ODE AL SACCHETTO

ODE AL SACCHETTO

I sacchetti di plastica monouso non costituiscono una cattiva scelta ambientale, anzi, al supermercato sono forse la migliore. I sacchetti di polietilene ad alta densità sono una meraviglia di efficienza economica, ingegneristica e ambientale. Sono economici, convenienti, impermeabili, abbastanza robusti da contenere generi alimentari, ma abbastanza sottili e leggeri per essere prodotti e trasportati utilizzando poca energia, acqua e risorse. Sebbene vengano chiamati monouso, la maggior parte delle persone li riutilizza in mille modi, e quando i governi li vietano, i consumatori acquistano sostituti più spessi con un'impronta di carbonio maggiore.

Banning them provides no benefit other than to let activists lord their preferences over others.

WSJ.COM

Opinion | Plastic Bags Help the Environment

Banning them provides no benefit other than to let activists lord their preferences over others.

PLASTICA

Riccardo Mariani e Jason Brennan hanno condiviso un link.

The campaign against disposable bags and other products is harming the planet and the public.

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CITY-JOURNAL.ORG

The Perverse Panic over Plastic

The campaign against disposable bags and other products is harming the planet and the public.

The campaign against disposable bags and other products is harming the planet and the public.

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  Riccardo Mariani

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  Ma perché i nostri politici vogliono portarci via i sacchetti di plastica e le cannucce? Questa domanda è ancora più sconcertante di quella legata al riciclo dei rifiuti.

  I divieti odierni sono persino meno razionali di quelli passati, e soprattutto avvantaggiano le élite. I prodotti di plastica a buon mercato hanno avvantaggiato soprattutto i poveri e la classe media, il che sembrerebbe renderla particolarmente antipatica a molti.

L'attacco a sacchetti e cannucce è il classico attacco dell'élite alla classe media.

E dove la classe media si unisce alla campagna, è perché vuole sembrare élite.

8 Eating Your Way to a Greener Planet An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies by Tyler Cowen

8 Eating Your Way to a Greener PlanetRead more at location 2484

Note: l uomo più verde del mondo: il fricchettone l innovatore l organizzatore il primitivo Edit

Note: 8@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Edit

Ed Begley, the well-known actor and environmental activist?Read more at location 2486

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Ed tries not to fly at all, but when he must he purchases a $5.95 carbon offset to reverse the carbon impact of his trip. Since 1990 Ed has hooked up his bicycle exercise machine to a battery, which he uses for toasting bread. He also claims he has reduced his weekly waste to a physical size that would fit inside a glove compartment, mostly by eliminating paper from his life. He has a wind turbine attached to his home and he hosts a TV show on living green, called Living with Ed and shown on Planet Green.Read more at location 2486

Note: COME VIVE L UOMO PIÚ VERDE DEL MONDO. ES DI ERDE FRICCHETTONE Edit

Matthias Gelber.Read more at location 2490

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Working out of Malaysia, Matthias promotes the idea of green cement. He claims that traditional forms of cement are responsible for 6 to 7 percent of CO2 emissions and for more than 10 percent of the emissions coming out of China.Read more at location 2490

Note: ALTRO CANDIDATO. VERDE INGEGNOSO Edit

Mike Duke, CEO for Wal-Mart.Read more at location 2493

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Starting in 2005, Wal-Mart found comprehensive energy savings in their trucking, refrigeration, energy, lighting, and other store operations.Read more at location 2494

Note: ALTRO CANDIDATO. VERDI PRO DOMO SUA Edit

All of this was done in the name of corporate profit.Read more at location 2497

Note: PICCOLO PARTICOLARE Edit

Pygmy living in Central Africa.Read more at location 2498

Note: I VERI VINCITORI. VERDI DA ALTRI MONDI Edit

many Pygmies still live as hunters and gatherers. Most Pygmies, at least the ones who have stayed in Pygmy communities, do not own anything beyond what they can carry on their backs.Read more at location 2498

Note: c Edit

Pygmy life expectancy is somewhere between 16 and 24 yearsRead more at location 2501

Note: INCOV Edit

Of these people, who is on the right track?Read more at location 2502

Note: LA DOMANDA Edit

Advice on how to “eat green” or “live green” is plentiful, but too often the comments are marred by broader political agendas,Read more at location 2503

Note: LA POLITICIZZAZIONE DEL CIBO Edit

or a search for “feel good” answers that aren’t actually effective.Read more at location 2505

Note: ALTRA MOTIVAZIONE DISTORTA Edit

bestselling movies on food, such as Super Size Me, Food, Inc., and The Future of Food, they share a common feature: a snarky and somewhat self-righteous approach to the choices that other human beings make in markets, most of all with their food.Read more at location 2505

Note: FILM SUPERSIZE. DISPREZZO DEL PROSSIMO E DELLE SUE SCELTE Edit

Choosing Friends and EnemiesRead more at location 2508

Note: sentirsi giusti ed essere giusti chi pacifica la sua coscienza poi è più rapace esp1: chi compra verde poi è più propenso a imbrogliare la cattiva reputazione della pastica... l errore dell afgiliazione... sacchetto di plastica e di carta di stoffa km0: l impatto ambientale del cibo viene al 90% dalla produzione e al 10 dal trasporto gli extra micro viaggi dei km0... km0: la produzione locale può essere forzata... deve essere conservata ridurre carne rossa boicottare la monsanto: quasi impossibile ogm: 1 quantità 2 meno pesticidi 3 + resistenti inconveniente del boicottaggio: 1 abassa i prezzi attirando nupvi consumatori 2 funziona con i deboli che fondano tutto sulla reputazione xchè falliscono i boicottaggi vs monsanto o nestlè? xchè sono compagnie con una cattiva reputazione boicottaggio sulla produzione: meglio produrre in modo efficiente e investire contro la nestlè finanz. i concorrenti boicottaggio al consumo: meglio un extra sforzo produttivo finanz. le alternative. diminuendo i prezzi delle alternative il boicottaggi sarà più efficiente poichè massimizza il benessere coinvolgendi chi valuta meno il prodotto da boicottare Edit

Note: t Edit

We feel better by constructing alliances with moral individuals or by linking ourselves with apparently moral qualities, but that’s not always the same as being effectiveRead more at location 2511

Note: IL VERDE MORALISTA È IL PIÙ DIFFUSO Edit

beyond the bromidesRead more at location 2513

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given a choice, a lot of people prefer to actually be wasteful than to do something that feels wasteful.Read more at location 2514

Note: SPRECARE DI NASCOSTO A SE STESSI Edit

people hate the feeling of “I could have gotten this for less”Read more at location 2515

Note: FASTIDIO X LO SPRECO Edit

tendency to incur costs to avoid a feeling of regret or inadequacy—Read more at location 2516

Note: LAVARSI LA COSCIENZA Edit

A consumer psychology study conducted by Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong found that consuming “green products” does not make us better people. If anything, buying green products seems to encourage individuals to be less moral.Read more at location 2517

Note: CONSUMARE VERDE CI FA ESSERE PIÙ CATTIVI ALTROVE (COMPENSAZ MORALE) Edit

That is, once they had assuaged their consciences with some green behavior, they became more rapacious and more self-seeking in other contexts.Read more at location 2520

Note: c Edit

Once we’ve done something good, we too often relaxRead more at location 2522

Note: c Edit

people don’t like the idea of buying plasticRead more at location 2531

Note: PLASTICA Edit

Its manufacture requires petroleum products and it is a symbol of excess consumerismRead more at location 2532

Note: c Edit

Yet plastic is often more environmentally friendly than paper or cardboard.Read more at location 2533

Note: TUTRAVIA... Edit

Glass, for your bottles, consumes a lot of energy in its production and transportation. Plastic just sits there and reminds you of the excesses of modern commercial society.Read more at location 2535

Note: PLASTICA VS VETRO Edit

The mistake is to focus too much on the affiliation with the notion of plastic,Read more at location 2537

Note: L ERRORE Edit

Under some plausible estimates it takes four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag than a plastic bag, and it takes 98 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than a pound of paper.Read more at location 2539

Note: CFR BORSE Edit

Still, plastic seems to have a less harmful environmental impact—much less harmful—than does paper.Read more at location 2541

Note: c Edit

don’t switch to paper.Read more at location 2543

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cotton bag has to be reused 171 times before it “breaks even” with the environmental impact of the plastic.Read more at location 2543

Note: STOFFA E PLASTICA Edit

Locavores—those who eat local foods, either mostly or exclusively—are also pursuing a feel-good attitudeRead more at location 2545

Note: LA GANG DEI KM O Edit

The shipping of food is only a small part of its total energy cost,Read more at location 2546

Note: COSTO TRASPORTO Edit

According to Rich Pirog,Read more at location 2547

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11 percentRead more at location 2548

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The most comprehensive study comes out of Carnegie Mellon University and was done by Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews,Read more at location 2549

Note: STUDIO Edit

environmental impact of food comes from its production, not its transportation.Read more at location 2550

Note: PROD NN TRASPORTO Edit

The real culprit here is food that is flown in, as flying is an especially environmentally unfriendly activity.Read more at location 2551

Note: PROBLEMA: TRASPORTO AEREO Edit

In other words, eat turnips rather than asparagus, which is often flown in by plane. Go hardy because the hardy items can be farmed in a lot of different climates and probably they are not flown in. Good root vegetables are kale, carrots, parsnips, and leeks.Read more at location 2552

Note: CONSIGLI Edit

Flowers are also flownRead more at location 2556

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Another solution is to cut back on the meatRead more at location 2557

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The Weber and Matthews Carnegie Mellon study, mentioned above, found that shifting your eating away from red meat, one day a week, does more for the environment than eating all locally sourced foods for all of your meals.Read more at location 2558

Note: UNA BISTECCA IN MENO ALLA SETTIMANA VALE TUTTO IL KMO Edit

Buying from a local farmer can mean that he makes a two-hour extra truck drive,Read more at location 2559

Note: KMO E VIAGGI INEFFICIENTI Edit

The local farmer is also shipping a smaller number of units, and so the per unit energy cost of his supply can be relatively highRead more at location 2560

Note: c Edit

When it comes to protecting the environment, local isn’t always better and very often it is worse.Read more at location 2562

Note: c Edit

What would it mean to live in the American Southwest and eat all of your food locally, given that you are surrounded by a large desert?Read more at location 2563

Note: PARADOSSI. MEGLIO CONSUMARE I PRODOTTI DOVE È PIÙ FACILI FARLI CRESCERE Edit

subsidized water systems.Read more at location 2565

Note: PER COLTIVARE POMODORI NEL DESERTO Edit

The environment is better off if the residents of Albuquerque import most of their food from far away.Read more at location 2565

Note: ALBQUERQUE Edit

Sometimes the local apple is put into refrigerated cold storage for several months, which of course consumes energy. It would be better to buy a fresher apple, sent by boat from further abroad.Read more at location 2567

Note: MEGLIO IL LOCALE IN FRIGO X UN VANNO O IL FRESCO CHE VIAGGIA IN NAVE Edit

April Dávila, a youthful writer from southern California, saw the movie Food, Inc. and decided she would boycott the Monsanto Corporation for an entire month;Read more at location 2569

Note: LA MODA DI BOICOTTARE LA MONSANTO Edit

She read an academic paper showing that GMOs cause some toxic effects in rats;Read more at location 2571

Note: c GMO Edit

April found that executing her plan wasn’t easy.Read more at location 2574

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“Monsanto count: Breakfast was clean, but my entire lunch is questionable. The avocado and cucumber were organic, but that doesn’t mean not Monsanto, the tortilla and hummus are big question marks. The rice was Lundberg, so I know that’s some Nonsanto [sic] goodness and the chard was organic, but again, not sure of its seed source, so could be Monsanto.”Read more at location 2579

Note: QUANTO È DIFFICILE IL BOICOTTAGGIO Edit

Monsanto products may feed millions of starving people, require fewer herbicides, and may be more robust under conditions of climate change.Read more at location 2583

Note: IL BENE MONSANTO Edit

I view many boycotts as a way of feeling goodRead more at location 2585

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boycotts usually work best when the boycotted producer isn’t very profitable. Boycotts work least well when the producer is making a lot of moneyRead more at location 2587

Note: BOICOTTAGGI CHE FUNZIONANO E NO Edit

Unless the boycott mobilizes most or all of the relevant consumers in the world, which is very hard to do,Read more at location 2588

Note: c Edit

Imagine that a group of consumers boycotts New Zealand lamb, on the grounds that it costs a lot of energy to ship that lamb around the world. The United States and the Arab world are two of the major export markets for New Zealand lamb. If enough consumers in the United States stop eating this lamb, under some assumptions about the structure of the market, and how the market works, the price of the lamb will fall. And what will then happen to lamb purchases in the Arab world? They will go up.Read more at location 2589

Note: ESEMPIO DEL PERCHÈ IL BOICOTTAGGIO È IMPOSSIBILE Edit

if one group of buyers leaves the market, the seller will either cut price or expand promotion until other buyers pick up the slack.Read more at location 2596

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Brayden King of Northwestern University,Read more at location 2598

Note: L ESPERTO Edit

boycotts are most likely to succeed when they are directed against declining companies with good reputations.Read more at location 2599

Note: QUANDO FUNZIONA IL BOY Edit

This analysis—in particular the recommendation to focus a boycott on the more marginally profitable corporations—runs counter to our moral intuitions.Read more at location 2602

Note: NON VOGLIAMO COLPIRE UN DEBOLE CHE HA SEMPRE FATTO BENE Edit

If the corporation is truly profitable, it will probably end up selling the product no matter what—boycott or not—unless the entire world joins the boycott, which hardly ever happens.Read more at location 2607

Note: LE MULTINAZIONALI VSONO I SOGGETTI PIÙ DIFFICILI Edit

Actually Helping the EnvironmentRead more at location 2623

Note: è molto difficile e costoso sapere quanto inquiniamo ci vogliono 5 lauree mangi una banana e vuoi sapere se il tuo gesto è sostenibile? occorre conoscere10000 fatti e serve metterli insieme... qs conoscenza è obsoleta dopo un anno etichette? sono costose e vengono poco considerate meglio afgidarsi ai prezzi i prezzi riducono la complessità e noi ci fidiamo 2 alternative: memorizzare i fatti o scegliere in base al prezzo carbon tax ha senso se applicata da tutti ma meglio che niente... imho stockpile il punto debole di c.t.? 1 a un certo punto il governo dovrà fisare l entità della tasa e dei beneficiari. incapacità e ignoranza prevarranno 2 ct in un paese abbassa i prezzi aumentando la domanda altrove il mondo invecchia e le tasse cresceranno... meglio puntare su c.t. diminuendo la corporate tax altre oplitiche: tariffe parcheggi rilassare i piani regolatori (+ densità - auto) meno sussidi all agricoltura Edit

Note: t Edit

Financial Times interview with Tyler Brûlé,Read more at location 2624

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member of the jet set,Read more at location 2624

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REPORTER: Do you feel bad about your carbon footprint? BRÛLÉ: On balance, I don’t think my carbon footprint is particularly large. I do fly an enormous amount, but I don’t own a car, I walk most places in London and opt for trains over aircraft where possible (in Europe and Japan).Read more at location 2627

Note: ES DI COSCIENZA LAVATA Edit

The broader point is that we can’t trust our intuitions.Read more at location 2632

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It’s hard for consumers to “see” the real environmental costs of a lot of their decisions. Memorizing facts about bunches of bananas, boats, and boycotts will not do it.Read more at location 2634

Note: DIFFICILE ESSERE VERDI Edit

knowledge would become obsolete as the years passedRead more at location 2636

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Most people, even well-informed people, don’t have a good sense of how much an afternoon drive in a Mercedes contributes to the climate change problem, relative to buying a batch of flown-in asparagus or subbing in a steak for a chicken breast.Read more at location 2637

Note: IGNORANZAW Edit

You might think that carbon labeling of products is the way to go,Read more at location 2638

Note: INFO? Edit

The more fundamental problem is that labels do not encompass the same economy-wide information that is communicated by the priceRead more at location 2640

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example:Read more at location 2641

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foodstuff grown close to the city might receive a favorable label, because of its low transport costs. But putting the food close to the city pushes commuters further out and the net effect will not be so good for the environment.Read more at location 2641

Note: ESEMPIO DELLA SUPER DEI PREZZI Edit

I never try to figure out the cheapest way for someone to make a suit for me, rather I compare the price of the good with its final qualityRead more at location 2648

Note: QUEL CHE SI FA DI SOLITO Edit

possible—I just look at the final price.Read more at location 2650

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Prices are important, in large part, because most of us cannot see very far behind the priceRead more at location 2656

Note: FAR CONFLUIRE TUTTO NEL PREZZO Edit

two approaches.Read more at location 2659

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memorize facts about boats and bananas,Read more at location 2659

Note: 1 Edit

rely on the price system,Read more at location 2660

Note: 2 Edit

In this context, relying on prices means taxing fossil fuels and it also means higher taxes on meat, which through methane emissions (e.g., cow farts) contribute to climate change problems.Read more at location 2667

Note: TRADUZIONE CONCRETA. CARBON TAX METAN TAX Edit

Once the tax is in place, consumers don’t have to care very much about the environment or at all.Read more at location 2672

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The tax does involve an informational burden on the government,Read more at location 2673

Note: AIL LATO DEBOLE Edit

That is a problem, because governments don’t always get those decisions right.Read more at location 2675

Note: c Edit

Still, it is a more manageable problem—Read more at location 2676

Note: c Edit

Ideally a carbon tax should be done in conjunction with other major polluters, most of all China, the world’s number one carbon polluter at the moment.Read more at location 2678

Note: CONGIUNTO Edit

America is aging rapidly,Read more at location 2680

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In any politically feasible scenario, we will need some spending cuts and some tax increases,Read more at location 2683

Note: UNA RIFORMA È ALKE PORTE. APPROFITTIAMONE Edit

what should we tax? It’s pretty simple: We should tax those items with some negative consequences for the environment.Read more at location 2685

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If we wish, we could offset a higher carbon tax with a lower corporate incomeRead more at location 2688

Note: ESEMPIO Edit

The people who are preaching fiscal austerity—and mean it—are some of the best friends of the environment, whether they know it or not. They are the ones paving the way for a carbon tax.Read more at location 2698

Note: AUSTERITY FISCALE E AMBIENTE Edit

here are some other policy changesRead more at location 2724

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Greater efforts to support green forests abroad and other carbon sinks.Read more at location 2725

Note: FORESTE Edit

Cut back on requirements for minimum parking to accompany suburban developments; minimum parking requirements encourage car use and sprawl.Read more at location 2726

Note: PARCHEGGI A PAGAMENTO Edit

Ease zoning restrictions on high-density construction in urban areas. City dwellers are less likely to have cars or to travel long distances and thus they are “greener.”Read more at location 2727

Note: INURBARSI MENO TRASPORTO E TRASP PUBBLICO Edit

Eliminate all subsidies to large agribusiness.Read more at location 2729

Note: NN SUSSIDIAMO LE SCOREGGE DELLE VACCHE Edit

We are subsidizing cow fartsRead more at location 2730

Note: c Edit

Phase out water subsidies, which encourage inefficient agricultureRead more at location 2731

Note: ACQUA Edit

1. Make virtuous behavior more funRead more at location 2737

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2. Cultivate expensive tastes for environmentally dangerous itemsRead more at location 2742

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3. Give up refined sugar as much as you canRead more at location 2762

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4. Wash more dishes by handRead more at location 2767

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Use plastic cutlery and paper plates.Read more at location 2767

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5. Limit food wasteRead more at location 2774

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bread.Read more at location 2775

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strawberries,Read more at location 2776

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When many foods rot on compost heaps, they give off methane gasRead more at location 2777

Note: METANO E CIBI Edit

6. Minimize the number of car tripsRead more at location 2779

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