I don’t understand why some books are wrapped in plastic at all. Like is it to protect the cover? Prevent people from reading it at the book store? Some weird contract with a vendor that requires a percentage of books be wrapped? A quirk of the shop that printed the book?
It makes zero sense.
Warehouses are dirty.
Aren’t books shipped in boxes though? I guess maybe a printer might palletize the books and find it cheaper to not wrap the whole pallet?
It still seems like the individual book is the wrong place to focus on protecting it from damage it might incur in transit.
Probably so they can be stored carelessly in dirty warehouses that may or may not control for humidity
Agreed.
That’s a typo, it should read: “No. More plastic!”
I shouldn’t have this ALA logo here either
It was a typo, he meant: No, more plastic!
Lionel Hutz, Esq
Free consolation? No, money down!
Better get rid of this bar association sticker too.
He’s right about sleepwalking into oblivion
Plot twist: it was corn starch based.
that’s still bad though. it requires petroleum based processes to grow the corn and then convert the starch into a plastic like substance when the book could have just not been shrink wrapped. i get that you’re joking, and i’m being pedantic, but not enough people realize bioplastics are not the solution, they’re a gap measure, like EVs, and i’m usingeyour comment as a soapbox
Bioplastics also cause contaminated petroplastic recycling batches, are difficult to compost (my city, like many cities, does not have the facility), and release methane when breaking down in a landfill.
What’s up with cities (in the US) not having the facilities for this? I know it’s not a perfect solution but everyone I see walking their dog in Los Angeles has these compostable bags.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like Europe does (generally speaking). Is it a matter of laziness or something else on our part?
What about cellophane?
I guess they could have been wrapped in bulk, but I wouldn’t say you can ship books around without any protection.
It could have been an e book though
A paper band is pretty good at protecting a book in transit.
My e-reader is e-waste.
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Pretty sure the book cover is mostly plastic as well.
The stock used for book covers is actually just paper believe it or not. It has a plastic-y glossiness because of the ink. The process is really cool, but I used to be a graphic designer and love print shops so I fully admit I am biased.
Oh neat I always figured it was some kind of laminate.
It kind of is? There are some chemistry shenanigans going on to get the ink to dry with a high gloss finish. To be fair, that might involve plastics (I don’t know off hand), but it can be run on a normal press so heat is not available for melting a normal laminate.
Heat Laminated paper is more durable, but also more expensive than other commercial durable papers and at scale is cost prohibitive. It’s why the local diner has a laminated menu and the chain restaurant (usually) doesn’t.
