Recycling - thoughts

Valli

And yet, if I put 'black' bin waste in my 'green' bin they wouldn't take it...

Thanks, Eric

EricMears

Valli wrote: »

And yet, if I put 'black' bin waste in my 'green' bin they wouldn't take it...

Thanks, Eric

Ah well, they're 'practicing' for when it will (or may !) matter.
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Have a look at
http://www.arkwrightcountrypark.org.uk

if you've a few minutes spare.

Valli

used to drive past there on my way to work - now I travel in the opposite direction!


Looked and joined;)

kittycatface

what a great thread. I am of the generation that was told to "reuse refill recycle" by The Body Shop in the days when you used to take your empty shampoo bottle in and they would fill it up for cheaper from a giant vat. Health and Safety regulations must now have prevented a lot of shops doing things like this.

Anyway, here's what I do at home BEFORE anything goes in the blue bin:
1.yoghurt pots: save for seedlings or take into work for craft activities/donate to primary school
2.cardboard tube from toilet rolls/bisto boxes: make into degradeable flower pots
3.plastic cosmetic bottles: when empty pour half new bottle in and top up each with water. save smaller ones for trips away. spray bottles are re used for home made cleaning products or to water house plants.
4. juice bottles: use for cloches in the garden
5. aluminium cans cut up and hammer/draw on with old biro to make xmas decorations or frames.
6. nutella/glass jars: use to decant yoghurt into for work
7. buy in bulk: rice/pasta/yoghurt and decant as less packaging used that way, and more opportunity for reusing. rice sacks become gro bags, bin bags, yoghurt becomes a bucket. I find asian supermarkets best for bulk buy
8. nets from veg become scourers
9. i only use reuseable dishcloths/dusters washed regularly
10. I keep a cupboard full of plastic margarine tubs, bread bags, jam jars and plastic bottles in case I get the urge to make a batch of anything and store.
11. newspapers are mostly read online. free newspapers go to papier mache or draught excluders, or for washing windows.
12. use margarine to grease baking tin instead of parchment.
13. never ever ever use paper on one side only and I try to use phone memos or memory for lists: my algerian friend says he didn't have access to large amounts of paper until he came to the UK and as a result he relied a lot more on his memory: free brain training!
14 reusable water bottle and flask.

There are two of us in the household and we only have a carrier bag sized amount in the black bin each week, largely plastic packaging and i am trying to reduce this by getting fruit and veg from the market.

Only trouble with my method in this country is that you can look a bit mad. We have very non-green neighbours and my collection of plastic 'flowerpot' tubs including, god forbid, pots emblazoned with tesco value, is not only dirty but bringing the tidy neighbourhood down in their view, whereas when i lived in rural turkey you were mad if you didn't reuse your olive oil cans to grow veg in!

Sometimes I think it is a question of upbringing as my parents still do all these things. I was taught that it's kind of immoral to be wasteful when other people across the world have a lot less. I am only 28 so am not of the make do and mend generation and to be honest I have had to teach myself skills such as sewing in order to be thrifty. School didn't teach us enough life skills like that in my view and that's why a lot of my generation throw things away: they can't tell by smell or look when products are off, they don't know how to sew a button, and it is in fact cheaper to buy new socks than to darn the ones you have!

jwil

grahamc2003 wrote: »

On a broader note, I think what's missing from most of this environmental stuff is any scientific analysis on the efficacy of the many things claiming to be 'good for the environment' and suchlike. For example, who knows whether, overall, recycling plastic milk bottles is beneficial or not compared to burying them, once all factors are considered. Or using glass instead of plastic for milk and recycling those? Such discussions are mainly opinion or based on bias rather than scientifically based (simply because I don't think the scientific evidence exists). And that allows business to exploit the opportunity for profit by manipulating the opinion and bias.

There are plenty of studies out there - look for life cycle analysis.

One example here: http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/life-cycle-assessment-example-packaging-systems-milk

caseforcompostables

A plastic bag levy is to be supported, even a small financial charge has been proven to reduce bag usage by around 80%. We should all support that. However that still leaves 20% of petro-chemical bags eventually going into landfill. If we're serious about removing toxic plastic bags from our landfills and landscapes the government could choose to tackle that final 20% easily as shown below but won't because it is a tax cashcow.

With a levy setting a 5p+ benchmark, exempting EN13432 materials means retailers could offer compostable bags at the checkout - these can then be reused in kitchen caddies for household food waste that goes for composting. Doing this means that the bags end up in compost, councils won't be paying for expensive landfill costs/fines and councils can benefit from increased composting material entering their system. Yes it is still making stuff that is to be disposed of, but surely its better to make that from life-limited materials than 500 year plastic

In practical terms, most organic waste in the UK is collected on a 2 week cycle, unfortunately a simple wheelie bin solution won't work. Brown/green bins stink and attract flies when the contents are not wrapped in compostable bags, thoroughly unhygienic - an EN13432 compostable bin liner or the use of a kitchen caddy with EN13432 bags solves that.

Please note that whilst 'plastic bags' in the wild are absolutely undesirable, they only comprise 0.03% of UK litter. Why target bags instead of the huge litter types of chewing gum and cigarette butts? The answer is easy - retailers are a fish in a barrel & everyone needs a bag occasionally - low hanging fruit for a revenue-oriented legislation which seriously skews the purpose of the Climate Change act 2008 under which it is enacted.

Under the Climate Change Act 2008 EN13432 Compostable options should be exempted from bag levies and treated as a way of addressing the 20% of bags to be subject to the pre-litter fine. The exemption of compostable alternatives will allows retailer to take plastic 100% out of their stores and participate as more than tax collectors.That's a better solution all around, better meets the terms of the Climate Change Act 2008 and the only loser is the government who are opting to 'deal' that final 20% in return for profit - It bears an uncanny similarity to other unsavoury 'dealing' contexts

The NI Legislation is in consultation from now until 9 July 2012, we encourage citizens, business and industry to support the exemption of compostable bags. For more information please visit caseforcompostables . com. Supporting the Bag Tax but advocating Common Sense

Thank you

Paul Marshall

caseforcompostables

tru wrote: »

Do the carrier bags compost when they're buried? I read that they only break down in sunlight and will last as long as a normal carrier when they're buried. I can't find a definitive answer.

Bio-degradeable bags come in many forms and may contain as much as 20% plastic, they may take up to 5 years to degrade. Small pieces of plastic just keep getting smaller, they only disappear when they become part of our eco system are ingested by animals or become part of the food chain.

Oxo-degradeable bags are 100% plastic that contains an element that means they will break down with UV exposure primarily - These are the bags that failed Tesco in recent years

(Bio-)Compostable bags are 100% natural, 0% plastic and EN13432 certification means they break down to 90% biomass 10% oxygen & water within a few months.

Paper is compostable and comes from a sustainable source however it's also 6x the weight and 10x the bulk of compostable bags in landfill.

Hope that's useful

Paul

annie_d

Recently back from a holiday in Singapore. There..the area OUTSIDE the shops was air conditioned. Huge air conditioners blowing cool air outside.

blossomhill_2

We recycle a lot more than we put in the landfill bin

Whereas the neighbours (family of 3 able-bodied adults) recycle nothing - so the council have given them a second landfill bin so they don't have to put out a black bag as well as a landfill bin

Real tragedy of waste food - what if it is a meat product and some poor chicken/pig/cow lived a short stressful life and died in vain?

Ben84

caseforcompostables wrote: »

If we're serious about removing toxic plastic bags from our landfills and landscapes the government could choose to tackle that final 20% easily as shown below but won't because it is a tax cashcow.

Plastic bags aren't toxic. They're mostly made from polypropylene or polyethylene, which is used widely for direct packaging of many food and cosmetic products, and even in medical implants. They present some environmental issues such as litter, animals may eat them and they can block drains making them overflow, but they are not themselves poisonous in any way.