Recent comments in /f/UpliftingNews

terpin t1_j3mbavf wrote

Reply to Lab-grown retinal eye cells make successful connections, open door for clinical trials to treat blindness by chrisdh79

As someone that may have autoimmune retinopathy, THIS IS SUCH GOOD NEWS. It's really hard to tell if there's damage to the retina until it's really damaged (short of an ERG, which I'd have to go to another state to get) so knowing that it could be repaired later is fucking AMAZING.

We live in an amazing time!

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DedicatedDdos t1_j3m9i6c wrote

Reply to comment by AftyOfTheUK in Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England by Sariel007

Some googling gives me data from 2019 at around ~50kg per person per year for countries like the USA (53kg), Australia (59kg), UK (44kg). From here.

That's estimated single use plastics, not other trash.

Keeping in mind that the majority of plastics aren't recyclable and a lot of them don't even get to the garbage dumps.

And besides the rather small portion of people that actually need things like straws for medical reasons for which there are always exceptions provided, who exactly will get inconvenienced?

Edit; To add to this, we know reducing plastic use is good, any reduction is good, gotta start somewhere.

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DaenerysMomODragons t1_j3m97pd wrote

Reply to comment by AftyOfTheUK in Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England by Sariel007

I think back to when I was young and they banned paper bags from grocery stores because super thin plastic bags were said to be better for the environment. It seems like environmentalism is just cyclical. Give it 20-30 years and they'll be banning paper/wood straws/utensils, just wait.

Edit: Now that I think about it more, they could try to standardize people brining their own permanent utensils, and sell permanent utensils to those who forget them, just like how grocery stores now will sell you cloth bags.

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anonymousforever t1_j3m88al wrote

Reply to comment by thatnitai in Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England by Sariel007

There have been a few business models using reusable bowls/lids for takeout where a deposit is charged and you get it back when you return the dishes. Don't return it, and the money is forfeit so the company can replace what you kept. This could work for delivery, could still do a "hub" or "dash" service, but the return part is on you, since the driver may not go back there.

Alternatively, bringing your own could be doable, as long as it's "in store take out". People just have to realize portions will be by piece or weight, or a measured serving scoop, so bringing an oversize container won't net more food.

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DedicatedDdos t1_j3m7uwx wrote

Reply to comment by Juuna in Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England by Sariel007

And plastic is everywhere, majority of those aren't recyclable so that just gets tossed on ever-growing garbage dumps, if it even gets there, a lot just ends up drifting on the wind or floating in the ocean. And we barely even scratched the surface of the potential health and environmental consequences of our plastic use (such as the rather strong links between plastics and loss of fertility).

But hey, a slight wood taste definitely seems like the bigger issue here, understandable.

And no, banning single use plastics isn't the solution to end all plastic problems.

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