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by spankalee 2170 days ago
Or sugar that used to come in cardboard boxes for decades now coming in plastic bags. And so many glass jars replaced by plastic.
2 comments

I've only ever seen sugar available in paper sacks, like flour. Except powdered (icing) and brown sugar, which so come in bags, probably because they're a lot more moisture sensitive.

I've always wondered why some products are only available in glass jars, like jam. While some things used to be only in glass jars, but is now commonly plastic bottles (apple sauce, tomato sauce).

Interestingly, in the past couple of years, plastic peanut butter jars seem to have switched to opaque brown plastic, when they used to be clear. Is that because it's difficult to make clear products from recycled plastic?

I fail to see the harm in this. Who or what is harmed by an inert piece of plastic sitting safely in a landfill?

Edit: this isn’t rhetoric, but a legitimate inquiry.

No one, but that plastic could have been better used and as much new plastic wouldn't have to be produced. Earth is experiencing death by a thousand cuts, lets make it a hundred cuts if we can.
If it's about wasting resources (oil) then isn't that already priced into plastics? When oil prices rise higher, these near-frivolous uses of plastics will naturally reduce. Using oil in itself doesn't kill the Earth. It does nothing useful under the ground. You're falling into the common trap anthropomorphizing the Earth and applying human-like feelings to it.
There is a leakage issue with plastic waste, and a bunch ends up in the ocean, in the wild where animals eat it, in the water table and so on.
How does my garbage end up in the ocean?