Tagged “plastic”

Plastics in arterial plaque cause large increase in cardiovascular issues

maybe another thing that gets worse as cars get heavier.

many contain PFAS

made worse by the effects of weathering on the plastic

Came for the instructions on applying Caig Deoxit, stayed for this description of the challenges with injection moulding.

Much of this seemed less serious than the wild food waste stats, but these are very concerning:

Every year in Australia approximately 130,000 tonnes of plastic leaks into the marine environment.
Our use of plastic is increasing and across the world will double by 2040.
By 2050, it is estimated that plastic in the oceans will outweigh fish.

A history of plastic recycling, mostly on economics of it, and the symbol being put on plastics.

sidenote: the excerpt and title from Medium was better than for this link.

Wrapping broccoli in a material that slows down its respiratory rate doubles it shelf life.

Going for the unwrapped version not only potentially doubles food waste (probably the greatest environmental threat to humanity), it can cause a nutrient decline of up to 90%.

And from replies:

My understanding is that (nutrient decline) occurs at the early stages of the production, by the time the unwrapped broccoli has got to the store it’s has already declined a great deal. This is wrapped within a really short time frame from picking, so retains a huge amount of nutrients.

And this is some Dune shit:

It would not surprise me if they were wrapped in the picking fields.
Huge bits of kit are hauled into fields to process food asap.
This includes blast freezers for frozen food. They are frozen within a hour of picking.

They found that some reusable alternatives never manage to reach that break-even point because of the energy and water used each time a reusable item is washed.
...
On the positive side of the ledger for reusables, nine of the 12 reusables were able to reach the break-even point, even when washed after every use.

I am probably still mad about all the straws hype.

For example, reusable bamboo drinking straws and two reusable sandwich storage options — beeswax wrap and silicone bags — never reached the break-even point in any of the three environmental impact categories assessed in the study: energy use, global warming potential, and water consumption.