Re-cyclechat

[Amanda P]

It's not analogy - it (the eath and its populations and resources) are a biological system.

I'm not going to sparr with you on this, though, because (a) I don't know enough about it, and ( this isn't really what the thread's about.

 

[Cab]

It's not analogy - it (the eath and its populations and resources) are a biological system.

The earth and its ecosystems are an ecological system, indeed. But economics isn't biological; while classically people make money by depleting resources, you can also model economic growth through increasing value with no net expenditure of an environmental or non-renewable resource, and you can also model economic growth with environmental gain.

I'm not going to sparr with you on this, though, because (a) I don't know enough about it, and ( this isn't really what the thread's about.

Oh well. I'm not arguing with the principle that unbridled rushing for wealth at the expense of the environment is unsustainable you understand, that would be foolish. This is where proponents of this theory have a point, its just they try to extend the principle to an area where it doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. So all we'd really be discussing is to what point this principle would operate, and that would be dull

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

Very comendable Cab

I think it would be good if we all went that far, but even if we dont then we can all make a difference in smaller ways simply by thinking first about the environment before we buy stuff just because the supermarkets have it.

The packaging industry is the main offender, but we as consumers can change things if we wake up.

 

[LordoftheTeapot]

For what it's worth..... I have a small limited company that has never used a car or a van etc. We only use cycles, with trailers when required.

 

[Fnaar]

*I'm still in two minds about Bokashi.

Oh, Bokashi...just for a minute, I thought... oh never mind.



tumbleweed.......

 

[Cab]

Very comendable Cab

Thanks, but I wouldn't claim to be that great, not by a long chalk

Once a week, we eat pizza. Bought pizza. In a box, with a plastic wrapper. I know, I know, completely unacceptable, but its so good...

I haven't been able to source good milk locally, our milk still comes from the supermarket. Sugar is still from the supermarket. Tea and coffee, and of course spices... We've got a good way to go, we buy fair trade on things when we can, but even that isn't such a great claim on being environmentally sustainable.

I'd like to think we're going in the right direction, and I'll enthuse at people about what we've done because we are better than many. But I do think that many people who make such changes get rather too 'holier than thou'; doesn't help at all.

(cut)

The packaging industry is the main offender, but we as consumers can change things if we wake up.

I agree; although to a great extent, your best defense against packaging is buying less rather than buying smart.

 

[Foghat]

We did recycle.

Did being the operative word.

Our council only give you a small box to put paper and glass in and if you put anything in that's plastic it's 'contaminated' and they wont take it.

Now that would be fine, if the boxes had lids, but they don't. Therefore, all the paper you've put in the box blows all around your garden and if you try to stop it happening by putting the paper in a plastic bag before putting it in the box, they wont take it. doh.

Why don't you just weigh the paper down with a brick, and explain the purpose of the brick to the collection crew and the council, to make sure it does get collected?

 

[Foghat]

We used to recycle,but for some reason ,the council didnt come down our street,and everyones stuff was all over the place when you got home.

What a lame excuse for laziness.

1. Phone the council to complain that its collection crews miss your street. Repeatedly until it acts.
2. Lobby the council for wheeled bins, or a communal collection point if your street has problems with wheeled bin storage space.
3. Take responsibility for your own waste and take recyclables to a civic amenity recycling site until your local municipal collection problem is resolved.

All very simple indeed.

 

[KitsuneAndy]

Why don't you just weigh the paper down with a brick, and explain the purpose of the brick to the collection crew and the council, to make sure it does get collected?

Because there is no way you can explain anything to the morons at our city council, if it has anything that's not paper or glass in it, they won't touch it.

To be honest, it doesnt make a huge amount of difference as we shred and compost the waste paper now and don't often get anything that comes in a glass bottle. Couple of bottles a wine a month at the very most.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I suppose that is true, most businesses only understand money.

We get all of our shopping delivered by Tesco's as we don't have a car and do one big monthly shop. You can request that they dont bring any plastic bags, which is good, but takes bloody ages to unpack, I feel sorry for the driver standing there in the rain while we take each item out of the boxes one by one...

Don't feel too sorry for him. If you treat the Tesco driver the way Tesco treat most of us who deliver stuff to them, you'll snarl at him when he arrives, take his van keys off him and put him in your garden shed or garage. After an hour or so you can start to unload your shopping. Then after another two hours you can check it, and after another hour you can throw his paperwork and keys at him and let him go. ON NO ACCOUNT must you let him have access to a hot drink or a meal. Bastards.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

What a lame excuse for laziness.

3. Take responsibility for your own waste and take recyclables to a civic amenity recycling site until your local municipal collection problem is resolved.

All very simple indeed.

But you would need to load the car up so does that not defeat the object ??

 

[col]

Don't feel too sorry for him. If you treat the Tesco driver the way Tesco treat most of us who deliver stuff to them, you'll snarl at him when he arrives, take his van keys off him and put him in your garden shed or garage. After an hour or so you can start to unload your shopping. Then after another two hours you can check it, and after another hour you can throw his paperwork and keys at him and let him go. ON NO ACCOUNT must you let him have access to a hot drink or a meal. Bastards.

So! do you enjoy your work RT?

 

[summerdays]

I was under the impression that supermarkets had to pay to have their waste collected ... therefore any you left at the till did cost them money (not that I've done that). But I do go with my pannier and demand bag points at Tesco's ... not cos the penny is worth it but that I am making the point - sometimes they will give me upto 5 points for the pannier.

We are a family who would like to be green (very impressed with some of you), but we don't do enough. Bristol council has black box recycling for a lot of things... tins, glass, car batteries, clothes, shoes etc but not for plastic (we have to take that to the local sports centre), and a weekly collection of food waste (we compost the veggie stuff), and only bi-weekly for the main bin. However you have to pay to have green garden waste removed - we only have big branches to go out as the rest is shredded and composted, I would rather pay for the black bin which is going to the dump. We only have one car, and that doesn't get used daily as I always cycle to work, kids to school, and hubby tries to do a few days a week. Unfortunately his work keep sending abroad by plane, although its been commuting to London by train this week).

And we never put on our central heating before 1st Nov - it is a 1960's house with double glazing and cavity wall insulation and we don't like living in an oven, and wear a jumper when it gets cold - that really bugs me when I see some of my friends who heat the house really high, and go round in a t-shirt and have the window open for some fresh air!!!.

 

[Jaded]

All do your bit. After a while it becomes easier to do a bit more. Then the process repeats.

This only applies to people that wish to do their bit, or are coerced into it by law.

The real change will take place when the oil is $400 a barrel (*figure plucked out of sky). Then everyone will have discovered that plastic is expensive, it is rather silly to buy vegetables from Africa, that you can share cars, that it is possible to live nearer to work, and that 17C in the house isn't too bad.

 

[Foghat]

But you would need to load the car up so does that not defeat the object ??

Please explain what you think the object of recycling is.....

Then consider:

1. Maybe there's a paper bank and/or glass bank within walking or cycling distance.

2. Maybe there are banks or a recycling site on or near one of his regular car routes.

3. Maybe he could store several weeks' recyclables and then deliver them all at once.

Recycling is so easy, except sometimes for mixed plastics and a few other waste types, and there are no excuses for failing to do so for the main materials. Lame ones simply demonstrate lazy wilful ignorance; unfortunately too many people use them in this country.