Going green sucks

[Alpo]

Back when I was a kid, there would be plastic containers. Margarine tubs, Cool whip tubs. Things like that. And they got used and reused. You take that margarine tub and you put leftovers in it and you stick it in the refrigerator. Works great. And you don't have to buy a food storage thing.

 

But then they decided that too many people were throwing these plastic things out. Not throwing them away. Just throwing them out. Tossing them out on the side of the road.

 

And since we don't want the Cool whip tub to be laying there on the side of the road for the next 50 years, we need to make it decompose. Make it be biodegradable. Make it green.

 

This morning I was glancing over at my reload shelf, and I saw this yogurt cup. I know that cup has been sitting there for a couple of years. And I think to myself - self, what have you got in that cup?

 

So I pick it up to see. That is, I attempt to pick it up to see. Because every time I put any sort of pressure on it, so I can hold it to pick it up off the shelf, it broke.

 

 

 

Are all the empty plastic food containers, that we cheap people have been using and reusing and reusing going to do this from now on?

 

I hate green.

[Subdeacon Joe]

I don't think it has anything to do with "green," just the fact that some plastics degrade faster than others.   I was seeing that kind of thing with some plastics 30 years ago and  more. Exposure to light or chemical fumes can often speed the process.  It looks like uncleaned expended brass in the cup, that brass will have all sorts of residue on it,  and that residue will sublimate into the air, especially in the humidity of Florida.  

 

It also looks like the breaks are at a 90° corner,  and sharp angles are stress risers.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I used to use/reuse all those random containers. Problem was usually the unique lids. Same with Tupperware, Rubbermaid and the like. Now I just use deli containers. All use the same lid. Sometimes I get a deli container from a deli and it does not quite match.  ))))

[Alpo]

Sam's used to sell the Stonemill brand potato salad. Came in a 5 pound container. That's the one in the middle. Then they changed the shape of the container and now it only held 4 pounds. But since it was the same brand it did not surprise me too much to find that the lids still fit.

 

But I was quite pleasantly surprised to find out that the Resers 3 pounder uses the same lid size.

 

 

So now I have multiple containers in three different sizes and they all use the same lid. Take THAT! Rubbermaid.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

I cook up a lot of "1 Pot Meals" and freeze them in Becel Margarine tubs 

.They're just enough for the two of us and work great for those days when I'm out or just too tired to make a meat, veg and potato type meal.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

If they get a lot of sunlight, most of these containers will crumble like that. Leave a milk jug out in the sun for a couple months and it will disintegrate when you pick it up. 

[sassnetguy50]

Our local dairy does not use that brittle plastic for yogurt.  The greek yogurt brand gets brittle like that.

 

Screw buckets are great for ammo, they're heavy duty for the weight, clear to see how full and of what without unstacking.

[Blackwater 53393]

I don’t drink coffee, but Schoolmarm does. She’s fond of Folgers and I get the empties.

 

They have two series of containers. One that’s large diameter but with three different heights and another that is not as big around.  The big ones all use the same lid. The big ones stack nicely.

 

I also use the Tide Pod containers. They won’t stack like the coffee tubs, but they’re easy to handle and they all use the same lid. The lids on these lock nicely so that they don’t come off if dropped or turned over.

 

 

 

Edited October 14 by Blackwater 53393

[Rye Miles #13621]

I got a bunch of old plastic butter tubs, coffee cans and my dad’s old cigar boxes. I use them on my reloading bench for various things.

[watab kid]

been using old coffee cans discarded by the place i used to work for about a decade now - plastic so easy to clean and dry for reuse , 

[Alpo]

Couple days ago I was out walking the dog and I saw what appeared to be an office desk chair sitting at the edge of the road with somebody sitting in it.

 

My curiosity piqued, me and idiot child walk down there.

 

There was not anyone sitting in the chair. What there was was about grocery bags all stuffed with coffee cans. Folgers I believe.

 

And I thought, okay, and then I walked back home.

 

Yesterday as we're walking down the road I see the chair again and I think, damn. I should have got them cans and brought them to the house. They would have been very handy for storing brass and such as that.

 

And when we get down to the chair I see it is empty. Somebody else thought they would be very handy.

[bgavin]

We shifted from plastics and chemicals to glass storage containers.
I use Costo Kirkland 3# coffee cans for storage... and also a ton of Harbor Freight 50 cal ammo boxes when on sale.

 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

On 10/14/2024 at 8:25 AM, Alpo said:

Back when I was a kid, there would be plastic containers. Margarine tubs, Cool whip tubs. Things like that. And they got used and reused. You take that margarine tub and you put leftovers in it and you stick it in the refrigerator. Works great. And you don't have to buy a food storage thing.

 

But then they decided that too many people were throwing these plastic things out. Not throwing them away. Just throwing them out. Tossing them out on the side of the road.

 

And since we don't want the Cool whip tub to be laying there on the side of the road for the next 50 years, we need to make it decompose. Make it be biodegradable. Make it green.

 

This morning I was glancing over at my reload shelf, and I saw this yogurt cup. I know that cup has been sitting there for a couple of years. And I think to myself - self, what have you got in that cup?

 

So I pick it up to see. That is, I attempt to pick it up to see. Because every time I put any sort of pressure on it, so I can hold it to pick it up off the shelf, it broke.

 

 

 

Are all the empty plastic food containers, that we cheap people have been using and reusing and reusing going to do this from now on?

 

I hate green.

Don’t really think that is a product of the “green” world we currently live in. I have always liked yogurt and when I was much younger back in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s used the empty containers to start my peppers and tomatoes. I can remember most brands of yogurt packaging would disintegrate like that. Some plastics aren’t intended to last very long. 
Regards

    

Gateway Kid

[watab kid]

i almost always look at every container i ever handle with the eye of repurposing , i think its been a form of going green before that was a buzz word , remember , its just a buzz word , recycling/repurposing has always been part of my life , there are jars [mason jars] in my garage today with screws and nuts and bolts that date back to the 60s , its amazing how often they come in handy but they do take up space , i have scraps of wood , steel , aluminum , all of it will get a new job one day soon , 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

After my vasectomy I was told to bring in a specimen. The suggested container was a baby food jar.

[Rye Miles #13621]

My parents were married in 1937, they lived through the depression and never forgot it. I’m in my parents house (since 1996) and I can’t count all the things they used to store stuff  , cans, bottles, coffee cans, cigar boxes etc etc.

That generation was the real “Green” generation!

Edited October 16 by Rye Miles #13621

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

1 hour ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

My parents were married in 1937, they lived through the depression and never forgot it. I’m in my parents house (since 1996) and I can’t count all the things they used to store stuff  , cans, bottles, coffee cans, cigar boxes etc etc.

That generation was the real “Green” generation!

Jar lids nailed to joists.

[Rye Miles #13621]

22 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Jar lids nailed to joists.

My dad didn’t do that but I’ve seen that before, kinda brilliant!😎