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Comment by laurencerowe | Hacker News Reader

The problem with glass bottles is that they're heavy so transporting them results in far higher carbon emissions than making the plastic bottle.

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I was going to ask for a citation but a quick search gets me this:

https://theconversation.com/ranked-the-environmental-impact-...

I see in shops drinks bottled thousands miles away (cheap transportation and economy of scale makes it profitable). May be with the sift to glass production will be more distributed and close to consumers.

Which might be solved with a switch to EV delivery vehicles

Not driving at all is better than driving an EV vehicle.

I just drove an EV from Palm Springs to Seattle without much issue. I actually really enjoyed it. Much better than an ICE road trip.

And you can't drop them, you can't crush them to make them take up less space in the rubbish... they are objectively worse in all regards I can think of

They don't go in the rubbish as they are completely recyclable

Imagine how bloody annoying it would be if we had to bring a bag full of empty glass bottles to the supermarket every time we wanted them refilled. Thank God for plastic

I believe that the health and environmental issues caused by plastics are far more bloody annoying.

i do this and it is not as annoying as you're making it out to be. you get used to the process and, as a reward, you and your fellow earth inhabitants don't have to deal with all of the waste later.

I mean you’re going to the supermarket anyways, what’s the problem with taking a few bottles along with you?

Carrying weight on the way to the supermarket is worse than carrying no weight on the way to the supermarket... plus everything I already said.

Ok but like you’re carrying weight right back. Is it really that hard to put a couple of bottles in your car or bike?

Yeah but this doesn’t scale. Like, there’s an assumption in these conversations that okay — glass bottles are better, but does that mean that now I’m going to hold on to and reuse every single glass bottle I ever receive from now on? Realistically? Then extend that to everything you use.

I can imagine ending up with a house full of glass bottles. Where does it reasonably stop for the individual?

The conversation also highlights that our intuitions about what the most environmentally friendly thing is can’t be trusted.

Individuals can’t solve this, that’s for sure.

Back before plastics took over everything, not all products were packaged in glass containers. Many were packaged in metal, paper, or cardboard containers. Examples:

    Glass container (not reused): Ovaltine
    Paper container (not reused): Chips Ahoy cookies
    Cardboard container (not reused): washing detergent powder
    Metal container (not reused): Hershey's chocolate powder

I walk. It's like 10 minutes to the supermarket. So I'd rather carry weight for 10 minutes, on my way back, instead of 20, both ways.

This discussion is a waste of time. There are two options. One is easier than the other. Like everyone else, I want to take the easier one. Period.

The easiest option of dealing with plastic waste is just throwing it out your window and letting the litter pile up. Obviously people don’t do this because it has negative externalities that are undesirable.

Imagine living 5 minutes from the supermarket. Then you could walk 5 minutes one way, and 5 minutes the other, adding up to 10 minutes total. Problem solved.

convenience has a price. it's worth considering what that price is, especially in aggregate.

When I was a kid glass reuse was the norm. Yes, you take the large soda bottles back to the supermarket. Everyone did it and it wasn't a big deal.

Having to move and handle all that glass might be good physical exercise for many. So, it's even more of a win-win.

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