Sheldon wrote:
> Jude wrote:
> >
> > Anyway, this does not answer the original question. Why is foil worse
> > for the environment than a petrolium-based plastic product?
>
> Actually aluminum foil is more a petroleum based product than plastic
> wrap. Aluminum doesn't just grow on trees... requires a lot of energy
> to make aluminun, from mining bauxite, to smelting, to milling the
> finished product, a lot of fossil fuel is consumed. But aluminum
> really doesn't pollute, it's very biodegradable...and aluminum is one
> of the most common elements on the planet anyway, just doesn't
> naturally occur in it's shiny metalic state.

So, where do you stand on which is better?

I was going with foil for the reasons you stated - it's a common
element and it's biodegradable. Wasn't thinking about fossil fuels,
etc. And of course mining is another issue altogether - I hearda lot
of anti-mining arguments when I lived near the abandoned / depleted
strip mines in Madrid, NM.

So in my head this led to foil being a better choice.

But I know very little about how the thin film of plastic is made. I
know more about petrolium-based plastics in tupperware, food packaging,
etc, but I'm not sure what's doe differently to make it thin and
pliable. I would guess it probably is more chemical manipulation. I've
overall always tried to choose non-plastic options. My outdoor
furniture is wrought iron, no plastic deck chairs. I carry a metal
spoon and fork in my lunchbox and wash them daily. My daughter had a
number of wooden and metal toys from my childhood and from handmade ty
makers, not all the modern plastic junk. Like that. (The bad exception
- grocery store bags. i hate those things, but my local stores don't
even OFFER paper anymore, and if I ask for itm, they have to go lookig
for them half the time.)

I used to be better about the little things, like always having a piece
of tupperware in my purse if I went out, so i wouldn't need to take a
box for leftovers.

Ofcourse, I could start a whole NEW issue here about overpackging. how
much better is it that I make a sandwich and wrap it n foil rather than
buy my daughter a Lunchable, with the cardboard box, plastic tray,
plastic covering, and individually packaged items inside? Or that I buy
a bag of chips,. put a handful into a ziploc baggie, wash the baggie
and reuse it until it gets torn, instead of buying mutli-packs of small
lunchbox sized bags of chips.

But I digress.