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Comment by bschwindHN | Hacker News Reader

Very good questions, but the answer is disappointing:

because money

Only in some ways. Mostly it’s due to use case and desired characteristics of the container, one of which can be cost. As another poster noted, different products need different packaging solutions.

That's an important point you're making here...Can you expand on that with an example? A specific use of plastic as a container that gives the desired characteristics...specifically where those characteristics could not be met by another (if expense isn't a consideration) material?

If there are less toxic materials that could "do the job" but are more expensive then it really is about money no?

Prescription canisters (the tamper resistant/child proof ones). You could do without it but you now subject children to accidental ingestion.

Single meal frozen food containers. You need a seal. Some impregnated cardboard can work, but not as well and is full of chemicals to overcome its disadvantages.

Disposable water bottles. You can use metal vessels, they cost a bit more, but doable.

Packaged frozen meats (they keep longer). Not sure there is a good alternative to plastics other than having people buy meats semi-daily from the butcher.

Some plastics need to be heat resistant, others solvent resistant, others flexible, others stretchy, etc. Different formulations give you what you need at a price point.

Yes we could go back to the 1920s but then life would have to be adjusted to the 1920s. You’d need someone to remain “domestic” at home, etc. as more time is needed to carry out house work without the convenience of modern materials.

Thank you...excellent examples. I think this is a conversation though that must be framed correctly. There's a balance between modern convenience, expense etc. and literally the harm we're possibly doing to our endocrine systems. Right now there seems to be very little real repercussions for companies and we have a bit of a corporate Wild West in play here. Surely that must change.

I think perhaps that “possibly” needs to be nailed down a little better

If you look at it holistically, I might get boxed cereal from the grocery store that’s bagged in a cheap, microbe-blocking, shelf-stable and lightweight plastic bag in a cardboard box.

I could also go to a bulk goods store instead and fill a container.

But one of these options is much more convenient… and that’s fundamentally why society is having hell of a time getting rid of plastic. These plastics are bad for the environment but they bring a lot of material properties that other materials like metal, wood or glass don’t provide.

Obviously bagged cereal is a drop in the bucket but this materials calculus is applied everywhere and at every stage.

"Because money" always boils down to "because it requires a lot of resources".

It's not about random pieces of paper with numbers.

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