We need more environmental tech, but we also have to adapt our behaviour a little bit.
How can you make something that is degradable in an environmental friendly way, but also last forever? Something has to give.
How can you make something that is degradable in an environmental friendly way, but also last forever? Something has to give.
And this is what is largely holding us back. "Fear of loss" is a very big deal whenever you talk about large-scale modifications to a system with which people have grown very familiar.
People can always find a reason why a particular change "simply cannot work" or "is more trouble than it is worth" or "the benefits are not outweighed by the downsides" or "my use does is not compatible" and so on and so forth.
The spectrum is massive. From paper straws to "if you are able and if you live in a place where it is possible, look for ways to not drive so often," lots of people will be in a big hurry to tell you why that flatly cannot be done.
As someone who does transit advocacy in a dense city with good transit, it is very frustrating.
While going a bit off topic, the issue I have seen with advocacy groups is that they focus on solving for the median case (eg. 80% of trips are less than 5km) whereas people usually take decisions that work for them in the edge cases (what if i need to take my ageing dad to the hospital on a rainy night, what if i have to take my kid to a far away school for a competition).
To drive real habit change, you have to have good solutions for the edge case - otherwise people will just default to re-using their edge case solution for their median use cases (sunk cost).
In the city I live in for example, even 6-7 years ago, it was essentially impossible to find a cab in the rain. I've personally missed a flight due to a sudden downpour.
With reliable and massive inventory of ride sharing NOW available where i live, I am comfortable living without a car. In my hometown where my parents live (a smaller city which also has a transit system but poor cab service), I still would not do that.
The "default" takeaway option could be the short-lasting paper cup.
For car, office or just comfort, you could have a squashy, silicone (stands high temp) outer that would usually only need to be cleaned if the inner cup fails.
A silicone shell with disposable inner would work well for me, at least. The shell would rarely need to be cleaned and can be easily pocketed.