@lord45: I think your post was meant well, so thank you for that.
The example above reminds me of an article I read in Wired. They measured the CO2 from two processes: 1 from reusing a glass bottle and 1 from using a plastic one. They came to the conclusion the plastic one produced less CO2 because of the energy used in producing the glass bottle and the process of cleaning it.
I've read something similar on plastic bags vs paper bags.
When I first read this, I felt like there was something not right in their reasoning. Then I realized they completely dismissed the source of energy and the fundamentals behind the CO2 problem. The problem with CO2 is not that it's produced but that it is added to the current, stable CO2 cycle. We are pumping oil from somewhere that is outside the CO2 cycle and adding it in, in vast amounts. Thus anything that's made from oil adds to the CO2 already in the cycle, making the climate hotter and less stable. While anything that can be reused while using green energy like wind or sun is not adding extra CO2 and is thus environmentally friendly.
Anyway, I thought this might help.
SpaceX for instance uses Methane which they intend to produce themselves by using wind or solar power to produce it from water and CO2. They also need to do this because it is needed on Mars to produce fuel to bring the rockets back.
The Everyday Astronaut and Scott Manly have really good quality youtube channels, should you want to know more about rockets. And Potholer54 has some great videos on the environment and debunking weird science claims. (He used to be a bbc journalist)
