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blahbleh112233 t1_ja2pcn3 wrote

Reply to comment by kryotheory in what happened to this "all natural soap" after sitting in the shower for a few months by Sacred_Stardust

The weird thing is that PLA plastic is biodegradable and you could make straws from that. But I guess the average consumer would be complaining about x store serving plastic straws

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lukeasaur t1_ja2sdk2 wrote

The average consumer wouldn't give a shit; anyone who still cares about straws brings their own or doesn't use one anyways. Companies just do this shit to virtue signal to people who aren't that invested but will go "Ooh, fun" and get some flashy press coverage.

(Beyond that, the problem with all biodegradable material is that they won't biodegrade aerobically in landfill conditions, generally speaking; anaerobic biodegradation produces methane, and although methane recapture is becoming more common it's not perfect. Unless a place offers compost, there's not a huge advantage to biodegradeability. And in the case of PLA, that compost needs to be industrial compost -- it won't biodegrade at a meaningful clip in naturally occurring conditions.)

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blahbleh112233 t1_ja2to5n wrote

Depends on where you live but for example, people living in SF absolutely will put restaurants on blast for not being eco friendly.

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runnerr0 t1_ja3d1k0 wrote

This is absolutely true re SF buying habits. Before the take out world was tossed upside down SF’s Zero Waste initiative was pushing hard AF to get restaurants to help us reduce the plastic load. It was rare to not be served food to go in something that was not heading for the green bin. With the Rona we relaxed the requirements but I welcome moving back towards a reducing plastic posture.

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