I read a book by the world's first zero-waste restaurant, Silo. The book got me thinking about how different our lives would be if oil were expensive. "Pretend oil is really expensive" is a good proxy for doing things that are "eco-friendly." Since reading the book, I've tried to eliminate single-use plastic from most of my life. It's incredibly hard. Everything from my socks to my vegetable packaging to my dog's toys to my floor is made of plastic.
I've slowly been adjusting my habits - such as checking whether clothing is natural or oil-based, buying food mostly at the farmers market, and eating in instead of takeaway. These little change have decreased my carbon footprint immensely.
I enjoy playing this game of "pretend oil is expensive" even though it's not because it's revealing problems we will need to tackle as a society. At some point we will run out of oil. When that happens, everything will be impacted. Travel, food delivery, and most of all healthcare.
I actually don't have a problem with plastic, at least in theory. Oil exists in the ground. I don't see an issue with pumping it up, using it for a bit, and putting it back into the ground via a landfill. I take more of an issue with recycling where plastic is shipped overseas and makes its way into the waterways.
- The form it is put "back into the ground" isn't the same form it was "pumped up".
- The landfill isn't the same location where we put it compared to where we sourced it (much deeper).
I'm not an ecologist, but both these differences have complex consequences for earth and us.
Everything from my socks
One way to think about plastic: Is there a reasonable alternative? For most plastic (food) wraps, the answer is (sadly): no. They are the best option to reduce food spoilage and only take a couple of grams of oil to make them. Plastic bottles for drinks? Most of them can be avoided by reducing your consumption, or reusing old bottles.
If you are re-using the jars, then that would have a lower impact, but if you're buying jarred butter and jelly, you're making the problem worse.
[0] - https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230427-glass-or-plastic...
At Silo, wine causes a lot of headaches. Their solution is to use wind-powered transport ships. Then, they turn the waste glass into tiles. So, the carbon footprint is low.
If you can tolerate slow shipping, then the carbon footprint can be reduced. So, well-preserved food in glass (as opposed to, say, flowers in plastic) can have a lower environmental impact. Plus, glass can be reasonably reused or recycled.
Besides it's not hard to tip the carbon emission in favor of glass if the externalities of plastic (and fuel) were appropriately priced and not massively subsidized.
To be clear, I'm not puritanical about this. I still do takeout sometimes. And, I'm about to hop on some flights that will burn a ton of oil. (Ironically, one of those carbon-belching flights is to a dinner at Silo, which I'm looking forward to.)
Two of my biggest realizations have been:
1. There are many low-hanging changes we can make to reduce plastic, such as going to a farmers market, replacing a one-time use sandwich bag with a reusable one, or skipping delivery food (which often has more plastic packaging than actual food).
2. Low-plastic is often synonymous with quality. My cotton jeans, leather bag, and metal water bottle are all more expensive - but they are higher quality, have lasted for years, and can often be repaired. For example, my leather was an expensive $400, but I've had it for 8 years and counting - and just had it restored to look shiny and new. (Put another way: Plastic lacks wabi-sabi beauty).
My cotton jeans, leather bag, and metal water bottle are all more expensive - but they are higher quality, have lasted for years, and can often be repaired.
I’ve tried too, and I agree that it is very hard. I rarely buy packaged and ready-to-eat food products, which eliminates a lot of plastic. But still there’s so much plastic when buying grocery and produce. Buying grains or other items from loose bins means insects, lower quality and what not. I’m happier with the lower plastic though.
You would sort the waste and grind it down if necessary.
They could hover high enough to not be affected by the rupture of the lava lakes. Unless there is an open caldera like in Nicaragua.
Then you would just have to deal with the local communities spiritual beliefs, which would benefit from a financial incentive.
It's not a zero-sum, though. Why does my cilantro need to come in a plastic bag? At the farmer's market, it doesn't come packaged at all.
[1] And, fire is basically reversing the process - releasing the sunlight that created the plant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1pIYI5JQLE
Everything here is hugely regional, but two answers spring to mind:
1) coriander is frequently sold in unpackaged bunches, typically larger than the packaged ones;
2) it's packaged in plastic because then it can be filled with some inert gas that prolongs spoiling, it's not completely obtuse.
(In the UK for example Waitrose sells it growing reared in Sussex, or packaged grown idk Spain or Monaco or somewhere; Sainsbury's sells it similarly packaged or cut and bunched of undisclosed origin.)