Minimizing plastic

[Avenged7Fold]

Not a groundbreaking idea, nothing particularly exciting but one we should all think about.

I am not talking about going plastic free or touting the ideal that no one should use plastic ever but rather looking at it from a practical sense.

A friend of mine and his missus has gone as plastic free as they can, when it comes to disposable items/containers. He tries to buy plastics which can be more easily recycled if he cant avoid buying stuff that comes in a plastic bottle. He said the hardest change was toiletries, as it was difficult to get them in a enviro-friendly packaging and that the amount of non recyclable plastic that he built up before the change was staggering.

I go to a variety of retail/trade shows and have seen the crazy amount of plastic and general waste comes out of a temporary stand setup, something that happens weekly at exhibition centers. Literately several square miles of carpet use to be thrown away in between shows (now i believe they recycle a lot of it).


I've often tried to minimize plastic and was wondering if others in GD do the sames and to what extent?

I have been to small shops in other countries where people bring in their own re-usable container for food and drink. Do we like our flash packaging too much for this to ever be commonplace here?

Our attitude for litter seems to be appalling too, i certainly didn't care when i was a kid but now nothing annoys me more.

 

[Kronos]

I wonder if your friend is taking on board products and there are thousands particularly cosmetics and toiletries, that contain microbeads? The government have said that companies have to stop uses the beads in products they make by January 1st 2018, and by June it will be against the law to sell products with microbeads. But I wonder if they will stop products containing microbeads coming into the country fro abroad.

 

[Dis86]

The whole human race is a crap fest and nothing shows it more than the damage we're doing with plastic because it's so visible. I'd love to see widescale clean up efforts but it'll cost money and just ain't gonna happen.
Attitudes need to change completely as it's so obvious people just don't care.

 

[Glaucus]

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.

 

[ubersonic]

I just bought a load of corrugated cardboard made from plastic!

 

[ubersonic]

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

I'm pretty sure that was mentioned earlier this year, there are two major flaws with it:

1: It rewards people for returning bottles to the store to put in their blue bin instead of putting them in their own blue bin. So basically it just consumes fuel and generates CO2.
2: It would make bottles more expensive per litre than cans, and can production is worse for the environment.

 

[Glaucus]

I'm pretty sure that was mentioned earlier this year, there are two major flaws with it:

1: It rewards people for returning bottles to the store to put in their blue bin instead of putting them in their own blue bin. So basically it just consumes fuel and generates CO2.
2: It would make bottles more expensive per litre than cans, and can production is worse for the environment.

1: that's false because recycling rate is so low, compared to countries that have such a system, it is far outweighed by the massive increase in recycling. Most people also go shopping, so incure no extra fuel or co2 used. its an absolutely absurd point, just like when it was mentioned in the other thread.
2: again wrong, as not only do you get the money back, but cans and small bottles of drinks are charged at an insane price compared to big bottles. companies aren't going to suddenly switch to cans.

 

[Kronos]

I'm pretty sure that was mentioned earlier this year, there are two major flaws with it:

1: It rewards people for returning bottles to the store to put in their blue bin instead of putting them in their own blue bin. So basically it just consumes fuel and generates CO2.

I have stopped recycling glass via my own blue bin as have most residents in my Edinburgh area given the councils poor record of actually emptying the bins. I either take them to a supermarket recycling bin or they go in the landfill wheelie.
My council really could not give a dam about this issue though it certainly talks the talk as we residents in Edinburgh have had collection issues for a couple of years now since the council gave us 6 different coloured bins for various recyclable items.

 

[Zethor]

A pollution tax is the only solution, yes, but it should be aimed at producers/sellers. Private citizens should get deductions based on how much they recycle per month or year. Ideally, the higher prices resulting from the tax would be counter balanced by the deductions so the state budget and budgets of companies and families would be unaffected.

 

[Delvis]

Just stop using it on packaging, simples.

It's our ridiculous need for seeing what inside a product which is why there is so much plastic. Half the food shelves could be recyclable plastic or cardboard, but due to the plastic 'windows' etc that are on them it makes that part of the product non-recyclable.

 

[aardvark]

Just stop using it on packaging, simples.

It's our ridiculous need for seeing what inside a product which is why there is so much plastic. Half the food shelves could be recyclable plastic or cardboard, but due to the plastic 'windows' etc that are on them it makes that part of the product non-recyclable.

make biodegradable plastic windows then - its not hard.

 

[FishFluff]

I'm trying to reduce my plastic consumption, but it's really difficult at times. Also I'm not sure why I'm bothering since I also eat plenty of meat and that's probably far more harmful to the environment.

 

[ubersonic]

1: that's false because recycling rate is so low, compared to countries that have such a system, it is far outweighed by the massive increase in recycling.

Lol, hate to break this too you but we've had the ability to take stuff to supermarkets for recycling in this country since the 80's, it's popularity has just gone down significantly since the blue bins were introduced.

again wrong, as not only do you get the money back, but cans and small bottles of drinks are charged at an insane price compared to big bottles. companies aren't going to suddenly switch to cans.

Er, it was a fact not an opinion. If you add a small tax/charge onto the plastic bottles as was discussed in the other thread then they become more expensive to buy per litre than cans, so large amounts of consumers will simply switch to cans to save money.

 

[Glaucus]

Lol, hate to break this too you but we've had the ability to take stuff to supermarkets for recycling in this country since the 80's, it's popularity has just gone down significantly since the blue bins were introduced.

hate to break it to you but tahts as absurd as your original point, there is no reclaimable fee, why is it in countries which have such a fee, recycling rate is in the high 90s%. stop posting garbage and actually think it through.

Er, it was a fact not an opinion. If you add a small tax/charge onto the plastic bottles as was discussed in the other thread then they become more expensive to buy per litre than cans, so large amounts of consumers will simply switch to cans to save money.

no, it is just as absurd. other countries have not switched to such an option, becuase well good luck selling a 1.75litre non resealabel can, or any other dozen reasons it won't happen. again try thinking.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Things like bans and such work for targeting specific issues like micro-bead cosmetic purchasing inside the country but an attitude shift is what we are in need of. Though we have taken a big change in attitude over the years, we are still wasteful and there is a long way to go. There is a bring your own container movement in some countries but i just cant see it happening here.

I'm trying to reduce my plastic consumption, but it's really difficult at times. Also I'm not sure why I'm bothering since I also eat plenty of meat and that's probably far more harmful to the environment.

Taking the attitude of not bothering because you don't go all the way is a bit much. You bother because it will make at least a little difference somewhere, even if that difference is unnoticed by you and the somewhere is somewhere else.

Meat industry is terrible for the environment but in a different way. There the issue lies with quantity and how we treat it as an every day necessity. The carbon footprint of the meat industry is huge but the issue is obviously a very different one to plastic. People love to complain about how expensive meat is and also acknowledge farmers don't earn enough but the big supermarkets are often made to look like the bad guy but it is the consumer that ultimately decides the market.

 

[Phate]

I always try to reduce plastic where logistically possible, for reasons already mentioned. I just wish there was a more cultural change of attitude when it comes to waste in general. It mentioned on Blue Planet 2 the other week about 800 million tons of plastic gets dumped into the ocean every year. A fact I found staggering and sickening

As a diver I do have a more biased approach to protecting the ocean than others. Its very sad to see but I do my part and participate in beach clean ups where possible.

I use a plastic bottle at work for water, I paid 3€ for it from a sports store. I have had this for months and refill it several times a day, its saved a chunk of plastic on its own. On the flip side, I see people every day use countless plastic cups, paper coffee cups etc. We do have recycling bins though and generally people put them in the right bin. Fortunately.

I'd love to see infrastructure for electric cars more heavily implemented. I'd love to see bigger companies who can make a bigger difference (not just on plastic) but also in other waste. Like when going to the supermarket, a receipt should be auto generated and emailed to me or an app, rather than giving me a paper one which I ultimately bin every single time. Or I am only given a receipt if I request it. The amount of paper which could be saved if we went 100% paperless receipts is incredible.

The outrage when in the UK you were charged 5p for a plastic bag just proves how big of a problem we have culturally. In Portugal you're charged 15 cents. My friend in the Netherlands told me its 90 cents a bag. Funnily enough, nobody forgets their own bags anymore, strange eh? If people are given the correct incentive (which usually comes down to money) then and only then will big changes be seen.

Sorry, I went off on a rant.

 

[Glaucus]

a receipt should be auto generated and emailed to me or an app, rather than giving me a paper one which I ultimately bin every single time. Or I am only given a receipt if I request it. The amount of paper which could be saved if we went 100% paperless receipts is incredible.
.

i do like how on tesco self service checkouts it asks if you want a receipt, this should be widely adopted. the amount we produce for no reason is astonishing. how many people actually keep receipt these days. bring in a law saying no receipt given unless specifically asked for.
and with card payment or loyalty cards it could easily be implemented to save an online copy somewhere.
even big items, I've never known a store to require a receipt, just go online banking find payment and print it out.

yep all the outrage for the 5p bags, now its a total non issue once implemented.

 

[FishFluff]

i do like how on tesco self service checkouts it asks if you nat a receipt, this should be widely adopted. the amount we produce for no reason is astonishing. how many people actually keep receipt these days. bring in a law saying no receipt given unless specifically asked for.
and with card payment or loyalty cards it could easily be implemented to save an online copy somewhere.
even big items, I've never known a store to require a receipt, just go online banking find payment and print it out.

yep all the outrage for the 5p bags, now its a total non issue once implemented.

A lot of places, Apple store and Halfords being the ones that springs to mind immediately, offer you the choice of an email receipt instead of paper. I wish more places did this.

 

[Phate]

i do like how on tesco self service checkouts it asks if you nat a receipt, this should be widely adopted. the amount we produce for no reason is astonishing. how many people actually keep receipt these days. bring in a law saying no receipt given unless specifically asked for.
and with card payment or loyalty cards it could easily be implemented to save an online copy somewhere.
even big items, I've never known a store to require a receipt, just go online banking find payment and print it out.

yep all the outrage for the 5p bags, now its a total non issue once implemented.

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

 

[ubersonic]

no, it is just as absurd

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.