u/lolitaslolly

Hi there, I am a Mod here and I just wanted to share some of my thoughts recently. I am someone with lots of opinions and thoughts on plastic use. Often my comments get downvoted on this sub, which I am only mentioning to demonstrate that my views are not representative of the majority of users here. I believe this is beneficial as it makes our mod team a bit more varied and diverse. I always moderate fairly and am only concerned with the rules we require everyone to follow. Some have said I am too heavy-handed on moderating folks violating rule #4, which disallows self-promotion, especially when it is disingenuous. Today I am arguing that “Plastic Free Living,” as a philosophy, does not align with any marketing of online shopping sites, which is why I prefer to moderate these posters strongly.

Our subreddit represents more than a collection of product offerings. In fact, the assumption that plastic-free living is primarily a shopping problem is exactly why we don’t want an endless stream of shopping links here.
There is something deeply backwards about responding to a culture of disposable consumption by creating yet another culture of consumption—just with different products.

Plastic-free living requires changing habits associated with modern consumerism, not simply recreating every modern convenience in a different material and providing an affiliate link for it.

Take something as mundane as coffee. For centuries, people managed to make coffee without plastic coffee makers, plastic pods, plastic accessories, or a curated storefront of “plastic-free coffee essentials.” You can put coffee and water in a pot and boil it over a fire. The point isn’t that everyone should literally start making cowboy coffee. The point is that we already knew how to live without most of this stuff.

We have forgotten that not buying something is an option.
And there’s another disconnect here: not everyone interested in plastic-free living is participating for the same reason. Some care about waste. Some care about microplastics and potential chemical exposure. Some want to reduce their dependence on disposable goods. Some are simply exhausted by a culture in which the proposed solution to every problem is to buy another product.
Those people do not necessarily need another shopping aggregator.

Plastic-free living should be a philosophy before it is a marketplace: use less, reuse what already exists, repair things, rediscover older methods, simplify systems, and question whether a product needs to exist in the first place.

If the answer to plastic pollution is just “shop more, but shop plastic-free,” then we haven’t actually challenged the culture that created the problem. We’ve just rebranded it.
That philosophy does not represent what we want this subreddit to become. This community is about far more than shopping.

I’ve been hearing a lot about this new machine lately, particularly on a post where someone was incessantly complaining about it’s plastic dispersion block, despite newer modern machines by Decent having the same plastic materials in their dispersion blocks. The PPS material used is a modern thermoplastic. I think this is intriguing for brewing tea with because typically, you don’t want to brew tea with metals other than silver or gold. Perhaps a silver dispersion block and basket could be made, albeit that would be extremely expensive. PPS seems to be a pretty good alternative. PPS has excellent heat resistance, chemical resistance, and it’s lead-free.

Although I think teapresso and cannabis infusions should probably have their own dedicated machine, I would be interested in knowing if the DE1 or ES1 even retain odors with this new material. ES1 just checks so many boxes for me: PID down into tea temperatures, Pressure control down around 1-3 bar, Ability to program flow/pressure profiles
Those are honestly ideal for experimenting with new infusions such as teapresso cannabis infusions

I run a subreddit over at r/dopeio and want to see people with this machine share their success with cannabis infusions.

One question I had for ES1 owners is how do the flow control features compare to other machines like the DE1? Do they accurately control the shot or are the features only mild? Right now the only machines I’m considering are manual levers, spring levers, the DE1, or ES1.

Another question I have for owners of the Fellow Series 1 or the Decent DE1 with PPS Dispersion Blocks, do these machines retain odors or flavors after brewing?

A few months ago I read some comments about alternatives to pine sol that include real pine oil. Unfortunately I cannot remember or find it saved on my phone anywhere. I’m moving into a new apartment soon and I would love for it to smell squeaky clean and like pine! Any help would be appreciated. Yes I know it’s toxic to cats

Just read a fascinating article about researchers in Brazil using *moringa seed extract* to remove microplastics from drinking water — and apparently it performed similarly to aluminum sulfate used in treatment plants, sometimes even better in alkaline water.

Has anyone here actually tried making moringa seed extract for water clarification or microplastic removal? How exactly do you prepare it, dose it, and filter afterward? Curious if anyone has practical experience beyond the lab studies.

Hi! I’m looking for a two-screen handheld to play Animal Crossing Wild World and Nintendogs. I really don’t like the stylus on the ambernic RG DS. Does anyone make a nicer or refurbished model?

Just read a fascinating article about researchers in Brazil using moringa seed extract to remove microplastics from drinking water — and apparently it performed similarly to aluminum sulfate used in treatment plants, sometimes even better in alkaline water.

Has anyone here actually tried making moringa seed extract for water clarification or microplastic removal? How exactly do you prepare it, dose it, and filter afterward? Curious if anyone has practical experience beyond the lab studies.

https://m.slashdot.org/story/454600

A Nature Climate Change study found that airborne microplastics and nanoplastics can contribute to atmospheric warming, according to accounts of the research by

Researchers at Fudan University in China led the study, which treated tiny plastic fragments in the air as climate-relevant particles.

This is even more of a reason to be concerned about using and buying plastic