• mastefetri@infosec.pub
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      9 months ago

      This is why we need a plastic tax. If it was even slightly more expensive to use plastic they would switch back to metal or glass in a heartbeat.

    • lurch (he/him)@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      toothpaste used to come in metal tubes too. not even long ago. it’s like they saw everyone else was polluting and they wanted in too smh

      • Mamertine@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Not only that, they advertised recycling to push public opinion that it was okay to switch to plastic, because plastic is recyclable. But they didn’t tell us, it’s never going to be economicaly viable to recycle plastic toothpaste tubes.

        • rigatti@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          It’s not economically viable and you can only make lesser quality plastic out of it.

      • argh_another_username@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        Nivea Cream used to come in aluminum cans, then they changed to plastic. Recently they announced that they would come back to aluminum. We can still buy in plastic, though. I think it depends on the market.

      • yacht_boy@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yeah, but those metal tubes were awful. I have been brushing my teeth with Tom’s of Maine for decades, and I remember how much I hated those metal tubes. They always split open weeks before the tube was empty and then they’d leak and make a mess and I inevitably wasted a lot of product. When Tom finally sold to whatever corp and they switched over to the plastic tubes that don’t leak and let me use all the toothpaste I paid for, I danced a little jig.

        • oatscoop@midwest.social
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          9 months ago

          Your comment made me have a flashback to my dad getting irritated at me for squeezing the middle of the toothpaste tube.

          You’re only supposed to squeeze the far end of a metal tube – pushing product from the very end to the opening. Then as it gets empty you fold/roll up the flat bit at the end. You can even even buy “wringers” designed to assist with that.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      But it’s not that simple. Back then no one recycled the can and all too many wouldn’t now. The can itself was heavier and not as effective. Plastic truly is a wonder material for packaging / it does a better job of keeping things fresh, is more convenient, and saving that weight, saving the energy going into making a can, saving the weight for shipping, is all a benefit of a plastic. We don’t have anything that works nearly as well

      We all need to face the idea that convenience items like pudding probably shouldn’t be sold at all, especially with how easy instant pudding is

      • yacht_boy@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        The group think around here is so crazy. Should we be using less single use plastic, especially the thin films? Absolutely. But the environmental impacts of mining all that metal and making all that glass to replace plastic with, plus the added energy for transporting the heavier packages and the cost of increased spoilage and product lost to dented cans and broken bottles, dwarfs the negative impact of the plastic replacements.

      • bitwolf@lemmy.one
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        9 months ago

        I wonder how well PLA would work for food storage. I learned it’s made with beets and can break down very quickly.