this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2025
600 points (99.0% liked)
Science Memes
16827 readers
5146 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The straw thing seems like such an inconsequential place to start over things like switching to bar soap and bar shampoo to avoid using so many plastic bottles.
All you need to do is walk on the side of a busy road and look in the ditch to see what people just throw away.
It's not a lot of shampoo bottles, but tons of plastic cups and accompanied straws.
Anecdotes aren't a great way to measure this. Observations like this are variable by location, and ignores the much larger mass in landfills or unrecycled stockpiles.
And observations of landfills or unrecycled stockpiles doesn't vary by location?
The idea was to try and remove plastic waste that people tend to just throw away without thinking much of it. Lab students don't exactly take pipets with them and throw away in a ditch. But unfortunately, way too many people just throw away single use plastics like straws, cutlery, cups, "paper plates", etc.
I didn't make any such "observations", or even claim that it doesn't vary by location. I'm just pointing out that your approach ignores a lot of much larger plastic masses. It's ok for identifying some obvious opportunities, but I'd hesitate to call it definitive for the purposes of establishing the most impactful strategy.
I'm not sure if people's unmindfulness is responsible for a larger share of waste than indifference, but maybe?
I'm not ignoring anything. But if you want me to cover every single issue and aspect of various types of trash management, it's gonna be a god damn university essay, I don't even think lemmy would allow so many characters in a comment.
Peoples "unmindfulness" is responsible for every single piece of garbage you see around you. When I walk down the road and see a bag of crisps laying around. That's because a person just tossed it. And no. I'm not ignoring corporate waste or pollution, criminal or otherwise. But that isn't the topic right now.
This specific post was making fun of the straw bans vs other single use plastics that are seemingly fine. straws vs pipets used in labs. And what I said was that pipets are not being littered around every corner of the globe. But straws are. That's why movements to ban such implements are ongoing. That's why we have movements to ban single use plastics like straws and cutlery, while a plastic shampoo bottle is still "fair game" since they're not typically just tossed in nature.
That doesn't mean I'm just ignoring everything else. We also didn't talk about how armed robberies are bad. But I can assure you, I'm not ignoring them, they're just not the topic at hand.
Look, all I'm saying is that straws probably aren't the #1 source of discarded plastic, and it seems like focusing on one thing like that results in more performative than substantive change.
Ah yes, the good old, "It's not the #1 problem so why bother doing anything". It's that wonderful kind of attitude that simply doesn't get anything done, ever. Because there's always a bigger problem.
The only ones focusing on one thing like plastic straws, are people like you. The rest of us moved on
Jesus, you presume too much.
Point to where I said not to do anything. My whole point was not to just stop at straws and find more ways to avoid plastic.
Maybe spend less energy on literal strawmen.
I just love how you think I'm presuming too much, only to in the very next sentence assume I think removing plastic straws being the end of the road and final solution.
And since I according to you, presume too much, did you want me to spend less energy on, literally, making straw-men (plural), like, scare-crows? Or did you mean that I should spend less energy on figuratively, straw-manning.
I would assume the latter but you are, literally, formulating the former. Either way. I'm not doing either of those things.
How much shampoo are you going through???
Think of it in scale. It's not just you. It's millions of people. Even if every household only used one bottle over one year that still would be tons of tons of (easily to avoid) waste. And of course it's a lot more than one bottle a year.
Because you can't say the same thing about straws or other single use plastics?
How much plastic is in a bottle of shampoo vs a straw, even averaged by day?
Sounds like that's something you should have the numbers on if you're making the claim.
Yeah that's a reasonable expectation. I'll just start a massive study to see if people use so many straws that it outweighs every other use of plastic in their life. You've totally got me there. Congrats.
Edit: That was sarcasm. The burden of proof that straws are the most impactful discarded plastic is on you, not on my skepticism of it.
bar shampoo gets a no from me, I have a HORRIBLE amount of hair/skin oil (genetic) and if I don't wash my hair for even 1 day it looks like an absolute mess.
good news is that when I'm older I'll have absolutely glorious hair though lol
My hair is also excessively oily, and I wash it daily with bar shampoo.
Get back to me when bar shampoo has medicated variants and doesn't fucking suck.
Yeah, not everyone can do it, but I have no reason to doubt that most can, but we're really getting hung up on a single example here, people.
How about deodorant? How many people use deodorant in a cardboard container instead of plastic?
I use bar shampoo and body wash. Daily, because i sweat a lot (genetics too).
I use bar stuff because i have to shower daily. It prevents so much waste, because i work through soap fast, so at least i am not producing plastic waste.
If you have to wash your hair a lot, thats an argument for bar shampoo, not against.
Nooooooooo please oh no, pleasee, you can't make me use bar soap please noo.
I seriously hate it, maybe saving the planet is not worth it after all /j..= but also those bottles are refillable while straws are not only single use but are thrown away way more often.
You do you. I switched to bar shampoo and I like it so much more!