XPost: sci.space.policy, sci.physics, sci.electronics.design   
   From: gossg@gossg.org   
      
   "Greg \(Strider\) Moore"  wrote:   
      
   >>New technologies will not make aluminum or plastic cheaper.   
   >   
   >So what? They don't need to be cheaper. People literally buy millions of   
   >items made out of aluminum and plastic every day and throw them out, the   
   >material is so cheap.   
      
   The amount of aluminum in a soda can has decreased dramatically over   
   time.  I remember seeing an article on can engineering in SciAm twenty   
   or so years ago.  It's probably halfed again since then.   
      
   Cars once had frames under the body.  Now, carefully shaped bodies   
   serve the purpose that once required a frame.   
      
   New technologies can dramatically reduce the amount of aluminum or   
   plastic that you require to do something.   
      
   You can overdo it.  My mother believed in bulk purchasing and in   
   having suitable treats on hand when the grandkids arrived.  When   
   preparing the estate, we discovered a five foot stack of soda in one   
   of the closets.  One flat (24 cans) of Costco "Simply" cola had   
   pinhole-ruptured almost all of the cans, but had leaked slowly enough   
   that nothing sprayed and nothing escaped the cardboard flat that the   
   cans were sitting on.  The white carpet under the dark brown leaks was   
   untouched.  All of the plastic two-litre bottles had lost their   
   pressurization - the CO2 having presumably leaked past the caps in the   
   time since purchase.  (She was in various forms of care for about a   
   year before the end, and we held the house off the market for another   
   five months for price-cycle reasons.  I don't know how long the soda   
   was there before she went into care.)   
      
   --   
   We are geeks.  Resistance is voltage over current.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)