Plastic bottles in general should be illegal. It’s cans, glass bottles, or GTFO when it comes to beverages for me.
FYI cans have a plastic liner to prevent acidic foods from dissolving the aluminium, so there’s still some plastic in it (much less then fully plastic bottles tho)
We should really advance to “glass only” for single use containers (unless you have a really good reason to prefer plastic, like if it’s a medical product) and invest in the infrastructure to recycle them - a country can get up to a 99% recycle rate for glass if it puts the work in.
Yes glass is potentially less safe but my gut tells me that the risk of more broken glass is offset by the reduced air pollution and associated health risks.
It’s more that it’s heavier, so you have to transport a lot more weight for the same amount of product.
Secondary to that, glass can’t be shaped as compactly as an aluminum can or plastic bottle, so it takes up more room for the same amount of product.
There’s no perfect solution, which is why we have a lot of options.
I’m curious as to how the math works out comparing fuel burned per unit of product delivered for each container medium.
There’s no perfect solution, which is why we have a lot of options.
But in the category of “single use drinking containers”, all of the options besides glass carry with them more and worse externalities than what glass production and recycling carries. Which is why “having a lot of options” isn’t a positive in this case, it just means that a large part of the market is operating in a way that is more destructive to society than it needs to be.
What about Tetra paks?
Aren’t they as equally unrecycleable as plastic?
I can’t even put them in my recycling bin…which is where the glass and plastic goes.
I dunno. it takes a lot more heat to melt and recycle some glass that plastic. that and the transport weight is a whole lot of extra environmental cost.
and the whole separating by color thing in the recycling bins. best bet is to reuse the bottles for the same beverage by rinsing them back at the original bottling plant but that is a logistics nightmareit’s not a logistics nightmare, we used to do that until plastic gave us the idea of single use containers, many restaurants still do it with larger 1L bottles
also, while yes glass does have a really high melting point, most plastics never get recycled and instead get burnt, releasing a lot of toxic chemicals in the air (and even if they weren’t, you can only recycle some types of plastics, and even if you did, new objects can be made only by some percentage of recycled plastic, and never 100%)
Ah, but without plastic bottles how would we generate additional profits from the excess waste of oil production?
Glass has the best taste too, because it is almost totally chemically inert, you don’t get the odd flavor changes that you do with aluminum cans or plastic bottles.
First World Problems
Good, the packages can’t even be recycled. Corporations should be held liable for their plastic waste contributions via the packaging.
you only need to make them pay the price of each packaging every day until it biodegrades. you’ll see change very quickly.
They’ll spend 300millions in lawyer fees to find a loophole where they only need to pay one packet for the time it takes to burn.
Any plastic should be considered unrecyclable. At least pouches use less overall plastic then bottles.
Most plastics are difficult (if at all possible) to recycle.
I agree. Fixed my grammar.
You think the bottles are going to be any better? They’re going to end up in the ocean with all of the other plastic bottles from other drinks.
PET bottles are very easily recicled. In my country a sizeable amount of PET bottles sold are 100%recycled PET
But only a small fraction of the plastic gets recycled.
If 9/10ths of the plastic ends up in a landfill or the Pacific garbage patch, having 1/10th of that plastic recycled into another bottle (which then will eventually have 9/10ths tossed in a landfill anyways) isn’t doing much. It’s better than not recycling at all, but it’s green washing to say that it’s “eco friendly”, which Capri-Sun allegedly did at this trade show.
No, glass or stainless steel
Not aluminum? Have you ever seen single serving drinks sold in stainless steel?
Single serving things should be illegal, only things needs to be single serving is shit found in a hospital
Single serving containers for food have their place, but there’s nothing that can’t be stored in either wax paper, aluminum, or glass(in that order). Aluminum is probably the best balance between recyclability and weight(fuel need to transport . You can even make aluminum “bottles” that fit in preexisting vending machines.
No, single serving bulkshit should be illegal. Other than convience there is 0 need.
You could do the same with glass too, and as I’ve stated previously, aluminum needs a barrier, and normally is plastic
Those bottles in the image look like plastic. I can’t find anything indicating they are using glass or stainless steel.
shit rots your teeth anyway
Are you just talking about sugar content or something more?
I only have my experience but consuming Capri sun specifically gave me cavities. Like zero to six in six months when I started getting it for lunch as a kid
Oh hey, it’s a new thread to spread disinformation about plastic recycling!
I just double checked and the article doesn’t mention the words recycle or eco at all, does it?
It’s a nothing burger!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69zaM1ImvUE
The least they could do is shift to metal cans ffs.
It gets worse, they are switching the line to whoop-ass, it will no longer come in a can.
So, what!? Now I have to pop a straw in a pouch of whoopass?! What is this world coming to!?!?!
Dude don’t make me straw up this whoop-ass.
Hahahahaha!!
You gonna make me tear open a baggie of whoopass, if you keep going!
I see a ton of comments here hating on nostalgic people, with no actual nostalgic people in sight yet.
Personally I don’t care if a pouched drink exists or not, but if they are no longer producing pouched drinks they should probably retire the brand.
Do you remember what a CapriSun tastes like? It’s somewhere between an extremely-artificially flavored “juice” concentrate and a “fruit flavored” drink like Kool-Aid. The whole appeal was the packaging.
This is absolutely reeks of a bullshit “OMG the sky must be falling for you” condescending article from an older generation that thinks younger nostalgia is silly. I wouldn’t give this article any more credence than a boomer yelling “Avocado Toast!” at you when you’re enjoying a nice brunch. It’s just needlessly sensationalist shit stirring.
It’s quite literally a bit of orange juice, filled up with water and loaded with sugar.
It also includes flavoring (of which the orange juice is one). They come in more flavors than just orange.
THEY DO?!
Any chance you are thinking of SunnyD?
I see a ton of comments here hating on nostalgic people, with no actual nostalgic people in sight yet.
…yeah you’re in a Lemmy comment section.
179 post score seems highly nostalgic to me tbh
I invited myself because it’s an interesting article, nothing to do with nostalgia.
Sad, from a nostalgia point of view, but probably a win, environmentally. We have a pipeline to recycle plastic bottles, the mylar pouches are pretty much all single use.
Source on this “pipeline”?
Recycling bin > recycling lorry > container > third world country > sea.
Here in american its recycling bin > recycling truck > garbage truck > landfill
A landfill in your own country? How fancy!
…do you not believe bottles are recycled? Or is this just a snarky way of pointing out how ineffective the system is?
I was a bit too snarky
If you even thought to say that, I can’t blame you for your original comment.
Yeah, it’s really sad how bad plastic is currently destroying our environment. Humans have to be able to see further into the future than “will I live to see the consequences of my actions? Because if not, I can’t worry about them”
I agree,
It pisses me off that you can slap a recycling logo on a plastic bottle and call it a day when the process is nearly impossible and hardy ever done.
If you think recycling is effective you have fallen to their propaganda
Oh no, something is ineffective, we better abandon the whole idea!
No, I want an effective system starting with the producers of waste
Yes, actually. We should abandon the whole idea. We should actually stop using plastics for everything. That’s the correct take.
Something like 9% of plastic gets recycled.
Great, you not only read my mind but you are also spreading gloom about an extremely well known issue. Beautiful.
I don’t think I could have lived in society for the past 15 years without hearing about this issue at least 5 times a year, and I’m not sure what made you think otherwise.
I want change, ignoring the problem doesn’t makebthe issue go away
So if I ask what a person means with their snark, it means I want the problem to be ignored?
That’s a sad and weird way to assume shit, honestly. Because if you actually knew my view, you would know that I think about plastics fucking the human race every day of my life
But much better to use aluminium.
At least aluminum actually is recyclable.
There is still a plastic liner on the inside, glass, stainless steel or nothing
The liner is incinerated, so the point is moot.
Microplastics aren’t nothing
neither is nickel and chromium leeching.
Non acidic things don’t get either of these. Anything acidic goes into glass and non gets SS. Have a return system (beer store in Ontario does this)
Plastic and glass aren’t recyclable huh? Better just throw them in the landfill, much better.
We actually don’t have a pipeline to recycle plastic bottles though, right?
Bottle deposit systems are generally effective. In Sweden, 90-95% of the pet plastic in drink bottles makes it back to a factory to be used as raw material for new bottles. We don’t really recycle the hdpe lids or polyester labels, though.
Why aren’t we just using glass, as we did for decades just fine.
Well that would be because the god-king CEO would have like 45k less per year out of his 38,000,000 dollar salary without bonuses and stock value if we were to do that, you fuckin peasant idiot chump. Not only that but their enabling middle management might have as much as $200 less in their annual bonuses. Think for someone else other than yourself for once.
That’s not actually a solution when talking single-use either. Remaking the bottles from recycled glass is incredibly energy intensive and not an environmentally friendly process either. Multi-use bottles are much better, but the cleaning required also isn’t that simple and also relatively energy intensive (far from remaking the bottles of course).
There’s also practical downsides to glass (heavy, breakable), but those are subjective and their relevance highly depends on the use case.
Ideally, we wouldn’t buy stuff to drink in any kind of bottle, but just use tap water. possibly just buy some concentrated stuff to then make your actual drink at home. Nothing beats the effectiveness of transporting water through a simple pipe, but that isn’t even possible everywhere in the world due to drinking water quality issues…
A lot of glass bottles aren’t melted down, but simply washed and reused.
Good job with reading you did there. Your didn’t even make it 8 words in and already decided to comment. Maybe give it another go, if you dare, and try getting a little further this time.
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If micro plastics in the water supply is an actual issue long term the tap water will be shot for the whole of most places. Reverse osmosis systems are the only ones I had heard could reliably help, but I haven’t gone to extensive on looking into that. Each household may someday need under the sink or such systems if so : /. Unless we can reliably do so at treatment plants and then transport it through the lines without the water getting any back in. With many American cities having water at its current state, I don’t see that happening.
A surprising number of companies actually do sell powder versions of their drinks on the web. I buy both Arizona tea and A&W root beer packets online.
Holy shit I didn’t realize you could buy root beer concentrate, this is amazing. I’m totally stocking up next time I’m in the US.
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Our school won’t let us send reusable glass containers excuse of fear of breakage.
I kinda understand, but our first grader has been using them for snacks at home for 5 years and never broken one.
When you say “we” as in you and me, yeah, I don’t think we could manage to recycle them. “We” as a planet certainly can and many countries do.
Which countries? I thought only 9% of plastic is actually recycled.
I have always, for the entirety of their existence, hated those dumb pouches. Good riddance as far as I’m concerned.
Seconded. And trying to stab the flexing surface with that weak-ass straw.
You have to kind of service the top edge of the hole with the tip of the straw to soften it up before you guide it the rest of the way in.
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Skill issue 😉
Unironically, there’s a technique to it. I forgot how after I got older, and was genuinely frustrated trying to drink from one until I remembered how to do it.
The pouches seem like less plastic.
They have these revolutionary containers made from paper that is layered in order to make it hard and card like. Almost stiff as a board. And is capable of holding liquids and also breaks down very easily. 😒
I’m in!
What are they lined with to prevent them from getting soggy from contact with the liquid?
Polyethylene and/or aluminum foil but iirc before plastics, it would have been wax.
Probably parrafin.
Take a wild guess what parrafin is made from…
Not sure if it has the same issues breaking down as plastic, but it’s still a petroleum byproduct, so we should probably be moving away from it.
Being made from petroleum isnt bad. its a byproduct of distilling lubricates.
Probably Teflon 🤣💀
They made a really loud noise in the lunchroom if you inflated the pouch all the way, folded over the straw to seal it, then stomped on it really hard with your shoe. This was before mentally deranged people started shooting up schools though, so maybe don’t try it.
Mentally deranged people have been shooting up schools since before Capri Sun was even invented…
How old are you?
I’m not going to look it up to verify, but I’m pretty sure Capri Sun existed before Columbine.
Columbine was far from the first school shooting. According to the Washington Post:
“The first recorded school shooting in the United States was in 1853 at a schoolhouse in Louisville, Kentucky. On November 2, 1853, Matt Ward shot and killed teacher William H.G. Butler with a pistol hidden in his coat pocket.”
I know it’s not the first, I never claimed it was. But as someone who is old enough to remember what life was like before Columbine, that was the one that changed everything. That’s when we started having active shooter drills.
Then 9/11 just amplified it.
It’s that I’ve been in schools with after school activities in the last year.
Kids were popping chip bags and nobody drew weapons or jumped because of a loud pop that sounds nothing like a normal gunshot.
I was in school before columbine ever happened.
I don’t think violence in is ok in most situations. I think America has a mental health and gun issue.
I like the Capri Sun mylar things from a nostalgic perspective.
And - Rudolf Wild invented the drink in 1969
I think the very important point you’re missing is that schools did not exist in fear of school shootings before Columbine. There were no lockdown drills and crazy security measures for entering and leaving the building. So making a big loud noise would not make people instantly think someone was shooting up the school like it very well might today.
I’m not sure how I missed that from their first post. /s
I get it, you’re scared. Noone was ever scared like that before.
Edit: I looked it up, mocked a false statement and declaration of ignorance.
Got downvoted. I’m not promoting violence, I’m mocking ignorance.
I think you replied to the wrong post
Meh, I’m well into my 40s and solidly don’t give a shit.
I’m proud of you! Letting go of your childhood nostalgia and stop regarding it as an unachievable goal and safe place to return to is a first step towards maturity!
YAY! More plastic!!!
I imagine it’s pretty much the same amount of plastic as they’ve always had.
The correct choice would have been paper/cardboard bottles, which is easier to recycle
Juice boxes have a plastic lining, which is still better for the environment but not necessarily easier to recycle.
Bottles are 80% more plastic than pouches and cost more. The only good part is those pouches are not usually recyclable at all and sometimes bottles get recycled.
“Sometimes” feels a bit generous. From a quick search I can find estimates that 5-9% of all plastic is recycled. It might be higher or lower depending on the specific kinds of plastic these bottles use, but most of it is probably ending up in a landfill anyways.
I was being generous. Aluminum, steel & glass are the only materials that get regularly recycled. All the others are usually trashed, even if you sent them to recycling.
Technically a shift from Mylar to PET might be more environmentally friendly, but yeah I would prefer cans or cardboard box drinks, you know: the ol waxed paperboard beverage carton
It’s probably paraffin wax they use, which is basically plastic.
Parafin wax isnt a plastic… petroleum origin, sure.
But no, they are made with Polyethylene
No it’s not structurally “plastic” but it’s not biodegradable or reusable which is the point at hand so I think it was a reasonable comparison. (I also said “basically plastic” which clearly indicates similarity rather than equation)
Paraffin is an alkane, chemically similar to other alkane, such as methane, gasoline, etc.
Plastics are made from alkenes, with double carbon bonds, thus why they are harder to breakdown naturally.
Absolutely plastic lined all, I was just trying to be descriptive since that packaging type doesn’t seem to have any unique identifying names.
No this is good, I’ve been complaining about this since I was a kid and drank one where the straw got all clogged up so I cut into it and there was some creepy gross dead worm looking thing.
I very specifically remember the controversy 15-20 years ago when it was found that many of these pouches had mold in them, and you couldn’t see it because of the pouch or even taste it. I’m sure the quality control since then has improved, but any time I see a pouch of juice, I think about that mold incident.
Is that why some brands made the back of the pouch transparent?
I would assume so. I would also think a lot of people just aren’t comfortable consuming something that they can’t see.
Now if only we could get transparent aluminum cans.
(I mean technically we can? But it wouldn’t be the same. Just super dense synthetic corundum at best.)
I know a guy who can help.
it would be so crazy if we used that one barely functional tried and true for hundreds if not thousands of years product called glass.
Yes, but I meant the full can experience. Like pop top, leave it on the counter and the fizz dies. Lol.
Yes
When they started doing the childrens semi-solid foods (applesauce) in similar packs, they had the exact same problem for YEARS
The form factor sucks ass and I wish they’d find a better way for both types of product
Now this is a controversial thread
