Month: October 2019

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15 Funny Tweets from Parents Who Are Hanging on by a Thread

Parents: we support you 100%. Well, maybe not that much, but we sure appreciate your struggles and headaches.

We know some of you are barely hanging by a thread, and we’ve totally got your backs! Well, maybe not your backs. Your knees or something.

Bottom line: we’re in your corner.

Just look at these tweets.

1. That’s how it is.

2. Thanks, that’s a big help.

3. Peak and off peak.

4. Don’t ever say that.

5. Still learning the ropes.

6. Not this time…

7. Figure that one out.

8. That’s my boy!

9. Wrong cup, moron!

10. All of the above.

11. Doesn’t work that way.

12. They clearly prefer mommy.

13. They’ll never find me here.

14. A whole different level.

15. Perfect little angels, aren’t they?

Hang in there, moms and dads! You’re doing just fine!

The post 15 Funny Tweets from Parents Who Are Hanging on by a Thread appeared first on UberFacts.

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Sorry to Break It to You: Your Plastic Recycling Is Probably Not Getting Recycled

A lot of us spend time washing out plastic containers, squinting at symbols, picking off labels and smugly popping them into one of several containers to lug out to the curb on recycling day. Job well done. We deserve a (plastic) yogurt cup for our saintly efforts.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

But there is something you need to know: our plastics are likely not getting turned into new products. The American plastic recycling effort is largely mythical, reports Sharon Lerner for The Intercept.

Lerner writes:

The vast majority of plastic that has ever been produced — 79% — has actually ended up in landfills or scattered around the world or burned, but not refashioned into new products, which is what we hope for when we talk about recycling. For plastic bags, it’s less than 1% of tens of billions that are used in the U.S. alone. And so overall in the U.S., our plastic recycling rate peaked in 2014 at 9.5% so that’s less than 10%.

What about the story that the majority of our plastics were sold to China who happily took it and recycled it? Wrong. 1) it wasn’t always recycled and 2) the Chinese have been refusing to take Americans’ recycled plastics since 2017.

Here’s the thing, though – after we put our plastic in the recycling, we never see it again, so we continue cleaning, squinting, picking and sorting on curb recycle day, in guilt-free bliss.

Photo credit: Pxhere

Since the advent of single stream recycling, we’ve also been misled to think that all of our plastics are recyclable, so just chuck ’em in.

It’s not true though. If non-recyclable plastics weren’t pulled out manually at the recycling center, then they were refused by China upon their arrival. Discarded at the center or refused at port, both outcomes came at the taxpayer’s expense – and the plastic still ends up in the trash or in the environment.

Or is that the same thing.

Now that China has told the United States to quit sending our plastic to them, we are stuck sending it to other places (also mostly in Asia) that 1) don’t really want to be taking our refuse and 2) lack much of the facilities that would be required to do anything useful with it. And beyond that, the Chinese market for ‘recycled’ plastics was so huge that the gap hasn’t been filled yet (if it ever is), so a lot of American municipalities are just shipping everyone’s recyclables to the same landfill where the trash goes.

And most people have no idea.

Photo Credit: Pexels

Judith Enck, a former regional Environmental Protection Agency official and founder of Beyond Plastics, says the only way to get out of our (literal) mess is to be better consumers. That means changing our focus from recycling to reducing (the first R in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).

So why have we been trying to recycle plastic since the 1970s?

Well, it’s not a bad idea, it’s just more expensive in practice than the market will bear. Plus the plastics industry is of course interested in staying in business, so they had to support and promote how good recycling is for the planet. It became a feel good marketing campaign that covered the fact that so few plastics actually get recycled.

But, the public bought it and recycling became our way of consuming plastics without feeling bad about it.

For anyone concerned about the plastic in the ocean, consider this: reducing the amount of plastic we use is, ultimately, the most effective way of fighting our growing garbage problem.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Enck says metal, glass and cardboard are still completely recyclable. For plastics, check for No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5. Those are recyclable. Black plastic is never recyclable. That goes into the landfill.

Use glass whenever possible. Fill up on bulk items in the supermarket with your own containers.

You can also try good old fashioned letter writing to manufacturers and local stores; ask them to reduce their reliance on plastics, and maybe they’ll listen.

There are alternatives available, and consumers still have power in their communities, as long as they exercise it.

Change is possible, and it starts at home.

The post Sorry to Break It to You: Your Plastic Recycling Is Probably Not Getting Recycled appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Flight Attendant Shared Why You Should Never Order Coffee or Tea on an Airplane

You may be tempted to get a nice, steaming cup of coffee or tea in your hands on your next flight.

Don’t.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Airplanes are very public spaces. Between people removing their shoes and clothes mid-flight to the ever present coughing and hacking, planes are pretty much petri dishes.

But even with all those germs floating around, there are other unsanitary concerns you may not have considered.

Flight attendant Jamila Hardwick spoke with Inside Edition about what you should know before you order any tea or coffee.

Photo Credit: YouTube

The water used for hot beverages is not from a bottle. It comes through water pipes on the plane which, apparently, are rarely cleaned. In fact, airlines are only required to flush and sanitize the lines four times a year.

And heaven forbid anyone clean anything more than required.

Flight attendants spend most of their time on these big birds, so they should know what’s good to order onboard. Watch the clip:

So, coffee’s out.

If you’re thinking about getting a cold soft drink instead, stay away from Diet Coke. Though it’s not any more germy than usual, Hardwick shared that the popular cola fizzes the most of all soft drinks and is a pain for attendants to pour. By the time it settles enough to pass over to you, they could’ve served several others and gone on to other duties.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Flight attendants are hard working people so a little consideration goes a long way with them.

Perhaps the least known tidbit Hardwick shared is that flight attendants aren’t on the clock until the plane doors are closed. So if you request an attendant hoist your bag into the storage compartment above your seat for you, they will probably decline. If they get injured, they aren’t covered by their employers’—the airlines’—insurance. Any medical treatment they need would be out of pocket.

The most useful tip? Bring your own pillows and blankets. The airlines do launder blankets and pillow cases but not between flights. And the pillows themselves are likely never washed.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

What about the seat trays?

Yes, absolutely disgusting.

Hardwick recommends bringing antibacterial wipes and doing a thorough swipe of your tray before using it. She says cleaning crews don’t have time to wipe down every tray when turning an aircraft, so it may be worthwhile to take a few seconds to clean it yourself.

Flying is a great convenience of the modern world, but it’s also germy. Take note of this valuable information for your next journey, and maybe you won’t get so sick the next time you fly!

The post A Flight Attendant Shared Why You Should Never Order Coffee or Tea on an Airplane appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A Flight Attendant Shared Why You Should Never Order Coffee or Tea on an Airplane

You may be tempted to get a nice, steaming cup of coffee or tea in your hands on your next flight.

Don’t.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Airplanes are very public spaces. Between people removing their shoes and clothes mid-flight to the ever present coughing and hacking, planes are pretty much petri dishes.

But even with all those germs floating around, there are other unsanitary concerns you may not have considered.

Flight attendant Jamila Hardwick spoke with Inside Edition about what you should know before you order any tea or coffee.

Photo Credit: YouTube

The water used for hot beverages is not from a bottle. It comes through water pipes on the plane which, apparently, are rarely cleaned. In fact, airlines are only required to flush and sanitize the lines four times a year.

And heaven forbid anyone clean anything more than required.

Flight attendants spend most of their time on these big birds, so they should know what’s good to order onboard. Watch the clip:

So, coffee’s out.

If you’re thinking about getting a cold soft drink instead, stay away from Diet Coke. Though it’s not any more germy than usual, Hardwick shared that the popular cola fizzes the most of all soft drinks and is a pain for attendants to pour. By the time it settles enough to pass over to you, they could’ve served several others and gone on to other duties.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Flight attendants are hard working people so a little consideration goes a long way with them.

Perhaps the least known tidbit Hardwick shared is that flight attendants aren’t on the clock until the plane doors are closed. So if you request an attendant hoist your bag into the storage compartment above your seat for you, they will probably decline. If they get injured, they aren’t covered by their employers’—the airlines’—insurance. Any medical treatment they need would be out of pocket.

The most useful tip? Bring your own pillows and blankets. The airlines do launder blankets and pillow cases but not between flights. And the pillows themselves are likely never washed.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

What about the seat trays?

Yes, absolutely disgusting.

Hardwick recommends bringing antibacterial wipes and doing a thorough swipe of your tray before using it. She says cleaning crews don’t have time to wipe down every tray when turning an aircraft, so it may be worthwhile to take a few seconds to clean it yourself.

Flying is a great convenience of the modern world, but it’s also germy. Take note of this valuable information for your next journey, and maybe you won’t get so sick the next time you fly!

The post A Flight Attendant Shared Why You Should Never Order Coffee or Tea on an Airplane appeared first on UberFacts.

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When America’s first rocket scientist…

When America’s first rocket scientist, Robert Goddard, theorized that rockets could reach the moon, the New York Times harshly criticized him and wrote that he “lacked the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.” 49 years later, Apollo 11 succeeded and the NYT published a retraction.

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Ice is a mineral just as much as Quartz….

Ice is a mineral just as much as Quartz is. Ice is a naturally occurring compound with a defined chemical formula and crystal structure, thus making it a legitimate mineral. Its only limitation, in comparison to all other minerals, is that it is not stable at room temperature.

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In an unbelievable coincidence, the moon…

In an unbelievable coincidence, the moon is exactly four hundred times smaller than the Sun but four hundred times closer to the Earth, so that both the Sun and the Moon appear to be precisely the same size in the sky – which gives us the phenomenon we call a total eclipse.