Minimizing plastic

Delvis · 5 Dec 2017 at 18:53

Ahleckz said:
I think we should ban the plastic bags that are available for fruit and vegetable at the supermarket. I really don't get why you have to put your bananas into a plastic bag to put that bag into a plastic bag. Little changes, but it all helps!

How about 12 potatoes, where do I put those

Dis86 · 5 Dec 2017 at 19:01

In a reinforced paper bag or net or hemp or Hessian bag.

Monkeynut · 5 Dec 2017 at 19:34

Replace plastic with glass wherever possible and ban excess use of plastic seems a basic step. I wouldn't have a problem with some additionally funded cleanup operations.

geuben · 5 Dec 2017 at 19:48

Delvis said:
How about 12 potatoes, where do I put those

In the trolley loose, on to the conveyor and then in to your reusable bag. That's what we do with all our fruit and veg, we don't use any of those plastic bags any more.

Glaucus · 5 Dec 2017 at 19:58

adolf hamster said:
we can do what we can, but the point is if you analyse the world critically you're going to make far higher improvement for less effort if you use those same resources to improve the worst offenders.

That doesn't work, even if you send money it's next to impossible to dictate. It is far more successfully to do what you can and persadue other countries do the same. Many countries all ready have fee on bottles and there recycling rate is extremely high. More countries to adopt the more pressure it puts on the remaining one.

On top of that it makes economic sense. All these raw material imports that are just going to landfill or worse.

Delvis · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:02

geuben said:
In the trolley loose, on to the conveyor and then in to your reusable bag. That's what we do with all our fruit and veg, we don't use any of those plastic bags any more.

Only way to stop that on massive to stop giving them out willy nilly then

geuben · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:03

Delvis said:
Only way to stop that on massive to stop giving them out willy nilly then

Well yeah, wasn't that the point that was being made.

Delvis · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:04

geuben said:
Well yeah, wasn't that the point that was being made.

It's the evening, I'm tired.

Could change to biodegradable then, they do that for home deliveries and potatoes etc

geuben · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:10

Delvis said:
It's the evening, I'm tired.

Could change to biodegradable then, they do that for home deliveries and potatoes etc

You can get reusable veg bags. They are basically a net bag, I assume so the checkout person can see what is in there. You might end up paying ever so slightly more per kg though.

Hagar · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:11

I was reasonably impressed by my Crosshair board, no film wrap around the box, internal support is card, with a single clear polycarbonate cover. Metallised plastic bags, none. Could make you a bit insecure I suppose for unwanted access to the box before purchase.

geuben · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:12

I bought a dyson recently. In the box every diffierent attachment came in its own plastic bag as did every manual and piece of paperwork. Why does something designed to collect dust need dust protection in the box!

LabR@t · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:26

Why do bananas come in a plastic bag now?
I mean really!

LabR@t · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:27

Why don't we have paper bags in super markets like the Americans?

Rroff · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:29

It has always boggled my mind that we don't reuse stuff more - maybe not the most cost effective but why don't we for instance have reusable containers for things like shower gel that can be refilled at the store or by a delivery/round process?

Delvis · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:48

Rroff said:
It has always boggled my mind that we don't reuse stuff more - maybe not the most cost effective but why don't we for instance have reusable containers for things like shower gel that can be refilled at the store or by a delivery/round process?

This is actually something I've considered, as you can do it yourself

geuben · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:52

Rroff said:
It has always boggled my mind that we don't reuse stuff more - maybe not the most cost effective but why don't we for instance have reusable containers for things like shower gel that can be refilled at the store or by a delivery/round process?

Logistics, cost and market access probably.

A plastic bottle can easily be stocked in any sized store. If you wanted a reusable system the store would need a dedicated space for your tank of stuff and refilling station. It would take up a lot more space in store (prohibitively in something like a Tesco metro) and thus limit your market.

adolf hamster · 5 Dec 2017 at 20:56

Rroff said:
It has always boggled my mind that we don't reuse stuff more - maybe not the most cost effective but why don't we for instance have reusable containers for things like shower gel that can be refilled at the store or by a delivery/round process?

indeed, like the old milk bottles, or as the europeans have started doing glass bottles of almost all forms (seriously the german pfand does make you want to recycle more with minimum of hassle and you can still use the good ol' trash when you need to)

i think there's still a lot that legislation and manufacturers can do, there's a lot of unnessecary packaging.

take multipack crisps- why not 1 big bag with a re-usable ziplock bag for you to divvy out portions?

or bigger packs of common ingredients- like pasta or rice that aren't perishible to the same degree

and dont get me started on product packaging, like the example of the torx drivers earlier, there's really no need for protective packaging on some things

another example would be things like mobile phones- why bundle cables and chargers with the device? i have loads of unused phone chargers and cables because everything being microusb i just have one big charging brick that powers everything and a couple of standard cables

Rroff · 5 Dec 2017 at 21:11

adolf hamster said:
another example would be things like mobile phones- why bundle cables and chargers with the device? i have loads of unused phone chargers and cables because everything being microusb i just have one big charging brick that powers everything and a couple of standard cables

What bothers me more about mobile phones - the last one I bought had way more plastic used for laying stuff out inside than needed, there was like 7x welcome mini leaflets all in their own individual shrink wrap in different languages - 3 copies of the main manual in different languages each individually wrapped then half a dozen offers/extra card things each also individually wrapped or sleeved in plastic, etc. etc. 2/3rds of the contents went in the bin

Not so bothered about the charger and cables as I use a fair few spares, etc.

adolf hamster · 5 Dec 2017 at 21:13

Rroff said:
What bothers me more about mobile phones - the last one I bought had way more plastic used for laying stuff out inside than needed, there was like 7x welcome mini leaflets all in their own individual shrink wrap in different languages - 3 copies of the main manual in different languages each individually wrapped then half a dozen offers/extra card things each also individually wrapped or sleeved in plastic, etc. etc. 2/3rds of the contents went in the bin

Not so bothered about the charger and cables as I use a fair few spares, etc.

that too, whatever happened to just having 1 leaflet with all the languages on it?

ultralaser · 5 Dec 2017 at 22:05

Plastic is a typical example of a negative externality (http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Market_failures/Externalities.html)... basically something bad that isn't dealt with because it's often zero cost those that cause it. Truth is you need to tax the hell out of plastic use until those 'external' costs are incorporated into the real costs.