It is so overwhelming as plastic is everywhere. I live in Sweden and a trip to the grocery store and produce areas display all our vegetables wrapped or packaged in plastic. Bags of lettuce, individual peppars wrapped in plastic, etc.. when I have inquired about this at our local market it is to preserve the produce to make it last longer (transport, etc.) and helps with food waste, which agreed, is also a problem. But the entire ”plastic” recycling is a fars, it just has one purpose, to make us feel a little bit better that we, one person, is doing something.
"Il Caffe del Porto". I dryly note the place to slowly drink coffee in ceramic cups and not styrofoam ones - while sitting in plastic chairs.
As you always say "Changing it is going to be far more difficult because it permeates every aspect of the economy". And as I always ask "What's the plan, Stan?". What are the pieces to your project plan to actually implement them to get to your stated goal? HOW are you going to achieve your vision?
A free hint: don't look to the "Stop Oil Now" (shown above) LARPers with their "direct action" antics. If you think they are actually changing the hearts and minds of the non-aligned, think twice as from what *I* am seeing, that particular PR stunt is backfiring badly. They aren't persuading people, they are infuriating them instead.
But it is rather amusing to watch videos of those SON-ers get thrown to the curb after blocking the streets in no gentle fashion by those they have angered greatly to get them out of their way. Have you watched the videos of the nitwits clamoring on top of the subway/trains and making people late for work? They seemed to be very surprised at the reception they got - all those hands laid upon them in "assisting" them off the tops of said carriages.
And FAFO runs supreme when those that have superglued their hands to the asphalt get their hands ripped off that contact point ("OUCH" doesn't begin to tell the tale).
With all that, I agree that recyling is a bust and my hamlet might as well burn 500,000 $1 bills every year they keep trying in trying to virtue-signal everyone else to join in on this loser venture. And yes, I was poking a bit of fun at those SON-ers at their expense.
But what is your realistic process to solve your self-stated problem? How WILL you implement it?
This morning my spouse and I were thinking about how many modern medical miracles are possible because of plastic—artificial heart valves, which are delivered to people’s hearts by way of an artery, to take one tiny but revolutionary example. This is the dead opposite of single-use plastic. Why can’t companies just use plastic for the things it’s actually good for? My spouse, David Houghton, had the exact same answer you do, Lloyd. Money is the only language corporations speak, and WE are paying all the costs of this travesty, not them. Somehow the “free” market hasn’t yet gotten the trick of supplying nice things without making the entire world and our very bodies into Superfund sites. Sigh.
First I would contend that we haven't had a "free"market when one realizes the size of the regulatory state all but in control of marketplaces - but that's a debate hopefully Lloyd would open up in another post.
That said, I would hold that "nice" is relative to the person. It's like that US Supreme Court Justice that said "well, I can't define what p0rn is but I know it when I see it.". "Nice" is kinda similar - it is going to be very different things to very different people.
There are companies that are trying to do "nice" - we are raising our grandson and learned, in the last 2 years, that he has severe food allergies. We've spent the time researching for those products he can eat - but they are expensive because most people don't consider them "nice enough to buy" as they aren't offered at the price points most would find acceptable.
There IS a marketplace for those goods - but just a niche one.
In the U.S. bottled water is governed by the FDA; tap water is governed by the EPA, which has set higher standards. The water in those plastic bottles might be better than the tap water, but it might not be and most likely isn't as good.
It is so overwhelming as plastic is everywhere. I live in Sweden and a trip to the grocery store and produce areas display all our vegetables wrapped or packaged in plastic. Bags of lettuce, individual peppars wrapped in plastic, etc.. when I have inquired about this at our local market it is to preserve the produce to make it last longer (transport, etc.) and helps with food waste, which agreed, is also a problem. But the entire ”plastic” recycling is a fars, it just has one purpose, to make us feel a little bit better that we, one person, is doing something.
"Il Caffe del Porto". I dryly note the place to slowly drink coffee in ceramic cups and not styrofoam ones - while sitting in plastic chairs.
As you always say "Changing it is going to be far more difficult because it permeates every aspect of the economy". And as I always ask "What's the plan, Stan?". What are the pieces to your project plan to actually implement them to get to your stated goal? HOW are you going to achieve your vision?
A free hint: don't look to the "Stop Oil Now" (shown above) LARPers with their "direct action" antics. If you think they are actually changing the hearts and minds of the non-aligned, think twice as from what *I* am seeing, that particular PR stunt is backfiring badly. They aren't persuading people, they are infuriating them instead.
But it is rather amusing to watch videos of those SON-ers get thrown to the curb after blocking the streets in no gentle fashion by those they have angered greatly to get them out of their way. Have you watched the videos of the nitwits clamoring on top of the subway/trains and making people late for work? They seemed to be very surprised at the reception they got - all those hands laid upon them in "assisting" them off the tops of said carriages.
And FAFO runs supreme when those that have superglued their hands to the asphalt get their hands ripped off that contact point ("OUCH" doesn't begin to tell the tale).
With all that, I agree that recyling is a bust and my hamlet might as well burn 500,000 $1 bills every year they keep trying in trying to virtue-signal everyone else to join in on this loser venture. And yes, I was poking a bit of fun at those SON-ers at their expense.
But what is your realistic process to solve your self-stated problem? How WILL you implement it?
This morning my spouse and I were thinking about how many modern medical miracles are possible because of plastic—artificial heart valves, which are delivered to people’s hearts by way of an artery, to take one tiny but revolutionary example. This is the dead opposite of single-use plastic. Why can’t companies just use plastic for the things it’s actually good for? My spouse, David Houghton, had the exact same answer you do, Lloyd. Money is the only language corporations speak, and WE are paying all the costs of this travesty, not them. Somehow the “free” market hasn’t yet gotten the trick of supplying nice things without making the entire world and our very bodies into Superfund sites. Sigh.
First I would contend that we haven't had a "free"market when one realizes the size of the regulatory state all but in control of marketplaces - but that's a debate hopefully Lloyd would open up in another post.
That said, I would hold that "nice" is relative to the person. It's like that US Supreme Court Justice that said "well, I can't define what p0rn is but I know it when I see it.". "Nice" is kinda similar - it is going to be very different things to very different people.
There are companies that are trying to do "nice" - we are raising our grandson and learned, in the last 2 years, that he has severe food allergies. We've spent the time researching for those products he can eat - but they are expensive because most people don't consider them "nice enough to buy" as they aren't offered at the price points most would find acceptable.
There IS a marketplace for those goods - but just a niche one.
In the U.S. bottled water is governed by the FDA; tap water is governed by the EPA, which has set higher standards. The water in those plastic bottles might be better than the tap water, but it might not be and most likely isn't as good.
https://greendispatch.substack.com/p/bottled-water-we-pay-a-high-price?utm_source=publication-search