Everything in my binbag is plastic!!

beautiful_ravens

Ok, Im composting veg stuff, recycling plastic bottles/glass/tins/cardboard, making paper bricks, re-using stuff, giving the chickens/dog (and kids lol) leftovers...but my actual bin is now mostly full of plastic!?!

Biscuit & sweet wrappers, plastic meat/food packaging, yogurt pots, clingfilm, bread bags, plastic corks, orange juice cartons, the dreaded nappies, hundreds of plastic lids from the jars and bottles...

There are 5 of us and we have 1 black bag of rubbish a week, which is not bad I spose......But what can I do? Some of it I would burn, if I could work out which had the lesser effect on the environment - landfill or burning it. Seems a bit sad to me that ALL the stuff Im throwing away to landfill is plasticky!

*Maybe the wrong forum, but as usual, didnt know where to ask this!!

tanith

In our Borough everyone kept lobbying the council to recycle plastic and now we are supplied with a large white sack which I fill almost weekly with all types of plastic and they collect it along with all the other rubbish weekly... so get on to your council and complain .. they may have a recycle facility at your local centre for plastic

greenbee

Have you thought about reusable nappies? I realise this means more work in terms of laundry, but then again, it might mean less work in terms of shopping trips to stock up. Your local council should have information on real nappies (and may provide vouchers).

With the rest of it, it's a question of thinking about the packaging when you shop. I find if I shop locally this problem goes away - I buy veg at the farm shop (this goes straight into my own shopping bag), meat at the butcher (wrapped in paper, although there may be some small bits of plastic), bread from the village shop (paper bag or into my own shopping bag).

If you have a milkman, see whether you can get OJ delivered in returnable glass bottles. If they're in tetrapaks, have a look on the tetrapak recycling site for your nearest facility.

You could make bread, biscuits and yogurt yourself (have a look at some of the threads on the old style board).

Have a look for 'The book of rubbish ideas' - I was given a copy for Christmas and there are some good pointers in it.

If I do end up with plastic wrapping, I try to find ways of using it at least once before throwing it out.

IamJen

Getting down to no plastic waste is hard...I've been working on it for a few months now. Some ideas based on what you've listed here:

*As mentioned, Tetrapak is recyclable in many places. The bin in our area is at the local Tesco and takes all coated drinks boxes, not just Tetrapak.

*When buying food, try to avoid the plastic in the first place (why do bananas need plastic, for instance ). Look for plastic packaging that is labelled as recyclable. Both Sainsbury and Waitrose do a pretty good job on labeling their stuff.

*Ditch the clingfilm for your home use (you might still get some at the store). Switch to Tupperware or other reusable containers. Or, you can buy compostable bags (not cheap though, I think). We use tinfoil (which is recyclable) instead of plastic wrap.

*Check the yogurt pots again. If they're not labeled with the recycle triangle, try buying a brand that is. Or, make your own yogurt. I've just started doing this, with a thermometer and a vacuum flask.

Overall, I find myself making a lot of decisions to just not buy stuff. Occasionally, I get stuck (the other night, I could find no pkgs of brown rice that were recyclable, for instance), but for the most part, if I can't recycle it, I don't buy it.

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Ok, Im composting veg stuff, recycling plastic bottles/glass/tins/cardboard, making paper bricks, re-using stuff, giving the chickens/dog (and kids lol) leftovers...but my actual bin is now mostly full of plastic!?!

Biscuit & sweet wrappers, plastic meat/food packaging, yogurt pots, clingfilm, bread bags, plastic corks, orange juice cartons, the dreaded nappies, hundreds of plastic lids from the jars and bottles...

There are 5 of us and we have 1 black bag of rubbish a week, which is not bad I spose......But what can I do? Some of it I would burn, if I could work out which had the lesser effect on the environment - landfill or burning it. Seems a bit sad to me that ALL the stuff Im throwing away to landfill is plasticky!

*Maybe the wrong forum, but as usual, didnt know where to ask this!!

Fire_Fox

Plastic corks and lids you might collect and donate to be used as craft stuff by your local primary school?

mama67

I have been trying to reduce our families waste going to landfill for the last year.

We have got down to a small carrier bag once a week now instead of 1 - 1½ black bags, and therefore the wheelie bin is only collected once every 8-10 weeks approx. It does help that my boys are no longer in nappies, and all food scraps are either composted or given to the dogs at DH work if cooked (not that there are many).Any plastic that has to go into the bin is twisted and knotted so that it doesn't puff up with air.

The recycling bin is also only usually 2/3 full now when it used to be overflowing, which also shows that we have stopped buying certain things even if the packaging is recyclable. (type 1 & 2 plastic plus paper, cardboard and cans is collected)

One of the main things I did was to look very closely at the labels of the things we were buying and then to investigate my local Household Recycling Facility, as they recycle a lot more than what can actually be collected.

It means a trip there once a month but i can take all type 4, 5 and 6 plastic (just not bags), tetrapaks, cooking oil, batteries,glass (usually take this to the bottle bank), plus the usual stuff that can go.

moonrakerz

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Plastic corks and lids you might collect and donate to be used as craft stuff by your local primary school?

Then your kids bring it home and you then have someone else's rubbish as well as your own !

Gigervamp

greenbee wrote: »

Have a look for 'The book of rubbish ideas' - I was given a copy for Christmas and there are some good pointers in it.

The author of that book has a blog http://bookofrubbishideas.co.uk/

Ben84

I buy most the fruit and vegetables loose now. They tend to be fresher and cheaper at the market too.

However, I still end up with quite a few plastic bags from magazine subscriptions and some food items like rice or pasta. Most are LDPE, usually stamped as number 4 plastic. These ones can be recycled in the bag bins at most Sainsburys stores.

I reuse margarine tubs as fridge/freezer containers, so I don't need cling film.

I also try to buy instant coffee in metal tins (we drink a lot of it) as they're 100% recyclable.

Washing is cleaned with powder in a recyclable card box, so no plastic bottles or caps to throw out.

This has stopped most the non-recyclable plastic waste, but we still end up with many little things to throw away.

beautiful_ravens

Wow! Some great ideas there guys, thanks! Will have to find out more about my local tip...usually I go there to buy stuff! hehe
Seriously, thanks

Tracey_Smith

I just wanted to hop on and say how inspirational it is to read about great rubbish ideas - it's quite my thing in life - lololol....

I'd just like to add that one of the best ways to make markable progress is to ditch the guilt for what you're not doing and start feeling great about what you are doing! This will encourage you to minimise the rubbish intake at the point of sale.

Remember also that you are perfectly entitled to leave superfluous packaging at the till for the retailer to responsibly dispose of. There's a 'Letter for Change' that you can copy out on the site you've mentioned above for The Book of Rubbish Ideas - that should help get things in motion.

All the best for reducing your 'bish in the New Year!
Rubbishly yours,
TSx