Ask HN: How can they go from banning plastic straws to having millions of RATs?

1 pointshaunpud3 comments

They probably end up in landfill, right?

Who are “they”?

What’s a “RAT” in this context?

My apologies, in Australia the Government banned plastic straws prior to COVID, to reduce that style of plastic polution. However now COVID is here RATs (Rapid Antigen Test) kits are all the rage and people are purchasing them left/right/center to test for said virus, but I assume they're ending up in landfill, just like the straws did back in the days, but noone is batting and eyelid.

Well, just imagine if you had both RATd and straws ending up in landfills!

While a bunch of legislation is mostly feel-good stuff, straws are a long term issue, and RATs are temporary. Sure, their ecological impact should be reduced, but health crisis takes precedence. If it remains a long term issue, it will certainly be improved too.

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