razors for some reason), makeup containers with "free" (garbage) sponges and mirrors and pretty much every soap and shampoo bottle. I wish there was a vending system for soaps. Food is a whole different problem due to health and safety concerns and doesn't seem completely solvable. Plastic is one of the best ways to preserve perishables.

          Tuesday, 23-Jul-19 10:11:15 UTC from web
          1. @thismightbeauser ... How about Biodegradeable Plastics ?

            Tuesday, 23-Jul-19 21:16:27 UTC from web
            1. @drinkingpony I don't know enough about them to say, but I would be concerned about them being prone to allowing gunk to grow on food more easily and breaking down on the shelves. That would be a terrifying mess.

              Thursday, 25-Jul-19 11:29:11 UTC from web
              1. @thismightbeauser This is unlikely since room-temperature is too low for most if not all biodegradeable plastic to actually biodegrade ( Room temperature is about just short of 300 Kelvin, compared to 325 at which most biodegradeable plastic I know needs to start degrading ).

                I guess the biggest caveat is 'is it actually better in the long run ?'. People more read in on this topic than I am are still fighting amongst eachother on that.

                My biggest gripe is that biodegradeable plastics will do NOTHING for the ocean-problem, even if all the plastic that is currently in the ocean were to change into some sort of biodegradeable plastic over night ( by means of magical fairy, genie, monkeypaw, time-travel-shenanigans, quantum-flux-destabilisation, or unexplainably )... The oceans are too cold to decompose that mess.

                Other problem is that if you were to just throw biodegradeable plastic on a landfill it is actually more toxic for the environment due to methane-emissions.

                Thursday, 25-Jul-19 11:44:12 UTC from web