It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

tooldle

Agree with the above. We’ve had vacuum packed beef and pork mince from local supplier, for at least 3 yrs. I take the washed plastic to our local coop. Mince packed this way needs a bit more bashing to break it up. Change is necessary to get us to net zero.

YorksLass

@YoungBlueEyes - I'm not sure but I can always ask next time I call in.  I have taken pretty ones before on the basis they can be used for candle making or filling with sweets and such like as Xmas stocking fillers and I do re-use what I can (eg for storage or when making jam/chutneys) but find there's a limit as to how many I can re-use!

YoungBlueEyes

I don’t know how common it is. I never saw it til we moved here, so I don’t know if it’s a location thing or a cost of living thing. 

Apparently a lot of people give them to charity round here. They only sell em for 10p each, but a high turnover means they never refuse them

Katiehound

I've seen fancy jars sometimes but not bog standard ones.
Sometimes one of the shops uses the big jars to store small craft items for sale. I think one of them had fancy jars filled with sweets etc to sell at Christmas.

Pollycat

tooldle said:

Agree with the above. We’ve had vacuum packed beef and pork mince from local supplier, for at least 3 yrs. I take the washed plastic to our local coop. Mince packed this way needs a bit more bashing to break it up. Change is necessary to get us to net zero.

I recycle everything I possibly can.
I buy mainly 2nd hand clothes, donate my unwanted clothes to a charity and use the textile recycling for stuff that's not good enough.
I read packaging to see what is recyclable and what isn't.
I'm not keeping packaging that's contained raw mince until I next go back to Sainsbury's.
Change might be 'necessary' but I'm not prepared to do that.

-taff

I just rinse anything meat related plastic out and then put it in a bag, when the small bag is full [usually a bread bag or similar sized bag] and not just from meat stuff, from salad stuff, from vegetables, from packaging of anything [being as everything seems to be in plastic these days] , it goes into a bigger bag to await another two or three small bags. Then they go to tesco to the big metal bin. The plastic doesn't smell unless you forget to rinse out.

tooldle

-taff said:

I just rinse anything meat related plastic out and then put it in a bag, when the small bag is full [usually a bread bag or similar sized bag] and not just from meat stuff, from salad stuff, from vegetables, from packaging of anything [being as everything seems to be in plastic these days] , it goes into a bigger bag to await another two or three small bags. Then they go to tesco to the big metal bin. The plastic doesn't smell unless you forget to rinse out.

Similar here in that i wash plastic packaging with soap in warm water. What can go in the recycling bin, goes in and the rest is saved until i next pass the Coop. I've noticed the volume of incoming plastic decreasing significantly in recent months as we make changes to how we live. 
I do wonder if eventually we'll see more 'on street' options for recycling. It would certainly be more convenient in allowing residents to dispose of their recycling as and when suits, rather than waiting for collections or trips to supermarkets etc. It is common in some of mainland Europe to have very local shared collection points. On my 'in the office' days, i'm on my way to the bus stop prior to the Coop opening.

YoungBlueEyes

I do similar with the bread bag. It sits on the side 'til there's a few bits in it (crisp packets, some fruit/veg wrappings etc) then I take it with me when I go food shopping on a Tues morning. It's only sat a week so it doesn't get chance to smell.

The meat tray ones get a swill round in the soapy water after I've washed the dishes. Then go in the recycling bin (if poss). 

I was talking to my lovely neighbour the other day. She was saying that not all the things with the recycling logo on them (the 3 circular arrows) are recyclable, you have to look at the number in the middle. The number relates to what sort of plastic it is, and some should go in the main bin. I just check there's a logo, then it's either my bag or the recycling bin. I didn't realise you had to check the number... I'll have to research that, see if it's right. Unless anyone knows?  

Pollycat

We can recycle most plastic, anything that says it can't be recycled goes in the black bin.
I wash out - not just rinse - all my bottles, tins and plastic containers. I do this in the washing up liquid after I've finished washing the pots. We don't have a dishwasher. So all my recycling is very clean.
I'm not - definitely not - saving up packaging that has contained food to take back to a supermarket in a week's time.

To the people who 'rinse' out the packaging:
where do you keep this until you're ready to dispose of it?

elsien

YoungBlueEyes said:

I do similar with the bread bag. It sits on the side 'til there's a few bits in it (crisp packets, some fruit/veg wrappings etc) then I take it with me when I go food shopping on a Tues morning. It's only sat a week so it doesn't get chance to smell.

The meat tray ones get a swill round in the soapy water after I've washed the dishes. Then go in the recycling bin (if poss). 

I was talking to my lovely neighbour the other day. She was saying that not all the things with the recycling logo on them (the 3 circular arrows) are recyclable, you have to look at the number in the middle. The number relates to what sort of plastic it is, and some should go in the main bin. I just check there's a logo, then it's either my bag or the recycling bin. I didn't realise you had to check the number... I'll have to research that, see if it's right. Unless anyone knows?  

It may vary between councils.  My council recycling leaflet just says all colours except black but I know it used to say the higher numbers like six couldn’t be recycled.
 It also says that items need to be loose in the recycling bin, I know a load of people tie recycling items up in bags before putting them in which just seem to defeat the object slightly.
There’s a lot of people only recycle because they have and really don’t care what happens to it once it’s gone in the bin.