/oss/taxonomy/term/2170/all en /oss/article/you-asked/why-are-people-popping-laundry-pods <p>Dousing oneself with a bucket full of ice water isn’t much fun, but at least that craze was cool. It had a point: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Bucket_Challenge">raise money for ALS research</a>. Biting into a laundry pod has no point, other than to demonstrate the mental shortcomings of the biter. For some bizarre reason people have been posting videos of their grimacing faces as they chomp down on a laundry pod. If they get away with just a grimace, they are lucky. They could just as well end up in hospital with chemical burns to their mouth.</p> Thu, 25 Jan 2018 16:42:45 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 6904 at /oss /oss/article/environment-health-news/small-beads-can-make-large-problem <p>Science can make for a strange bedfellow. I had just finished recording a video showing off one of my favourite sweaters and expounding on the ingenuity and the environmental benefit of it being made from recycled polyester bottles when an article appeared on one of my newsfeeds about how “your clothes are poisoning our oceans and food supply.” The message was that the very fabric I was so high on may be unravelling the fabric of society.</p> Fri, 08 Jul 2016 11:52:47 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2345 at /oss /oss/article/environment-you-asked/what-are-oxo-biodegradable-plastic-shopping-bags <p>Polyethylene shopping bags are a big convenience but they also present a big problem. While they can be recycled, many just get carelessly discarded and end up in the environment not only as an eyesore but as a danger to wildlife. Estimates are that only about 3% of plastics that can be recycled actually are. Polyethylene does not degrade easily in the environment and the bags can end up as pollutants for decades. Some clever chemistry can, however, help the situation.</p> Thu, 22 Dec 2016 20:52:34 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2363 at /oss /oss/article/food/noisy-chip-bags <p>In 2010 Frito-Lay introduced a 100% compostable bag for its SunChips with great fanfare only to yank it off the market a scant eighteen months later.  Why?  Believe it or not, the bags were too noisy!  Consumers complained that handling the bags made a sound like a screeching train and irritated customers quickly organized a Facebook group that went by the name “Sorry But I Can’t Hear You Over This SunChip Bag.”  When sales declined by some 11% due to the 95 decibel eardrum-blasting crinkle, Frito-Lay decided to throw in the towel and go back to the traditional polypropylene packaging.</p> Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:08:21 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1709 at /oss