Microsoft Makes a Mouse From Recycled Ocean Plastic (microsoft.com) 49
New submitter myinnerbanjo writes: With plastics in oceans becoming more and more of a global disaster, Microsoft uses recycled ocean plastic to create a new computer mouse:
"We wanted to do something that's different," said Corinne Holmes, director of environmental compliance, Windows & Devices. "I don't want the clean stuff. We wanted to push the bar. This plastic wasn't from a collection bin sitting on the beach. It was recovered out of a river. It's dirty. It was sitting there for six months, not three weeks."
Waiting for the inevitable reveal (Score:2, Flamebait)
Waiting for the inevitable reveal that they're just "recycling" new bottles off the line and using no recovered plastic at all.
Re:Waiting for the inevitable reveal (Score:5, Informative)
They say so right in the article:
Making the mouse from 100 percent recycled PET plastic was impossible from a chemical composition standpoint because it would not meet mechanical and reliability specifications, so creating a resin blend that combined PET and polycarbonate (PC) plastic was targeted as a solution.
Other gems:
Due to the complexity of the project, which required not only the development of the proprietary ocean plastic but also a complex supply chain to collect, clean and safely transport this ocean waste.
The original goal for the Ocean Plastic Mouse was to use 10 percent recycled ocean plastic. But after all the trials and the development of the resin, the exterior shell of the mouse contains 20 percent recycled ocean plastic by weight, or the equivalent of half of a 16-ounce water bottle.
Basically: they couldn't find enough ocean plastic, went to a plastic recycling company that then had to go and seek out this plastic so they could inject between 10 and 20% of it into the chain of creating this mouse.
Given a 16 ounce water bottle is blown from a SINGLE plastic pellet, this thing isn't doing much, even if you sell a million of them yearly. If you analyze the emissions that went into creating this product, this is a net negative to the environment.
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Given a 16 ounce water bottle is blown from a SINGLE plastic pellet, this thing isn't doing much, even if you sell a million of them yearly.
Commonly, a 16oz PET bottle weights 19-21g. Pellet Counts are > 10 pellets/gram. so at a minimum, you're looking at 200 pellets in a PET bottle.
(Not a "SINGLE" pellet, but "TWO HUNDRED" pellets, for the capitalization impaired.)
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No, its just a dumb idea that wants an 'recycled ocean plastic' headline. This is just lame marketing, from anyone. It would be better to just build a more sustainable mouse.
Re: Waiting for the inevitable reveal (Score:1)
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The problem is that companies prefer to make cheap devices that do not last. If you mouse lasts and/or you cannot repair it then you will need another one. Microsoft wants to sell mice, not something that lasts and they won't sell any parts for them.
This is nothing more than a marketing attempt to green-wash the mouse. This does nothing to actually help the environment, its likely much more efficient to use new materials.
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Ah Slashdot, where Microsoft could promote recycling, double their initial goal of how much to recycle, but it's still bad becuz M$.
They're going to Embrace, Extend, Extinguish recycling!
Re: Waiting for the inevitable reveal (Score:2)
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The Faywood Assassin wrote:
Waiting for the inevitable reveal that they're just "recycling" new bottles off the line and using no recovered plastic at all.
guruevi wrote:
hey say so right in the article:
Making the mouse from 100 percent recycled PET plastic was impossible from a chemical composition standpoint because it would not meet mechanical and reliability specifications, so creating a resin blend that combined PET and polycarbonate (PC) plastic was targeted as a solution.
So they didn't actually say in the article what The Faywood Assassin postulated. They actually admit that there is recycled plastic in the mouse. Nowhere was it actually said (or suggested) that the mouse was made out of 100% reclaimed ocean plastic. Although it is only 20% in the mouse that is still 20% better than other mice.
Basically: they couldn't find enough ocean plastic, went to a plastic recycling company that then had to go and seek out this plastic so they could inject between 10 and 20% of it into the chain of creating this mouse.
Do you have a citation for this? From what I have read they are using ocean reclaimed plastic. The parts you have highlighted above your quote
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Well, of course the mouse itself is a novelty item. But it did involve the development of processes for recycling PET. Let's see if they can improve the processes and perhaps find some other applications for it. Could turn out to be useful.
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This, efforts to investigate and evolve recycling are progress.
But is it a good mouse? (Score:5, Insightful)
In short I really don't care about the plastic, but the functionality of the mouse. Back in the day Microsoft made good mice, even if you hated Microsoft, you had to admit it was a solid well built and functional mouse.
Remember that, A while ago, I got myself a Touch Mouse (thinking it would be a good Windows Compatible Version of the Apple mouse. It really sucked, and it took months of drivers and settings to get it to work like a normal mouse.
All I wanted to do in addition was to scroll horizontally.
I personally do not care too much for the plastic, so if they can get the plastic from recycled material... More power to them.
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I've still got a now "ancient" Microsoft "ball" mouse in one of my "I must get rid of this shit" drawers.
It brings back very fond memories of Quake World, circa 1996/7 - I can still hear those "pineapples" ringing in my ears to this day - and those awesome DaPak levels.
At some point, the microsoft ball mouse - and by that, I mean the lint attracting ball housed in the base of the mouse, became the "intelliMouse" - I think that was the name. The same format, but with optical instead of ball. At the time, it
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*difference* - different.
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The updated Microsoft Pro Intellimouse is a great mouse. At least I think so. It is comfortable, reliable and seems well made. I use AutoHotKey to add functionality to the buttons (e.g. Forward Button+Middle Button = Task View.) I refuse to use any Logitech or Razer products due to the crappy software you need to install for customization. I don't even use the Microsoft Mouse & Keyboard Center software since I just don't need it. It also just works as expected on my Linux machines.
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A while ago, I got myself a Touch Mouse (thinking it would be a good Windows Compatible Version of the Apple mouse
You really wanted a Windows compatible version of an Apple mouse? All Apple mice are terrible in my experience (admittedly I most likely haven't tried all of the mice Apple has to offer).
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What is nice about the Apple mouse, is the flick up/down, the horizontal scroll and the back gesture ("swipe back"). I've got a nice Logitech vertical mouse as well, but it doesn't have these gestures. I'd love to know mice that have these gestures and I bet OP was looking for something like that.
Whether it's comfortable to use, that depends on one's preferences.
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Looks like you could use the Apple Magic Mouse on Windows with third party software.
https://www.imore.com/does-app... [imore.com]
https://magicutilities.net/mag... [magicutilities.net]
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Interesting, thanks!
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In short I really don't care about the plastic, but the functionality of the mouse. Back in the day Microsoft made good mice, even if you hated Microsoft, you had to admit it was a solid well built and functional mouse.
I don't, and I shan't. Compared to even the cheapest Logi mice of the day it was cumbersome and fragile.
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sustainability (Score:2, Insightful)
Sure Microsoft, go for the headline about recycled ocean plastic. But do not try to push the bar by making mice out of some sustainable material.
I'd be way more impressed if they built a sustainable mouse.
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Mice are pretty sustainable, they don't eat much and make more of themselves without human involvement. You may have a problem if there's a lack of natural enemies, like owls, though.
Anyway, Microsoft hijaaked the biggest wind park here in the Netherlands to provide power for another one of another datacentre nobody asked for, and received a generous government subsidy for the effort, while the country could have really used that power, with (clean and relatively new) coal power stations being forced offlin
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Plastic is popular because it can be injection molded, Making a mouse out of Metal, Wood, Leather, Mushrooms, is possible, however they will need to be stamped, carved, pressed, grown. Which is a much slower process which sometimes will take a lot of waste.
While Cutting and Stamping Metal, or perhaps casting it, is possible. Metal is also a rather expensive material, that will make the mouse heavy.
Using recycled plastic, is a much better option for the current time, as it is available and can be melted an
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Hate to break it to you, injection molded plastic is done in a press. First you have to make the plastic, then break it up into little bits, then melt it down, then pump/push it into a mold that is pressed together. Not to mention how the mold itself is made. I think the point you made is that its complicated to make a mouse, it could still be done with more sustainable materials.
That's it? (Score:2)
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Yes, and they had to spend the CO2 emission of a small country to do it.
Not Ocean plastic. Just hopeless greenwashing. (Score:2)
yeah. One mouse.
And it's not even ocean plastic. it comes from a river.
And it's only a few percent of the shell.
Only the shell.
Just hopeless greenwashing marketeering BS.
Why relay such stuff ?
Advert? (Score:2)
Hell, I'd be amazed in Microsoft made a pledge for ALL their products that contain plastic to switch to recycling "Ocean Plastic".
Then the reality strikes, the cost of doing so would be competitively unsustainable, by a HUGE order of magnitude.
If it wasn't, then EVERY company would be rushing to snarf up that good old "Ocean Plastic".
After about 2 seconds, it dawned upon me that this article, is in fact, an advertisement for Microsoft.
Phew, for a moment there, I was almost drawn in by this wonderful vision.
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Help me out here - what's the logical fallacy where a partial solution is useless because it isn't a complete solution?
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A lot of processes and way of doing things, are currently not the most affordable way of doing things, however because it is done so widely that economy of scale comes into play.
Ocean Plastic if scaled up, can be just as cheap, if not cheaper than making your own plastic.
They're full of shit, mark my words. (Score:2)
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Why plastic? (Score:3, Funny)
I still use my grandfather's mouse made of steel and hardwood, it will probably serve my grandkids as well!
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Good way to turn heads (Score:3)
away from the massive amount of ewaste they generate due to the non-repairability of their electronics and their efforts to sell consumers 'disposable' electronics. Not to mention microsoft working with industry to force upgrades of electronics with windows 11 hardware requirements, which will cause mountains of perfectly working computers to be trashed.
You'd think they would make more then a mouse to cover up their trashing of the environment.
Other rodents (Score:2)
I'd like to see Disney do the same.
Hey look! Another environmental red herring! (Score:2)
When it dies (Score:2)
When it dies, can I just throw it back into the ocean from whence it came?
I bought one. Had it for a day now. (Score:1)