That was not my point. I am not against sensible regulation and I agree it is needed. In this specific case however, it is unclear how much positive effect this will have. I think there are other areas where a bigger bang for the buck can be achieved.
Even worse … on the BBC news this morning they were talking about surgeons operating to treat erectile disfunction are finding microplastic particles in the penal tissues of their patients. Speculation was that the particles could be the cause of the problem.
Our future as a species could be at stake.
Could not find it on their website.
I cringe at the thought of losing it for the sake of coca cola et al.
Here’s a link to an abstract of the paper published in Nature:
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Split second of amused confusion before I realised that “MPs” is actually an abbreviation for “microplastics”.
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There have been microplastics found in all parts of the body. This is very concerning and there are speculations that this might be linked to increasing cancer rates in younger people.
But this is a much larger and wider topic. What this thread was about is a niche regulation that affects bottle caps. And I think it is perfectly legitimate to argue that this particular regulation may be a perfect example of “not seeing to forest for the trees”. To be fair, there is a much larger EU packaging directive coming which addresses the wider issue.
And at the end of the day, it is all up to you what you buy in the supermarket. And please keep in mind: A plastic bottle has still only 1/7th of the carbon emissions of a one-way glass bottle. A paper bag needs to be used 5 or 6 times for it to have less carbon emissions than a plastic bag. Carbon and plastic waste are not the same issues.
Indeed, and may I add that they are not the only issues.
Plastic is a finite resource. Once it’s gone it’s gone.
Paper consumption has gone down over the last few years (newspapers/books etc have been replaced by on-screen reading) and growing trees is good for the environment.
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Tote bag 131 times… And yet they are all the rage…
Not sure what you’re implying with the second half of that. Many of the shopping bags we use have been going for ten years or more, probably used more or less weekly, so 500 times or so. Sounds like a good idea to me.
They’re also much stronger and easier to carry than the old plastic carrier bags they used to hand out at the checkouts, so everyone’s a winner.
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I can trace our world movements by the logos on our old shopping bags from the past 15 years–Brussels, USA, FR, CH, UK, PT, IT, AT–still going strong.
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I see a lot of shops nowadays handing out cotton totes instead of plastic bags and one can easily end up with a collection at home.
I am glad you use yours for may years but many people don’t or would not if they have too many and that’s not good.
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One of the grocery shops I order from for my place in Germany now has bags that can be returned next time and you get money back (Pfand). The one before always used paper bags that I happily reused for all kind of things.
Apparently a lot of people don’t like them and some manufacturers will still have the old type for the Swiss market.
I hate them paper bags with a passion. Not even filled up a lot and RIIIIIP all your stuff is on the floor, a drop of water, hard to avoid in the rain, and RIIIIIP all your stuff is on the floor, carry upstairs and RIIIIP all your stuff is a-tumbling down the steps. The only time I can get them to work is if I put them in a sturdy plastic bag.
They have become worse now. They used to be super sturdy. Still have the white ones from Coop that are probably 3 or 4 years old and usable. The newer ones in brown are useless indeed.
I think regardless of the integrity of the paper bags in question here, the point is that behavior is encouraged to change.
Just think about all the positive changes that have occurred over the last few years due to a little prompting. Realistically we’re not going to dramatically change as a species and adopt new ways comprehensively from day one. A small push is required.
For those that say “what’s the point, it’s a tiny change” that’s often what comes to my mind at least.
The good thing about brown bags is that in our town they allow to pack the cardboard in these bags for recycling. If you leave cardboard in the white bags, it will be ignored and left on the street.
well i dont see any such tops on rivella or coke etc etc.
I don’t buy those do I wouldn’t know.
You don’t. Squashing pet bottles is a Swiss thing where we have no deposit on pet.
I learnt that a few years ago when I complained at Edeka about the system not working. The guy actually went and fished out my bottles (easily recognisable 
). I was mighty impressed by the effort for just a few cents and never did it again 
.
This week-end was the first time I met one of these fixed tops (don’t buy much pet) and for a sec. I was a bit annoyed when I remembered this thread … made me smile that like EF this place answers questions before they are even met in life 
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At first I thought it was a defect in the making of the top. Almost injured my finger ripping it off. 