Wasteful society

[Fox Mike]

I have to take a 'baby' aspirin each day. I happen to like the chewable type. Today I bought THREE bottles. I emptied two into one full bottle with enough space left to pour in another bottle. The amount of plastic in the bottles, if only built the size to fit the amount in the bottle, would be a huge savings in not only plastic but paper in the boxes they are packed in. I have seen this type of packaging in many other places as well. We ARE wasteful!

 

[Bull Barrel]

But most people couldnt hold onto the bottle to open it due to the small size.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

When are they going to put beer in plastic bottles? I have seen them at stadiums but not in the stores.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/08/isnt-beer-sold-plastic-bottles/

 

[Bull Barrel]

Believe it or not glass bottles have plastic in their content.
But the reason beer isnt in plastic is because th3 chemicals in the plastic leach into the beer. Plus it affects the taste. And plastic is more porous than glass so the beer will go flat.

 

[Bob Wright]

Believe it or not glass bottles have plastic in their content.

Please explain.

Bob Wright

 

[Bull Barrel]

In non returnable bottles it causes the bottle to break down. Takes a while though. A long while.
I used to be in the bidness of building bottle washers, beer pasteurizers and electronic empty bottle inspectors way back when.

 

[cas6969]

 

[Colonel Daddy]

A double AMEN to what he said ^^^^

 

[Colonialgirl]

RE:
One Size fits all plastic bottles'.
1. Stop and consider that it costs as much to make a smaller of larger bottle.
2. You may sell different quantities of the various sized bottles forcing the Aspirin manufacturer to buy, inventory and stockpile multiple sizes.
3. Those different sizes may require different sized filling machines.
4. Each bottle size would require a different sized label
5. ALL these considerations would add to the cost of your bottle of aspirin.

Why do I know all this stuff?
Worked in paint and coatings manufacturing for years with 5 gallon, 2 gallon, gallon, quart, pint and half pint containers. And saw ALL of those things happen for cost, inventory and filling lines.

 

[exavid]

If nothing else our 'wasteful' society provides jobs. Glass isn't all that wasteful for the most part, once used you could make it back into sand easily enough. Lots of plastics are recyclable, ditto for a lot of paper. So those conveniences provide decent jobs for a lot of people as well as convenience to the users. I guess we all could go back to using skin pokes and handmade pottery containers.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Recycling in one form created a job for me. I built machinery that washed the used bottles after collecting them. Remember the deposit on soda bottles? (Dont know why there wasnt a deposit on beer bottles) The bottles were returned to the bottling company and then washed and refilled.
Recycling put me out of work. Now the bottles are collected not by the stores but by the waste companies and then crushed and sent to the bottle makers to be made into new bottles. They dont need the heavy, caustic washing as a used bottle so those huge machines we made werent needed.

 

[blume357]

For some stupid reason our town has stopped recycling glass... they say it is because the company that buys the recycle material can't make any money off of the glass and so won't take it anymore. I call BS on it.... seems to me if they wanted the other material... plastic and metals then 'we' could just tell them they have to take the glass. On the other hand... putting it in the land fill is in the long run recycling... just a tad longer on the timeline.
This week I'm studying the history of Yellowstone.... that time line boggles my mind.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Who is "we"? Government?

 

[Kevin]

Re: plastic spoon:

I agree. Another thing I can't stand is paper plates. Some relatives of mine use them as everyday plates. They don't want to bother wasting time to wash dishes. I tell them my daughter can't thank them enough for polluting the earth for her future.

Blume, that's very strange about the city not taking glass for recycle.

 

[Pyromike]

Back to the plastic bottles/beer...They currently put soda in plastic bottles. I've never noticed a taste difference and it takes several days after opening for it to go flat. I've also never heard of the plastic leaking into the soda.
Just my thoughts.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Chemicals from plastic bottles leaching into producrs has been an issue for many years.
Do a search on BPA.

 

[Rancher Will]

"Wasteful" is only what you say it is. I am sure that my opinion is not popular here but I will say it anyway. None of the above, in my opinion defines "Wasteful". Every one of the items above used to define "Wasteful" replaced others that in my lifetime I remember were more "Wasteful". I believe that even with greater population today, there is less wastefulness today than in decades and even centuries past.

There are many ways to define Wasteful. One that I use, including others, includes inefficient use of recourses. I am old enough to remember what was many "wastes" for the reason that technology had not progressed enough to counter the waste.

 

[Montelores]

Re: plastic spoon:

I agree. Another thing I can't stand is paper plates. Some relatives of mine use them as everyday plates. They don't want to bother wasting time to wash dishes. I tell them my daughter can't thank them enough for polluting the earth for her future.

Blume, that's very strange about the city not taking glass for recycle.

How many of us use products in our unique lives which require packaging?

Breakfast cereal? Eggs? Pasta box or bag? Paper targets? Box of ammo? Shipping boxes from Amazon or equivalent for that item we want, but possibly don't need?

While we're on the subject, do we really need to use gasoline to drive to the gun store and then to the range? How about driving to our child's soccer game or school performance or that weekend afternoon driving in the country? Or to the movie theatre or the store for shopping? Do you really need a new pair of socks or pants? How about that computer on which you're reading this? Aren't you aware of the toxins which are by-products of the production of your phone and tablet and computer?

How many of these activities are "necessary?"

And doesn't each of us find a way to justify our actions?

And how qualified are we to judge the actions of another as being "necessary" or "wasteful?"

Dick Cheney was excoriated for saying the following: "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy," he said.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2001-05-01-cheney-usat.htm

Is the goal to cause civilization to make do with less?

Or to find methods which allow more people around the world to have access to more advancements and modern amenities for better lives and health and futures?

I guarantee that I can look at anyone's life here and find "waste."

And you at mine.

But that doesn't really advance our society or civilization.

More for more people, not less for more people.

Monty

ETA: Rancher Will stated it much more succinctly, as usual.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Funny you mentioned cereal. A few days ago I opened a box of cereal. Then I had to cut open the bag. Seems I remember the cereal went directly into the box or am I suffering from Old Timer's?

 

[bogus bill]

Could be they put small amounts in big containers as it discourage shop lifters from concealing items in their pockets?

 

[Bull Barrel]

In many cases when filling the container with quick fillers the container is full at its desired weight then settles after handling.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Most of us can remember when we or our parents didn't throw away anything.

Unnecessary packaging has got to be the worst, because it does absolutely nothing.

 

[Fox Mike]

Most of us can remember when we or our parents didn't throw away anything.

Unnecessary packaging has got to be the worst, because it does absolutely nothing.

My point exactly!

 

[Paul B]

"(Dont know why there wasnt a deposit on beer bottles) The bottles were returned to the bottling company and then washed and refilled."

There was. When I was a kid we scrounged up every pop and beer bottle we could fine. Pop bottled had two or three cent deposit (I forget which) and beer bottles were a nickel each. :shock: A beer bottle was worth a Hershey bar. :mrgreen:
Paul B.

 

[Paul B]

Most of us can remember when we or our parents didn't throw away anything.

Unnecessary packaging has got to be the worst, because it does absolutely nothing.[/quote

I remember those days. We used to cut the bottoms out off empty tin cans, place the top and bottom inside the can, then step on it to flatten it. Used grease was stored in a can as well. Once a week the garbage man would pick it up and take to to a collection place where it was recycled for the war effort. (WW2 was in full swing) Stuff like butter and meat were rationed and expensive. Gasoline was rationed, something like 5 gallons a week IIRC. Highway speed limit was 35 MPH.
Our family was lucky when it came to gasoline. My dad worked on the wather front and one of his jobs was to drain the tanks on the trucks and jeeps going overseas. He had 5 jerry cans he kept filled at the house and would bring home more to fill the tanks of out vehicles. He got lucky as his job was considered vital to the war effort so was draft exempt for the duration.

I;ll it at just this; I hate blister packs. :x
Paul B.

 

[Kevin]

True to the point about unnecessary packaging being wasteful. And someone else mentioned Amazon. Which as a company by the way has made great progress at reducing as much packaging as possible.

 

[blackhawknj]

Shooters have always practiced recycling-we recycle brass, lead, etc...
Packaging has come about with the switch to mass production, centralization of manufacturing, goods being shipped longer distances, etc, The familiar Coke bottle shape came about because that was a very efficient design for mass bottling, easy for the machines to handle.
IMHO the current form of waste is electronics. No more repairing electronic things, if they quit working you just discard the whole item.

 

[Spleenless Dave]

I don't buy paper plates or plastic utensils. It's not that hard to wash up the dishes or use the dishwasher (which I've actually stopped using to save a tiny bit of money on electricity and the gas for heating the water) and voila, you have clean dishes to use. If I get a Gatorade or bottle of water at a gas station, I get one that is sturdy plastic so I can reuse it by putting tap water in it and keeping it in my fridge. And the apartment complex put in recycle bins that accept plastic, paper, cardboard, etc. but not glass, so that has cut down on the amount of crap going in to land fills and dumps, IF people are doing it.

 

[exavid]

I don't know, I put out my big green bin with my yard waste, tree limbs, leaves, grass clippings, garden waste, etc. every other week and it's picked up and goes to BioMass a company that processes that kind of stuff for fertilizer, garden soil and a lot of other similar stuff. On alternate weeks out goes the smaller red bin with empty plastic jugs and stuff, paper, cardboard, glass and such. That goes to a company which separates and re-sells the stuff to make more. My garbage can is much smaller than either and it goes out weekly with stuff that's mostly tossed in a big incinerator which generates steam for the garbage company to heat and power its facility.
So it's not all really waste. A lot of people are employed in the operations too. Those companies that handle the stuff have to buy materials which employs even more folks. There is money in garbage and trash.
There is no way we could all live as our grandparents did. The population density alone prevents it. Over all I don't think we're doing all that badly.

 

[exavid]

Don't forget to get a growler so you can go to the store for beer without having all those cans to redeem deposits from or throwing out.