| I ordered an instant pot on Amazon on March 30th, 2019. I received it Sunday, March 31st, 2019 and upon receiving it I discovered it can make yogurt. It made me very excited to learn that it could automate the yogurt-making process because I've eaten one serving of yogurt every day (except when traveling) since mid-2003 so I bought 14 glass mason jars and made my first batch on Sunday, April 7th, 2019. Since then I have made a two-week batch of yogurt every other Sunday, except when traveling. That means that those 14 jars have been used once every two weeks for 213 weeks, which means each one has been reused 107 times. It is extremely rare for me to drop and break something and the jars do not seem to be degrading (I have replaced several lids-- made of steel) so I by my calculation I would estimate that they can be reused at least an infinite number of times. If I had purchased yogurt in single serving containers that would mean I have saved 1,493 single-serving plastic containers from being placed into the waste stream. But I bought yogurt in 5-serving containers so that means I have saved 299 plastic containers from being placed into the waste stream. When I started, I sourced milk in paper cartons and wasn't too concerned about the thin polyethylene film lining within the cartons but since then I have gone anti-plastic global thermonuclear war and get my milk from a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) organization and it comes in 1/2 gallon glass jars, which are turned in, washed, and reused. It seems unlikely that 14 glass mason jars have a larger environmental impact that 1,493 single-serving plastic yogurt cups or 299 multi-serving plastic yogurt containers, and even if they do I don't know if that will hold true over the next 50 years as I intend to continue reusing the 14 glass mason jars until I, or they, die. I think that instead of favoring plastic for single-use items due to energy concerns the standardization, effective capture, and reuse of glass items should be incentivized. I know it's "really hard" but I'm a lazy piece of shit and I'm doing it... |