Company Invents Recyclable Paper Bottle

Dave, do you not realise that plastic comes from oil? There are other ways to produce it, of course, even some that degrade much more quickly. In a straight contest between the paper bottle and its plastic cousin, surely the paper one wins hands down? Even when not recycled it will at least degrade over tens, rather than millions, of years.

I had a thought the other day that relates here, so maybe someone can answer it. In a situation like this, is biodegradability actually a good thing? Of course reuse is best and recycling second, but assuming something will be discarded: if biodegradable, isn’t most of that carbon ultimately respired by microbes as carbon dioxide? And wouldn’t the plastic sit in a landfill quite nicely sequestered? Maybe I’m thinking about this backward, and if so I hope someone will straighten me out.

To comment on David’s post, that makes sense, but I think the probem is that plastic can be recycled, but people are not recycling it. Even if they don’t recycle the paper ones it will at least biodegrade. Plus, the paper ones could be made from recycled paper.

Though it woud be nice if they found something inbetween plastic and paper.

I’m afraid that instead of throwing away plastic bottles so many will then toss away paper ones. Would the forests destroyed be substantial if the switch was made or is it on a small enough scale that this can be sustainable?

At present I’m not advocating either side — each have pros and cons. Plastic is that it is durable, reusable, and doesn’t require tree cutting. The paper pros are simply that it lacks the cons of plastic (degrades over a shorter time, possibly easier to recycle in an office setting) but doesn’t have the pros of plastic.

What kind of wood is the paper made from?

But if we get rid of plastic bottles, what will Patagonia make their polyfill out of?

Of course I am only kidding. Plastic bottles are the scourge of modernity.