507
Sad but true (sh.itjust.works)
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] sxan@midwest.social 82 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I'm surprised the youth of Lemmy hasn't picked up more on the "liquid soap is bad for the environment" thing. I got berated at length by my Millennial SIL (me, GenX) for using liquid soap, and because this was family, I actually did a deep dive into the subject so I could win the argument and put her in her fucking place, and it turns out she was right.

Why did I have to learn this in meatspace, and not on the internet from random kids? Things ain't right, I tell you, when my extended family knows and/or cares more about an environmental topic than left-leaning Lemmy.

[-] TheBat@lemmy.world 80 points 7 months ago

Thanks for telling us why it's bad for the environment

[-] Ferris@infosec.pub 45 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

they add preservatives because there is water

the shipping costs are higher

it's just all-around modern wasteful

[-] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 31 points 7 months ago

Uses plastic bottles when bar soap does not.

[-] excitingburp@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

Btw plastic bottles are also bad for you. BPA was the worst endocrine suppressor of them all but, make no mistake, all plastics are endocrine suppressors. BPA just wound up being the scapegoat. Microplastics in our blood aside, whatever you put into plastic will end up being a vehicle for toxins. While eating/drinking from plastic is really bad, one doesn't usually appreciate the surface area of our skin.

Plastic is only safe for surfaces that we rarely interact with.

[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

It’d probably be better if people refilled, but the plastic goes into the waste stream, so that’s definitely not good. (I’m skeptical of how much gets recycled, even if you do the right thing and put it in the recycling bin)

[-] CleoTheWizard@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

In my dreams of bettering consumerism, I often think a lot about refills. We waste so so so so so much money on packaging and it’s all waste. You could get one plastic cereal box and refill it 100x at Walmart with a dispenser. What blows my mind is that you can do all of this with exchange programs. We already do this with the big plastic water jugs. We used to do it with glass milk bottles. It’s insanity to keep buying shampoo that comes in the same bottle but get extra trash with it every time.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Moghul@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Less efficient in terms of transportation - you're shipping a whole bunch of water that doesn't add to the cleaning, which takes up more space, so less soap is being carried, etc.

Plastic packaging vs paper packaging for some solid soaps.

Some shower gels have microplastics for added abrasion, but so do some soaps tbf. Still, less good at cleaning because solid soaps involve more scrubbing.

Often can't get everything out of the bottle. Some bottles don't allow you to take the cap off and fill them with water to fully empty them.

[-] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago

Some shower gels have microplastics for added abrasion, but so do some soaps tbf. Still, less good at cleaning because solid soaps involve more scrubbing.

Congress passed a law banning these in 2015. That's not to say micro plastics aren't still present in some, or that they didn't find loopholes, but the plastic beads in body wash issue was actually being addressed.

[-] Moghul@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

I don't live in america but good to know 👍

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Which do you think takes more energy to ship: One pouch of Kool Aid powder or a gallon of pre-made Kool Aid?

[-] dumpsterlid@lemmy.world 31 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Why did I have to learn this in meatspace, and not on the internet from random kids? Things ain’t right, I tell you, when my extended family knows and/or cares more about an environmental topic than left-leaning Lemmy.

Because everything is on fire and while using less soap and laundry detergent bottles is certainly a good goal to aim for, it is rearranging deck chairs on the titanic and worse it is rearranging deck chairs according to the directions of a captain who is trying to distract everyone from dealing with the fact that the ship is sinking.

Recycling by and large doesn’t work but corporations really don’t care because recycling is a great way to sell consumers the experience of being environmental when consuming and it provides way to shift blame and get people focused on recycling rather than the actions of big corporations.

As recycling implodes as a cultural ritual of “doing your part” to save the environment there has been a rise in advertisements from companies selling smaller detergent and soap bottles and I think they are trying to fulfill the same emotional need and story .

Which isn’t to say these soap bottles aren’t a good thing, but if the left leaning people you interact with aren’t focused on this… I don’t think that is indicative of anything but the high number of existential environmental problems we face and the general refusal of neoliberal and rightwing governments to tackle them.

[-] VinnyDaCat@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

Basically this.

Going green is good, but the reality is it's out of the control of the average individual. Corporations sold us the blame, made us feel like we could do something so they could pass it off as our responsibility.

Even if every single low to middle income family took charge and did everything they could at their own inconvenience, the progress would still be far less in comparison to what the wealthy could achieve. Sadly, we barely ever think about this and even modern climate activists like that young Swedish girl have come to perpetuate the lie that the wealthy have sold us.

[-] uid0gid0@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

Not all recycling is useless. Aluminium and glass are two things that benefit greatly from recycling. Recycling aluminum takes 95% less energy than smelting it from ore, simply because it's such a complex process. And recycling glass is just a matter of re-melting it.

[-] dumpsterlid@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Not debating that certain types of recycling work, but if we don't disconnect the word "recycling" from "wholesome and good!" we are going to keep hallucinating that we are in a far different problem than we are. so I am hesitant to start immediately listing all the types of recycling that do work when having a conversation about how recycling doesn't work because that just reframes the conversation under terms of a status quo "recycling just needs to be reformed to work for more things!" fashion in the same way that "clean coal" is a purposeful dead end taken to postpone an upheaval of the status quo.

[-] Ferrous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 7 months ago

It all comes down to the same basic premise: we aren't going to consume our way out of the climate catastrophe. I don't blame people for thinking this, though. If you've lived your whole life under an economy and social order who's keystone and ultimate guiding force is consumption, it's easy to see consumption as your only recourse. Something something, if all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like nails. Our only option is to completely dismantle the systems that catalyzed the climate crisis: embracing anti-capitalism, crushing special interests, and ultimately empowering working class people.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] sxan@midwest.social 5 points 7 months ago

I didn't mention recycling, but then, I didn't mention much about the topic.

It's not recycling that's the issue. It's the fact that millions of people are paying to move mostly water around, which has - in aggregate - a huge impact in terms of fuel consumption. Each bottle of hand soap is not expensive to transport, and cleans far less, than a single bar of solid soap. And this isn't the only environmental impact; recycling or no, bar soap requires far less packaging, and that packaging is often renewable resources that are bio-degradable, whereas liquid soap nearly uniformly requires quite a lot of plastic packaging.

These weren't the only points in ecological favor of bar soap; I didn't memorize the list, but the arguments were substantial, unequivocal, and not debatable. And easily discoverable online.

[-] Tinks@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

My question is, why are concentrated soaps not bigger for human use like they are for animals? The shampoo and conditioner to wash my dog comes in a gallon jug and dilutes 50:1. That gallon jug lasts me years, and I'm bathing a golden retriever that has a lot of hair. If shampoo came by default in a gallon jug we just had to mix once or twice a month with water in a separate bottle we would save so much plastic, so much cost, and so much transportation weight!

And concentrated products for pets are more common than diluted ones. So clearly we know how to do this, why don't we do it for human stuff too by default?

[-] in4aPenny@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

For animals things are done practically. For humans things are done profitably.

[-] sxan@midwest.social 4 points 7 months ago

I think the pet industry rivals human products for profit; not so much for livestock, but for pets it's still profit-driven.

[-] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 8 points 7 months ago

We've switched to solid shampoo


only drawback is it can be harder to tell which is shampoo and which is conditioner, because there's no single-use plastic telling me which is which.

load more comments (11 replies)
[-] Aurix@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

I humbly ask for deletion of this information, so it stays off Lemmy! Bar soap is more "dense", as you don't need that much water for it which reduces required water in production, weight in shipping and less packaging. Bar soap is generally a bit more aggressive towards the skin however with higher pH.

[-] sxan@midwest.social 9 points 7 months ago

"Random Lemmy post starts movement crippling liquid soap market! News at 11.”

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 43 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

At 25 I lived in a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with 13 people in a beach town and chuckled to myself about how people waste so much money on having a house all to their own when they could be having so much fun, surrounded by friends every day. Sorry 25 year old me... I enjoy quiet, peeing indoors and not fighting over power usage and who left their dishes laying around.

[-] Sixth0795@sh.itjust.works 16 points 7 months ago

If you are into peeing a lot of free content

[-] ComradePorkRoll@lemmy.world 33 points 7 months ago

I stopped using soap at 13 and I'm a trillionaire.

[-] idunnololz@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

Trickle some of that down please

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] bitchkat@lemmy.world 27 points 7 months ago

I own a house, car, etc and I still make sure that I get every last drop of shampoo out of the bottle. Not saying that is how you save enough for down payment but just that they aren't mutually exclusive.

[-] Funkytom467@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

The only thing that it indicates is that you're not wasteful.

But i'm thinking if you cry about it, the meaning is pretty clear.

[-] SoleInvictus@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

I'm even designing a 3D printed jig so I can securely connect any two bottles and let gravity do the work overnight.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago

What exactly is that poorly drawn mouse-like creature actually doing, and why?

[-] Astongt615@lemmy.one 47 points 7 months ago

Watering down the remaining 7-in-1 shower product because they can't afford to replenish supplies because the price of everything is too damn high.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] Anyolduser@lemmynsfw.com 13 points 7 months ago

Running a small amount of water into a nearly empty bottle of shampoo (or body wash, etc.) allows you to get the last little bit out of the bottle. It's basically an austerity measure, a sign that a person is stretching every dollar.

[-] XEAL@lemm.ee 10 points 7 months ago

That's Jerry from Tom and Jerry

Specifically, from this scene

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago

Why would you become a cartoon mouse at 25?

[-] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 9 points 7 months ago

My friend, Target has a knockoff Dove body wash for $2. Tell them to go fuck themselves.

[-] suction@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

Oh yes the American way of throwing away that last 2-3% of soap to feel rich

[-] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

I just can't figure out why top opening or pump based soaps can't just have a bottom opening spout instead. simple design issue resolves waste, good for everyone involved.

[-] doingthestuff@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

Flip the bottle upside down in the shower caddy.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (11 replies)
[-] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

My favorite was that time I was making enough to afford the payments on a mortgage but they wouldn't give me a mortgage because my credit score wasn't good enough and they were worried I couldn't make the payments even though I provided the income information that showed I could totally make the payments because fuck me for being young I guess.

So instead I spent years paying way more to rent, preventing me from saving up enough to buy much of anything.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2024
507 points (97.2% liked)

memes

10191 readers
2283 users here now

Community rules

1. Be civilNo trolling, bigotry or other insulting / annoying behaviour

2. No politicsThis is non-politics community. For political memes please go to !politicalmemes@lemmy.world

3. No recent repostsCheck for reposts when posting a meme, you can only repost after 1 month

4. No botsNo bots without the express approval of the mods or the admins

5. No Spam/AdsNo advertisements or spam. This is an instance rule and the only way to live.

Sister communities

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS