[whazor]

In a podcast I heard that The Vegetarian Butcher initially had experimental biological degradable packaging, but after buying hundreds of thousands they all went bad, and had to be thrown out. Now they use plastic packaging and they only try to solve one problem at a time.

[stavros]

This sounds weird to me, it was a surprise to them that biodegradable packaging biodegraded?

[wongarsu]

The general assumption is that biodegradable materials biodegrade under conditions different from regular use and storage, or over long timeframes. The timber in your house is biodegradable, but if you keep it dry it will last a century or so. Packaging that biodegrades in regular storage isn't nessesarily bad, but surprising

[stavros]

Ah, it was a storage issue? That's interesting, thank you.

[cduzz]

Didn't our ancestors just use paper for such things? Or cloth?

I guess lots of them died of dentistry before getting to oregon, but still.

[enobrev]

Killer cavities or misspelling of "dysentery"?

[dfxm12]

Knowing that the dentists of the early-mid 19th century were mostly trained as barbers, probably both.

[AstralStorm]

Waxed paper, usually. It is not nearly close to biodegradable. It requires specific yeasts yo be present in the soil or the paper will remain for a very long time. Also waxed fabrics and glass or ceramic jars.

[openplatypus]

Dysentery?