Zero waste, plastic-free, MoneySaving Christmas

Martyn1981

PasturesNew wrote: »

Personally, I really don't care about any of this stuff. It's not on my radar at all.

If the planet isn't here in 100 years' time it won't be because I didn't take my own basket to the market this week .... it'll be because some big bugg4h pressed a button.

The biggest threat to society, life, humankind, the planet is ..... other people!

Hiya. If the biggest threat is other people, then you've just concluded that the cumulative actions of individuals (like yourself) are the problem - which seems to contradict your initial position.

All of our efforts may seem small, but air pollution, AGW, and plastic pollution is the sum of 7 billion individuals (with a couple of those billions accounting for the majority).

So any action by any individual will help, the impact may be small, but it all adds up (just like the negative impacts of individuals adds up), plus awareness of the problems (and solutions) can help to guide public opinion and political action.

And, of course, trying to do better doesn't have to be a misery, it can be fun and interesting and enjoyably challenging to have a go.

Nonnadiluca

Did you see Blue Planet yesterday? Specifically the man who patrolled the beach where endangered leatherback turtles came to lay their eggs, to stop local people from killing them for food; bringing in tourists to see the turtles, thereby giving the locals a reason to protect them; enlisting those same people as guides for the tourists; going into schools to educate the next generation, all of which resulted in an increase in the number of turtles on the beach from about 40 per night to 500 during the egg laying season? Who says that one person can't make a difference?

Martyn1981

Nonnadiluca wrote: »

Did you see Blue Planet yesterday? Specifically the man who patrolled the beach where endangered leatherback turtles came to lay their eggs,

I thought everyone on that episode was inspiring, but that fellah was simply incredible - he heard that Leatherbacks were in terminal decline and 'nobody seemed to care', so he cared. Fantastic.

The plastic collected from regurgitated 'debris' from Albatross chicks, or dead chicks was heartbreaking.

peachyp

Spotted these in the latest tesco mag. They make Christmas cards with paper which has seeds embedded, so you can plant them after! Quite pricey so I might just buy one pack for my green fingered family members who would appreciate it much more.
I'd hope they don't come with plastic packaging - has anyone tried them?

https://plantableseedpaper.co.uk

bugslet

Good thread Andrea!


I read Zero waste home by Bea Johnson a while back and check out hers and others blogs. The American ones are not always as relevant, but overall there is a lot to pick up from them. The hardest thing is the time things take - I work 55 hours, add 15 hours commute and you can forget Mon - Friday for creating your own stuff.

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

When those of us that are aware of the issue still have trouble, wondering where on earth the packaging is coming from, it's almost disillusioning to think how much packaging people don't think about when they're not "aware" of the issue.

I was so happy Blue Planet highlighted it last night but so sad to see how it had to be highlighted. I'm in Zero waste and plastic free facebook groups and follow relevant accounts so I knew it was coming up in one of the episodes but it was still devastating to watch.

Fabulous to see people's reactions are being highlighted in the papers today though and hopefully that whale calf's life won't have been in vain!

It seems that around 90-95% of plastics in oceans come from ten rivers in Africa and Asia ( no idea if that percentage has always been the same), however it does mean that the UK must do reasonable well. I also see that Gove is pressing for part of the aid budget to go to the countries where some of those rivers are to support antipollution measures.

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't use beauty products so the home-made recipes aren't my thing.

Saying that, though, I've switched from shower gel to handsoap. When the soap i already have runs out I'll only buy new ones that come in cardboard packaging. I tried to have a sneak peak at the Homesense section of soaps a couple of months ago to see which ones have plastic packaging inside the boxes and which are just box. Am I possibly taking this a bit far? :rotfl:

I've tried to convince the rest of the family to use soap recently but they're refusing. As I had several old ikea soaps hanging around I mushed them up in warm water, turned them into a liquid and poured them into a hand gel dispenser. The family's been using it no problem :rotfl:

I love soap - never understand why people won't use it . It lasts forever and the packaging is so much less.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Emmala wrote: »

I was wondering about getting brown paper bags to put the kids sandwiches/rolls in rather than clingfilm. I’m not sure what the best option is. I have seen some cotton covers (a bit like shower caps!) for covering food/bowls etc instead of using cling/foil, so I’m going to investigate and get some of those for leftovers and the like.

I collect brown paper bags in case I need them for something like this but I've been using them to put mushrooms in so they don't go off (as much as I tell the other half about not buying plastic he still buys mushrooms in brown trays with clingfilm).

We've managed to collect a lot of food tubs over the years (will it show my age if I call them tupperware?) so my kids have learnt to put their sandwiches in those and not use clingfilm unless we really have to (I get the kids to make their own packed lunches as much as possible so they learn to make them, they're becoming more independent and they hopefully eat everything they put in there).

Former_MSE_Andrea

Shrimply wrote: »

And I think that's a big problem at Christmas in terms of people getting annoyed about you fussing over these things, and thinking you are over complicating things by no just throwing things away.

Yes!

I feel like i'm being a right old fusspot and picky.

The lovely David Attenborough has definitely helped me push that agenda lately though!

Former_MSE_Andrea

Ben84 wrote: »

Glass is massively more resource intensive to make and move around than plastic.

Here's some calculations:
https://www.triplepundit.com/2007/03/askpablo-glass-vs-pet-bottles/

Swapping from plastic to glass is about as good for the environment as swapping a mini for a hummer.

Not to say plastics don't have any environmental downsides - mostly when badly disposed of however - but they have come to dominate modern life in part because they're cheap - and they're cheap because they use far less resources to perform the same tasks as glass, metal or paper/card. I mean, think about it, how much does a plastic bottle weigh compared to the same volume glass bottle. Hundreds of grams of glass vs a plastic bottle that is so light it barely registers on kitchen scales, and so thin you can crush it with your hand easily. Then compare the temperature glass/sand or steel/aluminium melt as vs the melting temperature of plastics. You can melt plastics just by holding a cigarette lighter near them - flame doesn't even need to touch it, glass and metals need serious equipment to melt. Forming plastic takes much less energy.

Of the options we have, I think plastics are the preferable material for packaging. I buy almost all items items either unpacked, or in plastic, and the end result is very little rubbish at the end of the week. When it comes to disposal, I bag them up properly and tie the bag tightly before they go in the rubbish. Don't want them to escape. My rubbish goes to a waste to energy power station where my one supermarket bag a week of mostly mixed plastic films, some paper and a few glass jars and plastic bottles is burnt to make electricity. I'm not too focused on rubbish though, it's not as big a deal as it can be presented as. Mostly I'm focused in minimising the amount of products I use. In every case I know of, products are vastly more resource intensive than their packaging. I buy concentrated products, use many reusable items, and try to make things last by using the effective amount rather than lots. A bottle of shampoo or shower gel lasts me months.

I suppose what I'm getting at is packaging gets too much focus. Using more efficient products and not over-using them matters more than the packaging. And if like me your rubbish goes to a waste to energy power plant, anything flammable is fine - and plastics burn well. For landfill, plastics are inert, crush well compared to other materials, and contain far less bulk of material as well. I wouldn't over focus on purging plastic from my life, but do dispose of it responsibly as it is bad when it gets free in to the environment.

Interesting.

I'm not sure I'm convinced but I'll certainly take the view on board and think about it

Former_MSE_Andrea

PasturesNew wrote: »

Personally, I really don't care about any of this stuff. It's not on my radar at all.

If the planet isn't here in 100 years' time it won't be because I didn't take my own basket to the market this week .... it'll be because some big bugg4h pressed a button.

The biggest threat to society, life, humankind, the planet is ..... other people!

That last bit's certainly true!

Former_MSE_Andrea

Nonnadiluca wrote: »

Did you see Blue Planet yesterday? Specifically the man who patrolled the beach where endangered leatherback turtles came to lay their eggs, to stop local people from killing them for food; bringing in tourists to see the turtles, thereby giving the locals a reason to protect them; enlisting those same people as guides for the tourists; going into schools to educate the next generation, all of which resulted in an increase in the number of turtles on the beach from about 40 per night to 500 during the egg laying season? Who says that one person can't make a difference?

Yes!

We're all one person.

One person can definitely make a difference.

Many one persons together can make a huge difference! :T