Organic Food Myths

The best thing about bottled water is the bottle. It's just convenient to use a bottle of the size they typically come in. We have a dozen or more of those bottles in a cabinet. Probably the dumbest thing about those bottles is that it never dawns on people that they're reusable. Or maybe that's second to the fact that they throw them away rather than recycling them.

I'm a recycle nut. We slashed our garbage output by 75% by getting aggressive about recycling. SO MUCH of what you use can be recycled, and most communities have recycling centers all over the place. It's almost criminal if you don't recycle these days.

 
I don't mind people buying local or even organic, but it would be nice if said people were either a-informed, b-not going about their day with a self-righteous air, or c-some combination of the first two. There is a delicious irony, though, when some hippie thinks he's sticking it to the man by buying farmer Joe's peanut butter when in fact farmer Joe is the same corporationey corporation that's selling Jif.

To be honest I never knew anyone who bought into any bottled water craze. It's convenient and cheap enough if you buy store brands.

 
yup, Stater Bros. water 3$'s for 24 bottles. Add some naturally preserved chemical taste additives like crystal lite and you got yourself some good liquid refreshment. :)

The Farmer's Market in Temecula, Ca is fantastic for a wide variety of fresh fruits, veggies and the occasional nut :rollin

GBR

 
yup, Stater Bros. water 3$'s for 24 bottles. Add some naturally preserved chemical taste additives like crystal lite and you got yourself some good liquid refreshment. :)

The Farmer's Market in Temecula, Ca is fantastic for a wide variety of fresh fruits, veggies and the occasional nut :rollin

GBR

 
Husker_x said:
I don't mind people buying local or even organic, but it would be nice if said people were either a-informed, b-not going about their day with a self-righteous air, or c-some combination of the first two. There is a delicious irony, though, when some hippie thinks he's sticking it to the man by buying farmer Joe's peanut butter when in fact farmer Joe is the same corporationey corporation that's selling Jif.

To be honest I never knew anyone who bought into any bottled water craze. It's convenient and cheap enough if you buy store brands.
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I agree with the local thing. I dont care if its organic, but if I know I am helping a local Nebraska business then I will try to buy it, as long as it is a quality product.

As for the bottled water thing I find it useless in the states, for the most part, although Houston and Minneapolis have some nasty tasting water, although it is still clean and safe to drink. Some of the places I have been overseas bottles of Aquafina are like prison smokes. After my bout of dysentery, in India, I found a new respect for clean American water. A little FYI, just because the bottle looks sealed doesn't mean it is. Listen for that little pssst when you open a bottle of water in a third world country.

 
knapplc said:
The best thing about bottled water is the bottle. It's just convenient to use a bottle of the size they typically come in. We have a dozen or more of those bottles in a cabinet. Probably the dumbest thing about those bottles is that it never dawns on people that they're reusable. Or maybe that's second to the fact that they throw them away rather than recycling them.

I'm a recycle nut. We slashed our garbage output by 75% by getting aggressive about recycling. SO MUCH of what you use can be recycled, and most communities have recycling centers all over the place. It's almost criminal if you don't recycle these days.
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I've heard that recycling is actually not all it's cracked up to be with the exception of aluminum cans, though I'd have to do further reading to confirm that. The counter-argument goes that, for instance, with plastics the overall energy cost in reusing old ones is greater than the cost of simply making a new one, so while you might be saving space in a landfill, the net ecological benefit is nil.

Have you heard anything like that?

 
Husker_x said:
knapplc said:
The best thing about bottled water is the bottle. It's just convenient to use a bottle of the size they typically come in. We have a dozen or more of those bottles in a cabinet. Probably the dumbest thing about those bottles is that it never dawns on people that they're reusable. Or maybe that's second to the fact that they throw them away rather than recycling them.

I'm a recycle nut. We slashed our garbage output by 75% by getting aggressive about recycling. SO MUCH of what you use can be recycled, and most communities have recycling centers all over the place. It's almost criminal if you don't recycle these days.
Click to expand...
I've heard that recycling is actually not all it's cracked up to be with the exception of aluminum cans, though I'd have to do further reading to confirm that. The counter-argument goes that, for instance, with plastics the overall energy cost in reusing old ones is greater than the cost of simply making a new one, so while you might be saving space in a landfill, the net ecological benefit is nil.

Have you heard anything like that?
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I have heard that, and I've heard the opposite. I'm probably being an irresponsible person for not having delved deeper into that debate to find the truth of it.

For me, it boils down to: Is it more practical to attempt to reuse this thing than it is to let it sit in a landfill until Doc Brown invents Mr. Fusion? On the face of it, it seems more practical to reuse it. But that doesn't take cost into account.

 
Husker_x said:
knapplc said:
The best thing about bottled water is the bottle. It's just convenient to use a bottle of the size they typically come in. We have a dozen or more of those bottles in a cabinet. Probably the dumbest thing about those bottles is that it never dawns on people that they're reusable. Or maybe that's second to the fact that they throw them away rather than recycling them.

I'm a recycle nut. We slashed our garbage output by 75% by getting aggressive about recycling. SO MUCH of what you use can be recycled, and most communities have recycling centers all over the place. It's almost criminal if you don't recycle these days.
Click to expand...
I've heard that recycling is actually not all it's cracked up to be with the exception of aluminum cans, though I'd have to do further reading to confirm that. The counter-argument goes that, for instance, with plastics the overall energy cost in reusing old ones is greater than the cost of simply making a new one, so while you might be saving space in a landfill, the net ecological benefit is nil.

Have you heard anything like that?
Click to expand...

I've heard things like this coming out of California. I think in places like Minneapolis where you are forced to recycle, and they have curb side pick up, the net effect is essentially zero. With all the extra trucks rolling, picking up the recyclable materials, and hauling it back. I guess it is how do you want your pollution, in the air or in the ground. I think the central drop points would be better, like the one at Leon's market, if you were going there anyway it would only take a little more fuel to haul the stuff in.

This brings up a good point about most "green" projects and ideals. They say taking the bus cuts pollution, this might be true when the bus is full, and you have taken 30 or so cars off the road, but these buses have to roll even when empty (and in Lincoln they are empty most of the time), so what is the true savings of fuel and expelled carbon? Same goes for light rail, etc.

With cap and trade being brought to the table today, I think we owe it to ourselves to really find out what works and what doesn't. Obama himself has said for these programs to work energy costs would have to sky rocket. Wasn't it just in LA where they announced that in 10-15 years they would get something like 25% of there energy from "renewable" sources, and they said the increase in rates would be "only" 8 to 20% (!), now they have looked at it again and the cost will be more along the lines of 30+ percent. Hold on everyone, we are in for a wild ride.

 
Canttakeitanymore said:
With cap and trade being brought to the table today, I think we owe it to ourselves to really find out what works and what doesn't. Obama himself has said for these programs to work energy costs would have to sky rocket. Wasn't it just in LA where they announced that in 10-15 years they would get something like 25% of there energy from "renewable" sources, and they said the increase in rates would be "only" 8 to 20% (!), now they have looked at it again and the cost will be more along the lines of 30+ percent. Hold on everyone, we are in for a wild ride.
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Those kinds of "solutions" are, of course, not solutions. We're just trading one problem for another, and everyone knows it. It's politick to "go green" right now so everyone is trying to be the green politician or the green community, but the reality is that with our current energy consumption and methods of making energy, it's always going to be either too polluting, too inefficient or too costly.

Some brainiac will come up with some fusion breakthrough, or some solar breakthrough, or some something breakthrough, and we'll all be green and happy and we'll have saved the planet and blah blah blah.

 
Love the Lincoln farmers market. The beer bread and cheap fresh herbs are the best thing about it!

 
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