You can't freeze anything in glass - it will shatter in the freezer so please don't try it! I think this whole thing about plastic is somewhat overblown, every substitution will have it's own sustainability problem, including wood and paper. What would be best is to invent a plastic that could be recyclable, capable of being burnt or properly biodegradable. We cannot live without it, it's far too useful and embedded into our lives. As for electric vehicles, we will not have enough capacity without huge investment in electricity production and will have a huge problem with what to do with old batteries.
The reason glass shatters in the freezer is if the contents expand beyond the containers capacity. If you allow enough room for expansion then it won’t break the glass.
It can be a bit hit and miss tho’. 😨
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I think this whole thing about plastic is somewhat overblown, every substitution will have it's own sustainability problem, including wood and paper. What would be best is to invent a plastic that could be recyclable, capable of being burnt or properly biodegradable. We cannot live without it, it's far too useful and embedded into our lives.
We are going to have to live without it if we are going to meet our (legally binding) carbon targets. Plastic is made from fossil fuels. If we had to pay the true cost of it, then we would suddenly find ways to avoid using it. It's money that is the barrier, not practicality - we existed for millennia without it, we don't NEED it, it's cheap and convenient. As consumers, it's hard to avoid at the moment, but if Governments adopt a 'polluter pays' stance, as they keep saying they will, alternatives will be found by suppliers who don't want their milk in plastic bottles to cost more than milk in cardboard cartons or glass bottles. And if the transport weight of products is increased and the shelf life is decreased by alternative packaging, then supermarkets will have to adapt to so food is moved shorter distances and kept for shorter times. We have the system we have now because we can and it's cheap, not because there's no other way to do it.
As for electric vehicles, we will not have enough capacity without huge investment in electricity production and will have a huge problem with what to do with old batteries.
National Grid and the Committee for Climate Change research all say that the grid will cope well enough. Batteries are a different issue - we need a better technology for those than is currently commercially available. All the major car manufacturers are investing hugely in finding that solution at the moment.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I'm not sure that car batteries will be used in the same way in future. The range/weight issue is a problem - and they've been researching 'induction as you drive' for a while. Given that electricity is the future, then I would wager 10p that the battery cars we see now will be old hat by 2030 - BUT for induction to work, the country has to invest, not just the car manufacturer.
They are also looking at capacitance ('ultracapacitors') as a mechanism and solid state batteries. It's unlikely there will be one answer that solves everything - HGVs will need a different solution to urban areas, rural areas and buses may need another option. There are some fairly bonkers looking (now) options out there. Who knows which of them will 'win'?
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Before HGVs, there were canals but many of them have been filled in. Canals and rail would be a bit slower, but they could manage with smaller lorries travelling shorter distance so electric power would be more practical.
I really believed a few years back that people would stop travelling. But it's all too slow to change. I had various jobs that were in a 50 mile radius of where I lived - but not on main public transport. So hours in a car each day, travelling when I could simply have sat in a managed office locally - or at home. How many commuters really need to travel? Isn't the issue STOPPING the need for transport rather than making moving stuff around more efficient? I don't really want dwarf beans from Kenya and strawberries from polytunnels in Spain or cars from Japan or lamb from New Zealand or... I don't want to drive 50 miles to an office. I don't want apples in summer - but like most other people will buy them if they're there.
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I think this whole thing about plastic is somewhat overblown, every substitution will have it's own sustainability problem, including wood and paper. What would be best is to invent a plastic that could be recyclable, capable of being burnt or properly biodegradable. We cannot live without it, it's far too useful and embedded into our lives.
As for electric vehicles, we will not have enough capacity without huge investment in electricity production and will have a huge problem with what to do with old batteries.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
And if the transport weight of products is increased and the shelf life is decreased by alternative packaging, then supermarkets will have to adapt to so food is moved shorter distances and kept for shorter times. We have the system we have now because we can and it's cheap, not because there's no other way to do it.
National Grid and the Committee for Climate Change research all say that the grid will cope well enough.
Batteries are a different issue - we need a better technology for those than is currently commercially available. All the major car manufacturers are investing hugely in finding that solution at the moment.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”