Re-cyclechat

[Panter]

We recycle, and cycle too !

Just by doing two days/week commute on the bike I'm saving at least 2 gallons of petrol pollution/Week.

Ok its not much but if everyone makes an effort its going to make a big difference overall.

 

[mondobongo]

We recycle paper glass and tins via coucil box scheme have got more into it and now save all cardboard till we get a couple of black bags full and take it cardboard collection at local tip. I now commute 4 days a week and we are looking at buying more locally via smaller shops and moving away from supermarkets.

 

[Amanda P]

I often wonder what would happen if I took off the packaging in the supermarket and just took the goods to the checkout?

That'd be counterproductive ('scuse the pun) because they wouln't be able to scan the goods through. Someone would be despatched to get another, packaged item, they'd scan that and give it to you.

No, the right approach is to remove the unwanted packaging after your goods have been through the till, but before you put them in your shopping bags/panniers/trailer (you're shopping by bike, right?) Leave the unwanted packaging at the till.

The supermarket has to pay for this rubbish to be taken away from their premises, and somone will have to come and clear it away from the till. If we all did this, every time we shopped, the supermarkets would have a financial incentive to reduce the amount of packaging they use.

Pizza boxes, cornflake boxes, plastic bags for each kind of vegetable (one for all will do), polystyrene trays for fruit/veg, silly plastic bags for cauliflowers (they're already wrapped in their own leaves!), anything with two layers of packaging like multipacks of biscuits, most frozen stuff is double packaged, toothpaste boxes (why??) - all unnecessary. Dump it at the till and walk away.

 

[Arch]

I often wonder what would happen if I took off the packaging in the supermarket and just took the goods to the checkout?

I've heard it said (probably on the telly...) that once you've paid for the stuff, you can take the excess wrapping off and leave it at the checkout, and they have to take it. Of course, they will probably have a greater facility for bulk recycling of cardboard etc - in fact they may even get paid for it...

I don't often buy the sorts of things that come excessively packaged (ready meals, prepacked veg etc). And I reuse carrier bags when I get them, usually as binbags or to bring produce home from the allotment. Generally I remember to take shopping bags when I go shopping. I recycle what I can (doorstep collection will take glass, tins, paper) and compost green waste on the allotment, but I'm afraid I'm a bit lazy over the plastic and cardboard - that would mean a trip to the tip. And it's not that way out of my way, so really I have no excuse. Bad Arch.

I don't have a car, so I cycle or walk, and take the train for longer trips. Or get a lift with a friend if that is convenient.

And being on a budget, I'm dead mean with electricity. Low energy bulbs throughout, nothing left on standby, and an extra sweater/blanket rather than heating if I can...

KitsuneAndy - perhaps you need a supply of paper bags to put the paper waste in? Or just bundle it up and wrap it in a newspaper bundle?

 

[Amanda P]

Actually, a great way to avoid buying unnecessary packaging is not to buy processed or frozen food.

Most of it's crap anyway!

 

[Arch]

Ah, I see Uncle Phil beat me to it on the supermarket question...

 

[Amanda P]

Aye, sharp as a tack, me, this afternoon. Erm, morning.

 

[domtyler]

We do do stuff, recycle what we can, buy as little from the supermarket as possible (get a organic delivery box of fruit and veg once a week), low energy lightbulbs, cycle whenever possible, only own one small car and so on.

However, I believe that most of these issues will only ultimately be addressed by at a governmental level rather than at the consumer level.

 

[JamesAC]

From time-to-time I buy a couple of (pre-packed) sandwiches from Sainsbury's for lunch. At the checkout, the assistant reaches for a huge orange carrier bag. "No thanks" I say.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Really? Ok then"
As if she is doing me a favour.

The woman in front of me in the queue used one carier bag for each of the items she bought.

I think it would help a lot if supermarkets didn't thrust bags at you. If you really need one, then you should have to ask for one.
"Really? Are you sure?"
And the humbled and embarassed customer would have to squeak a meek "Yes, please" and people would stop and stare and mock and point

Ho hum

 

[Blonde]

Whatever we do now, it wont be enough to make much difference to global warming it seems to me. I cycle to work most days and try to remember to switch off lights and heating when it's not needed etc. We have a water meter so water saving is important to us for cost reasons anyway. I do however, take holidays abroad and usually fly there. As the loved one pointed out though, a couple of holidays a year for us, is little in comparison with many people whose routine work involves frequent domestic, short haul and even sometimes long haul flights, often on a weekly or monthly basis.

I try to make a difference to the amount of landfill produced, by recycling most stuff or garden/composting the rest. Of course, there is no guarantee of what happens to our 'recycling' once it leaves our recycling bins.... I also re-use carrier bags as often as possible because these contribute heavily to landfill and can even endanger wildlife if dumped.

 

[Morrisette]

Well on the plus side: We have low energy bulbs, a water-meter, don't leave things on standby, use the economy cycle on the washing machine and don't use the dryer at all. I do a train-cycle commute. Our council recycling is very good (Forest Heath, no. 2 in the country I think) and will take plastic (yoghurt pots, bottles etc) as well as cardboard, tins and paper), I have just started composting (not sure how that will work, only have a very small back-yard/garden), I also resue a lot of plastic stuff as plant trays etc, and we always walk to the supermarket with our own bags.

On the minus side, Mr Morrisette drives every day for his work (he is a solicitor), I do one long-haul flight per year for my job, plus we have flown for holidays in Europe (exploring the rail option for next year). Our rented house leaks heat like a seive, has single-glazing and no insulation, and I am always cold anyway so the heating is used a lot. My PC is on all the time at work (we do back-ups at night).

I'm not sure the good outweighs the bad???

 

[bonj2]

My pet hate is the ridiculous amount of plastic packaging the food industry is clogging up our world with. It is possible I believe to have certain types of plastic that are suited for packaging which do actually bio degrade...so why arent the food companies forced to use them?

I'm not one of these idiots that take the food out of the packaging at the supermarket checkout and leave the packaging behind. But I do do that at the mcdonalds drive-through.

 

[Blonde]

We have an ancient boiler which is almost certainly about as efficient as a paper bag is at holding in water... however, since it does actually work, and it will cost quite a bit to get a new one and we may be moving soon anyway, it's not a priority at the moment.

 

[starseven]

A while ago I posted a thread about the amount of black bags my family was putting out each week.

At that time 5/6 wasn't that unusual and most seemed to think 1/2 a bag of waste was about right.

For a month or so now we have been organised and recycling as much as possible. From a family of four fairly committed consumers we now rarly have a bag of waste each week usually just put something out every other week.

I cant now imagine putting all that packaging in the waste for landfill.

By far and away the hardest thing to recycle is all the soft plastic packaging, it has to go to the main recycling centre and they only have a small container.

Things are changing though, the "Dump" as it used to be called now seems to employee people who know (and care) about recycling, the bloke I was talking to said

" Yes, we take all this plastic stuff and send it to China , they send it back as your kids Christmas presents"

Maybe the kids should get something different this year.!!

 

[twowheelsgood]

Well, I'm a big fan of the waste system we have here in Switzerland, I'm only sad to think people aren't really civil enough in Britain and would fly-tip everything.

Basically, each 30 litre bag will cost you about £1. It's an incredible incentive to recycle. By the time you remove all paper, cardboard, PET, metals and take all old food down to a community compost site (these large ones work MUCH better than small garden ones as they reach a higher temperature in the centre).

A single bag will last me up to a month as a single person. That's about half a regular (pre-wheelie) bin.

I wrote to my MEP once asking him to propose EU wode legislation making every electronic device to have a "zero-power" state with an accesible switch at the front of the device. aka a REAL power switch. I never heard anything back. A very good tip is fit one of those inline cable switches that are traditionally fitted to table lamps. This is really useful for my TV.

PCs are utterly evil in this regard. Switch them "off" and you'll be wasting around 20W as the power supply remains partially active as part of the spec maintains a +5V "standby" rail. Unfortunately most don't have a switch at all (some do but it's on the power supply at the back), so you have to inconveniently yank the cable out.

A big move forward would be to kill the power supply/charger. Basically by standardising them, you'd buy one with a common socket so you wouldn't have to include one with every device. You could also make them better quality as they wouldn't be disposable items. It's completely possible to get 95% efficiency over a set range of output instead of 60% or so. They could also be "smart" in that they'd turn off entirely (by a resettable relay) when signalled by the appliance. It would also be a huge advantage to the consumer too. No more having to search for or buy the "right" charger for your phone and you'd keep it when you upgrade. I have 57 assorted main adaptors and chargers, some of which I don't even know where they came from!

I stopped driving a few years ago but I can't claim to be green. I'm English, I live in Switzerland, my girlfriend is Albanian and lives in Spain. Air travel figures heavily in my life!