recycling ...are we really saving the planet ?

Cardew

Kay_Peel wrote: »

While I do my bit, I just have to look across the valley to a mega-mansion - the home of a famous footballer and his wife. At night, it's lit up like Old Trafford. Inside, I'm told, are the biggest monstrosities of fridges, freezers, appliances, gyms, and a swimming pool that needs heating. There is also a golf course that needs watering, there's a fleet of gas-guzzling cars and they have various other toys to play with.

The two of them must consume enough energy to run a small town.

Perhaps they have modelled their home and lifestyle on Al Gore. - well one of his homes.

Browntrout_2

To the original OP, yes it's a nonsense that we pay increased council tax to have mutliple collections sorted and save the environment whilst not sure of the effectiveness of this, i.e. one broken bottle in the blue bin where I live causes the whole lorry load to be landfilled, you can't have broken glass in your toilet paper...
:eek:

And as so we outsource another task to the far east, but really it is just paying someone to fill containers, possibly the richest woman in china runs this business, not 100% sure on that though?

I think the CO2 emission 'carbon footprint' thing is a political issue which has grown arms and legs now that banks have set up trading desks to buy and sell it, i.e. clean companies sell some of their quota to dirty companies, and goldman sachs makes a profit regardless.

I may start burning tyres and old engine oil in my garden to increase my footprint!!

krazykidskate

Kay_Peel wrote: »

While I do my bit, I just have to look across the valley to a mega-mansion - the home of a famous footballer and his wife. At night, it's lit up like Old Trafford. Inside, I'm told, are the biggest monstrosities of fridges, freezers, appliances, gyms, and a swimming pool that needs heating. There is also a golf course that needs watering, there's a fleet of gas-guzzling cars and they have various other toys to play with.

The two of them must consume enough energy to run a small town.

As I recycle 'greywater', fill my compost bins, fit waterbutts, re-use, reduce and recycle, I wonder what the point is.

k.

I watched Inconvenient Truth and was feeling very motivated to do all I could to be greener. It didn't take long for me to think 'well what is the point'

Prince Bandar and his own private airbus jetting around the world.
China opening 2 new power stations a week

I think we need to tackle the big polluters, just doing our bit is not enough.

mascherano

PabloNeruda wrote: »

Is that so, Einstein? Perhaps you'd be kind enough to share your academic knowledge on the subject. The Gaia theory of global self-regulation has been acknowledged as QED by scientists in the Amsterdam Declaration of 2001.

Therefore I'm interested in where the 'pseudo-intellectual' analysis you refer to comes from?

Do yourself a favour - stick to subjects you know something about before trying to criticise others, or else you risk humiliating yourself in public and making yourself look like an ignorant tit. Like you've just done.

Dont try and pass off fringe science as mainstream science.
You may be able to fool the less informed people on here but some of us are actual scientists and dont easily swallow fanciful ideas such as Gaia Hypothesis (which has a backbone of truth swaddled in airy-fairy pseudoscientific romantic nonsense).

Debt_Free_Chick

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Recycling isn't the answer. Only by reducing the amount of *stuff* we get through, and living more sustainably, will we really make a difference.

Penny. x

Agreed - in the following order, we should be doing the following

Reduce - buy less packaging, for example
Reuse - rather than just chucking it out or automatically putting it in the recycling bin
Recycle - as a last resort

dianadors

Ive always been brought up "not to waste" and I am a big recycler. When I say I recycle, I do fill the council bins appropriately etc, but its more about "not wasting" for me. So we make sure things like the kids clothes go to someone else who can use them, same goes for toys etc. We are not over indulgent with buying "stuff" either. I try to buy food in as little packaging as possible and I have a compost bin for peelings etc. I notice every week that neighbours on our street have overflowing bins, whereas we always have lots of room left in ours (and they are collected fortnightly.) I must admit to not being fully convinced about global warming (and I live near the area currently suffering extreme flooding). I do think the earth has a natural cycle (Ice age etc) but I do think we pollute too much and I am concerned about the amount of rubbish that we generate and subsequently land fill.

moonrakerz

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Agreed - in the following order, we should be doing the following

Reduce - buy less packaging, for example

I have said in an earlier post on this subject, that it annoys me that I have to pay for the excess packaging in the first place, then I am told by politicians/local government/green zealots that I am producing too much rubbish, then I have to pay even more Council Tax to get rid of it !
OR, use my petrol and cause extra pollution to take it 10 miles to the recycling centre because my local council doesn't collect cardboard or plastic .

I am tempted at times, to remove the excess packaging and leave it at the checkout - I certainly do that with those stupid plastic hooks/labels on Morrison's bananas, always gets me a dirty look !

Perhaps a concerted campaign by shoppers would make the supermarkets demand less packaging from their suppliers. Leave piles of cardboard and plastic on the checkout when you leave !
Why is a "four" pack of baked beans encased in cardboard or plastic ? If the till can cope with a BOGOF it can give you a better price for four single cans of beans !
Most of this excess packaging is for the convenience of the store NOT the shopper.

Why do batteries come mounted on cardboard in a plastic blister ? I can remember when batteries were in a box of, say 50, on the shelf and you just took out the number you required - not any more ! Two reasons I would say;
1. The packaging is another way of advertising.
2. The manufacturer/retailer is trying to protect himself from ill-thought out legislation, which might get them sued, by putting on a plethora of warnings and phone numbers -if you have any questions.
"Do not feed these batteries to children"
"Hello ! is that Duracell, it it OK to feed these batteries to my dog then ?"

This is the Government causing excess packaging !

Next time you go shopping, look at the packaging and ask "Is that really necessary?"

vikingaero

moonrakerz wrote: »

Why do batteries come mounted on cardboard in a plastic blister ? I can remember when batteries were in a box of, say 50, on the shelf and you just took out the number you required - not any more ! Two reasons I would say;
1. The packaging is another way of advertising.
2. The manufacturer/retailer is trying to protect himself from ill-thought out legislation, which might get them sued, by putting on a plethora of warnings and phone numbers -if you have any questions.
"Do not feed these batteries to children"
"Hello ! is that Duracell, it it OK to feed these batteries to my dog then ?"

This is the Government causing excess packaging !

Next time you go shopping, look at the packaging and ask "Is that really necessary?"

It's not the Government causing excess packaging, it's the lawyers. Put down all lawyers and we'll solve half the problem! The other half of the problem are the stupid people and that involves a common sense test and sterilisation at puberty. :rolleyes::D

Seriously though. In Dublin you see people shopping and they are issued with paper bags. The well worn paper bags look better than a distressed plastic bag. Plastic is so cheap that for certain applications it needs to be taxed to deter use.

When I buy my weekly mag-fix from WHSmiths I often get a weird look from staff because I choose to forgo the plastic bag and wrap my newspaper around the magazines!

moonrakerz

vikingaero wrote: »

When I buy my weekly mag-fix from WHSmiths I often get a weird look from staff because I choose to forgo the plastic bag and wrap my newspaper around the magazines!

My Sunday Times already comes in TWO plastic bags before they even offer me a carrier - madness !

pennypitstop_2

Next time I go shopping I'm going to try and leave the packaging there... it's something I hadn't thought of before... when I get home after a big shop, I am always amazed at how my bin is full by the time I've unloaded... packaging around the multipacks of everything etc, hooks, labels, nets, polythene and teh like. I recycle everything I can and my green bins are always full, with the black bin loads of room in it still.

But the small paper bags I get fruit and veg in from the little shops always goes straight in the recycle bin too. Sometimes I think it may be better to reuse a plastic supermarket bag to get more in and reduce the recycling amount. I agree with the OP, it''s hard to know what to do for the best especially when you hear that our recycling is shipped to China which I hadn't heard of before!!!