News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by lettergram on Friday November 04, 2022 @11:43PM (#33477695)
I’ve just installed a reverse osmosis system and full-house filter after discovering fairly high levels PFAs, Bromodichloromethane, and chloroform in my water after a test. I didn’t realize moving here how bad it was, but the testing company said it probably wasn’t safe to bathe in lol.

All these chemicals leech into the water from various factories and farms. I imagine dumps have a similar issue. In terms of the environment I’m far FAR more concerned about this than climate change. It’s an imminent risk.

I personally switched to glass containers for storage of food and water. I also use cast iron for my food, non-stick has a lot of chemicals.

It’s slightly less convenient, but easy enough. I also get satisfaction from the cast iron and regularly bake steak and what not.

Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by rgrieselhuber on Friday November 04, 2022 @11:48PM (#33477724)
The only problem I’ve heard about reverse osmosis is you end up lacking in trace minerals. It sounds like straight filtration is the way to go and you can also buy special filters to greatly reduce other industrial waste such as fluoride.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by pfdietz on Friday November 04, 2022 @11:52PM (#33477746)
I find the trace minerals claim dubious. Trace minerals are easily obtained from diet; the drinking water shouldn't make any difference.

I have heard of a case of a well drilled through unfortunate mineralization and yielding water with so much arsenic the home's residents developed symptoms.

Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by lettergram on Saturday November 05, 2022 @12:08AM (#33477847)
Yeah, I don’t really see much support that it’s an issue. The trace minerals likely have very little impact and if you eat food you’ll have plenty.

You can also get drops to add minerals, add a very tiny pinch of Himalayan salt, add a remineralizing filter, etc

Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by jazzyjackson on Friday November 04, 2022 @11:55PM (#33477768)
There's also the water waste factor, you send a few gallons down the drain for every gallon dispensed.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by emodendroket on Saturday November 05, 2022 @12:10AM (#33477862)
That is definitely true... on the other hand, if you were thinking of buying bottled water that is worse.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by Dylan16807 on Saturday November 05, 2022 @12:05AM (#33477833)
Wow, I would have expected the opposite ratio.

But you can use that water if you set your system up for it.

Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by lettergram on Saturday November 05, 2022 @12:07AM (#33477840)
Where I live there is no shortage of water. Opposite problems really…

That said, if you drink 10 gallons a week, you’re talking 10-30 gallons of waste water depending on the system (mine is 1.5 waste for every 1 gallon). The average bath is 35-50 gallons. It doesn’t seem like a huge impact.

Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by gnopgnip on Saturday November 05, 2022 @03:23AM (#33478817)
Many reverse osmosis systems sold at home improvement stores include an optional filter that replenishes trace minerals to correct taste
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by ravenstine on Saturday November 05, 2022 @10:01AM (#33481558)
I challenge you to find sound scientific evidence that drinking mineral free water is harmful to human health. Not opinions, but actual studies. They don't exist, by the way, but feel free to confirm it yourself.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by zamfi on Friday November 04, 2022 @11:55PM (#33477765)
> discovering fairly high levels PFAs, Bromodichloromethane, and chloroform in my water after a test

Out of curiosity, how did you have these tested?

Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by lettergram on Saturday November 05, 2022 @12:14AM (#33477897)
There are lots of companies that’ll test water for you. I picked two, one test was on Amazon (was like $300 for all the trace chemicals). Then I selected another test I found online. Both came to the same basic conclusion so I trusted the results.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by pixl97 on Saturday November 05, 2022 @12:51PM (#33483184)
Hmm, some group needs to come together to crowdfund a series of tests by these companies versus a laboratory test to ensure we don't have a 'Everybody hosts on AWS' problem where all these tests actually go back to one or two labs across the entire nation.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by lettergram on Saturday November 05, 2022 @01:49PM (#33483775)
The way it works is that the NSF (and other groups) certifies labs then you can go to them. Mine had the results of two different labs. I’m sure they could be cheating in some way, but seemed legit enough
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by emodendroket on Saturday November 05, 2022 @12:09AM (#33477854)
It's at the point where it's in the rainwater.
Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by ravenstine on Saturday November 05, 2022 @09:59AM (#33481544)
Cast iron is pretty awesome, and they're plenty "non stick" if you use plenty of butter. The argument for coated pans kinda goes out the window if you're not trying to cut out fat, other than that cast iron is heavy.

I also love keeping glass jars. I use them to drink out of, containing food, distilling, etc. They're way tougher than actual drinking glasses too. Eventually I might toss some in recycling if I've got too many, but I don't buy all that much canned food in the first place so it kinda works out.

In terms of water, I still need to get an RO filter, but in the meantime I've been using a regular water filter and also distilling my own water. Don't believe the hype around distilled water being bad for you, because it's not. RO water is pretty close to distilled anyway, but nobody handwaves about it eating your bones or other such nonsense.

Re:60% of home compostable plastic doesn’t fully break down,... by za3faran on Saturday November 05, 2022 @04:13PM (#33485170)
Yep, cast iron is great. For something lighter weight, there's also carbon steel. Both of these need some amount of simple maintenance, but they last generations when taken care of properly.