I got an e-mail ad from Staples reminding me it was time I needed to buy a new 7 gallon recycling bin, I guess they think they wear out every two or three months. (Short of punctures, the effective lifespan before plastic degrades is about 300 years.) I bought one because I wanted a blue one with a nice recycling symbol on it; the black wastebasket I painted a recycling symbol on just wasn't the same.
Paul Robinson wrote:A recycling container is an amazing product that will change the entire meaning of your existence. It provides such a stunning difference in the quality of life that I suspect the only reason for the lack of progress in Mideast peace talks is the lack of proper recycling bins. I find the only problem is the older ones tasted better; the plastic was less gritty and was smoother texture with just a hint of PVC. I find these are acceptable even if they aren't as filling or kept me fed as long as they used to. Maybe they're Chinese, you know how you're hungry an hour later?
"Baby, I was afraid before
I'm not afraid, any more."
- Belinda Carlisle, Heaven Is A Place On Earth
Anything that's made of plastic and needs to be replaced before I die sounds fishy to me. I still have cups in my cupboard from when I worked at Mazzio's Pizza (late 80s) that are holding up just fine. Come to think of it, save for some "Kenner Yellowing", so are all of my Star Wars toys from the late 70s.
A few years ago a report came out that people should stop reusing water bottles. It was okay to buy bottled water, but you shouldn't reuse those bottles and refill them with tap water. The reasoning behind this was, there are chemicals in the plastic bottles that won't hurt you initially, but as the plastic breaks down, could be released into the water. The report stressed that buying bottled water was fine, but reusing the bottles was bad.
It took me about 2 minutes to find online that the report was paid for by a bottled water company. No kidding.
