Yeah brings to mind the belt drive bike at Ikea. Its off the market now because a belt broke on somebody. And because its a new idea, the people who introduced it are responsible, even though the belt drive is far better and safer than the chain drive it replaced.
1 Like
“Now imagine if we could remove the water”. . .
Or, as in the case of OTC meats, not add the water in the first place.
A couple of years ago, out of a sense of misplaced curiosity, I drank something that called itself ‘British Wine’, made from Pinot Grigio grape concetrate.
Vile. Nuke it from orbit vile.
This is what sold me on SodaStream several years ago. The mix was sold in little plastic bottles, each would make 12 litres of soda. The small bottles cost $5 or $6, or $0.50 per litre, which is about the same as soda in 2 litre bottles that cost just over a dollar each. The small bottles were much easier to carry than the equivalent bundle of 2 litre bottles (or cans or six packs or whatever.) They are a very low waste way to buy soda.
The main problem was that the soda tasted like off-brand soda, because it was. The other problem was the CO2 cylinders were very, very overpriced, adding perhaps another $0.25 per litre, and their availability is somewhat limited. The small tanks had special non-standard threads, essentially creating DRM for compressed gas. (Yes, there are people who make janky adapters to refill them from other CO2 sources, but I didn’t want to mess with that.) I was also concerned about the safety of the concentrate bottle in the fridge. One bottle (around 750ml) contained 2300 milligrams of caffeine suspended in a very sweet syrup. I was afraid some small kid or animal might chug the bottle, and 2300 milligrams of caffeine is quite literally a lethal dose to a 10kg child.
Eventually, we gave the charger and bottles away.
1 Like
I started making my own syrups. Cheap, easy, and tasty
2 Likes
I buy shampoo, conditioner, face scrub and body wash in bar form (no H2O) from Ethique. Made in New Zealand, but rapidly expanding internationally. You can buy on Amazon. I have the smallest possible amount of shares in the company that I could buy. So please buy up a storm so I can make some money.
3 Likes
The benefit of this is that someone (theoretically competent and responsible) is doing the sterilization.
My Mom worked at a friend’s Chinese restaurant for a while (with a buffet), and after sitting there doing homework watching people at the buffet, I won’t eat at one…
The general public has horrible hygiene. I’ve seen everything from sneezy snot rockets launched into food (while leaning under the sneeze guard) to a “gentleman” who was picking his butt (hand inside of pants), reach into the eggroll tray and not use the tongs…
So, yeah. Public dairy… I’ll care for my own cow before I do that.
5 Likes
This is like selling raisins as ‘dehydrated grapes’. Removing the water from stuff is easy, assuming you can just add it back to get the same product isn’t generally going to work. Most consumers don’t keep deionised water, a pH meter and a high shear homogeniser to hand…
4 Likes
Fuck that’s awesome, hadn’t heard of it before.
Environmental concerns aside, it would be quite nifty for travelling. With this you needn’t worry about the toothpaste tube taking up space in the zip lock bag with liquid cosmetics. (Many airports only allow one bag now). Instead you can just bring the correct amount of toothpaste bits.
2 Likes
Tooth powder used to more common than tooth paste. https://www.amazon.com/Colgate-Tooth-Powder-tooth-powder/dp/B00A8G7EGO/ref=asc_df_B00A8G7EGO/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312163463904&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7439413399244983822&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007733&hvtargid=pla-492782930559&th=1
4 Likes
belt drive is far better and safer
My very limited experience with it is that it may be fine for a kid’s bike but totally unacceptable for any kind of high performance though it may be that I just encountered a low–quality belt.
BTW, other than when used in a gang fight, how is a bicycle chain dangerous?
Going to cause way more damage when it pinches your toes/fingers than a belt is my guess.
Also why use a bicycle chain for a gang fight? Don’t you just use regular chain?
1 Like
And yet, returnable containers used to be not uncommon; dairy in particular would be delivered by the milkman, and you would leave the empties out to be picked up when he delivered fresh. Soft drinks as well.
3 Likes
I can see it working better for non-consumables, like soap (bar soap), shampoo, things that could be dehydrated down to bar or cake form and that can survive a certain amount of shipping in loose (ish) form.
Dehydrating food stuffs and shipping without packaging seems risky from a contamination viewpoint, but there have been things like powdered milk on the market for a very long time; there has to be a certain amount of packaging, but it could be minimized, but you are correct that it doesn’t regain it’s original form once water is added.
1 Like
Electrified conkers!
1 Like
I have 16000km commuting experience on belt drive bikes. I commute one hour per day, half an hour each way. The belt drive is awesome because it requires very little maintenance. On my former chain drive bike I broke several chains, while under high load accelerating away from traffic lights. Belts are stronger and more reliable. Belts don’t need cleaning or lubrication. At the end of a ride home in the rain, a belt isn’t going to drip oily water on the interior of my apartment.
Its not quite as fast as a chain drive but in the domain where I ride, that is not my highest priority. My speeds are constrained by inner city traffic conditions anyway.
BTW, other than when used in a gang fight, how is a bicycle chain dangerous?
By catastrophically failing under high load.
4 Likes
My experience too. It ended up cheaper to buy off-brand soda rather than mix it at home.
5 Likes
I’ve been using this condensed form of food:
Just add water (and dirt) it’s an f*ing miracle.
5 Likes
