Minimizing plastic

[Delvis]

Yep to all of this. At work we are 95% paperless. Sometimes it is unavoidable but the printers get seldom use. This makes me happy

Fat chance here, EVERYTHING essentially needs to be on paper at some point or another. Often times printing just to sign something or add detail then scanning for someone else to print again!

 

[Delvis]

make biodegradable plastic windows then - its not hard.

Yeah, that would be grand.

Why is it not done?

 

[Glaucus]

Lol, it already happens when the cans are on offer. The only reason people buy 2L bottles over 24 packs is because it's 2p a litre cheaper, if you add a charge onto the bottles and they become more expensive per litre then most people will just buy the cans.

no they won't. again check what happens in other countries, we have more than enough data to show you are talking absolute BS.

make biodegradable plastic windows then - its not hard.

this still makes it hard to recycle.
should be no tax if the packaging is a single material and easily recyclable and large tax if not.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

To be honest, i don't normally need to inspect my food before i buy it. Usually the picture on the cardboard box and my imagination is good enough for me

 

[Phate]

Fat chance here, EVERYTHING essentially needs to be on paper at some point or another. Often times printing just to sign something or add detail then scanning for someone else to print again!

This used to happen at a previous company, it was an insurance firm. Ran by old boys, everything was printed to be signed to be scanned to be sent to be printed to be counter signed. It was obscene. I brought up the idea of implementing some kind of "digital signature" before and the push back I received from your typical suits (who used to work in the office when you could smoke) "bloody technology, what good will that ever do!"

Like we've said, it's a cultural issue.

I bet if paper suddenly become massively taxed a lot of companies will change very quickly!

 

[ubersonic]

no they won't.

It ALREADY HAPPENS when the cans are on offer making them cheaper per litre than the bottles. If you add a deposit/charge to the bottles then that makes them more expensive than the cans so the same thing will happen, the facts/data don't lie >.>

 

[Glaucus]

It ALREADY HAPPENS when the cans are on offer making them cheaper per litre than the bottles. If you add a deposit/charge to the bottles then that makes them more expensive than the cans so the same thing will happen, the facts/data don't lie >.>

lol, it jsut doesnt. you never see peopel buying packs of cans over bottles. you might. but this just isn't a wide spread thing.

 

[ubersonic]

you never see peopel buying packs of cans over bottles

O.o

Do you shop at Harrods or something? Most of us see it all the time when the cans are cheaper, people only buy bottles to save money because they're cheaper, if they're not because of offers or dumb taxes or whatever they go for the proper cans.

People simply aren't going to pay more for bottles just so they can fill their car with them and drive them back for a tiny partial refund, the additional effort/agro isn't worth it, not when they could just buy the cans and put them in the blue bin (this ignores the fact that many people would just forgo the deposit and recycle the bottles instead of returning them anyway).

The bottle tax/deposit was a stupid idea when it was suggested, it's still a stupid idea.

 

[Glaucus]

The bottle tax/deposit was a stupid idea when it was suggested, it's still a stupid idea.

i wonder what your thoughts were on the 5p bag, I bet I can guess. I wonder why you ignore the success its had in other countries.
and i wonder why you resort to stupid points like causing more co2 but ignore that people go to shops anyway, so its not an added journey

 

[Delvis]

This used to happen at a previous company, it was an insurance firm. Ran by old boys, everything was printed to be signed to be scanned to be sent to be printed to be counter signed. It was obscene. I brought up the idea of implementing some kind of "digital signature" before and the push back I received from your typical suits (who used to work in the office when you could smoke) "bloody technology, what good will that ever do!"

Like we've said, it's a cultural issue.

I bet if paper suddenly become massively taxed a lot of companies will change very quickly!

It's where I work really, everything is on paper at some point or another....New accounts-yep, loaning equipment-yep, using the work van-yep.

 

[adolf hamster]

I've noticed ive been buying birdseye chicken fillets recently and they just come in the cardboard box without the obligatory interior bag.

Its a good step forward imo, so much of packaging is unnessecary and tbh as consumers its not our fault, we just buy whats available.

There really needs to be a step back for companies and their products, i bought a set of torx drivers recently and it was the same old blisterpack of many cut fingers- theyre tools! If they need a blister pack to protect them then they're not good enough

 

[ubersonic]

i wonder what your thoughts were on the 5p bag

I was a big supporter of the idea, though I always felt that disabled people should have been immune to the tax. It's been great for reducing the amount of bags used via people buying the reusable ones instead. It was funny when it spread to England and they were panicking though

However that's something completely different as it's not like anyone was going to save money by buying cardboard boxes instead.

 

[D3K]

I'm afraid plastic consumption is rising almost exponentially. Not just for fast moving consumer goods containers, but for everything manufacturing based. It will only get worse as 3D printers become more user friendly and robust.

I work in the Autodesk channel and they gave us a seminar on a simulation tool that helps with plastic moulding performance. Part of their drive was that production with plastics is growing at such a fast rate that the need for quality in production was also rising. Hence their tool to capitlise on the trend - and one of their most expensive at £70k a seat a year. And the market is paying for it so you can only imagine how much plastic is being produced for that sum to be worth the offset for increased quality.

Really saddened my day, if not week that did.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

we need to tax waste and pollution, only then will change truly happen.

need to go back to recyclable bottles for instance and get a few pennies when you take them back.

And whom would Sir like to tax to solve this issue?

https://ensia.com/photos/plastics-impact-worlds-oceans-outlined-8-maps/

 

[Glaucus]

And whom would Sir like to tax to solve this issue?

https://ensia.com/photos/plastics-impact-worlds-oceans-outlined-8-maps/

Ourselfs, do what we can here. What a bizzare statement. We aren't the world,that doesn't mean we shouldn't do what we can.

 

[aardvark]

Yeah, that would be grand.

Why is it not done?

its expensive, and only really works for plastic not directly in contact with water, but you could do it for a lot of the other applications.

 

[adolf hamster]

Ourselfs, do what we can here. What a bizzare statement. We aren't the world,that doesn't mean we shouldn't do what we can.

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.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Saw a few kickstarter things recently about normal everyday disposable plastic objects being replaced with equivalent plant matter versions. I don't think these projects are saving the day any time soon on their own but they are certainly doing their bit in changing cultural attitudes behind plastic by just making the anti-plastic waste industry larger.

There the cassava root 'i am not plastic' bags and the quite cool edible cutlery designed to do away with plastic (both you can eat them after one go or wash and reuse for months!)

 

[adolf hamster]

Saw a few kickstarter things recently about normal everyday disposable plastic objects being replaced with equivalent plant matter versions. I don't think these projects are saving the day any time soon on their own but they are certainly doing their bit in changing cultural attitudes behind plastic by just making the anti-plastic waste industry larger.

There the cassava root 'i am not plastic' bags and the quite cool edible cutlery designed to do away with plastic (both you can eat them after one go or wash and reuse for months!)

never heard of edible cutlery? i'm guessing it'd be for things like fast food places as opposed to at home, stainless cutlery is the epitome of re-usable and re-cyclable

i did remember seeing a company looking to use fungus based packaging, i think they basically just packed trash into a mould, put some of this fungus on it and after a while it came out looking pretty much exactly like styrofoam, was a very interesting documentary as they also covered using fungus for cleaning soil that had been contaminated with oil

 

[Ahleckz]

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!