Plastic reduction

[eyetea]

After watching Blue Planet 2 we've decided to take some small steps to reduce our plastic waste at home. We were (still are) reasonably religious about recycling as much as we can too. It gets a little bit annoying sometimes where you order a product to replace something plastic and then it comes wrapped in plastic! We ordered some reusable freezer bags (buy large trays of chicken etc and portion it into the bags) which were all individually wrapped in plastic! Currently fighting with the milkman as ordered 3 pints of milk this week but haven't had anything delivered to the dismay of the Mrs who needs to ingest large amounts of coffee to survive waking up!

 

Interested if anyone else is trying to do similar and what tips / things have you swapped out?

[BOOT]

Buy food in tins. Metal tends to sink in the ocean.

[elsiegee40]

I am looking at this too. Sainsbury’s has been selling things like own brand tomatoes in tetra packs rather than tins for a while. I am making a point of buying tins which are at least recyclable.

 

Buying fruit and veg loose rather than prepacked gets rid of the plastic trays. Using the paper bags (provided for mushrooms) for the loose fruit and veg rather than the flimsy plastic ones gets rid of even more plastic.

 

Similarly, buying meat from the meat counter gets rid of the plastic trays too.

[Achandler]

I never understood why you get paper bags for mushrooms but plastic for the rest. Bananas etc there is no point putting them in but apples and the light need something really. If your picking them yourself then paper is fine and always has been, it can't be to make them look more appealing to a customer because you have picked loose ones.

 

I can only assume it is partly to do with making it easier/ quicker for checkout staff to identify fruits etc.

 

The real question is, if a supermarket started using potato starch or other alternative bags and trays which they could, would everyone be willing to pay more? Probably it it was the pennies that it actually costs, the problem it the new "super recylable trays" will cost 5 times extra what the cost should actually be and the supermarkets will profiteer on it. The amount of rubbish big companies come up with about their green credentials, its utter tripe.

 

I worked at Kwik Save over 15 years ago and the plastic bags there (cost a penny) but biodegraded in 5 years. Not perfect but that was 15 years ago, its taken all this time to get to charge for bags, and even then the bags won't degrade, aren't all made of 100% recyled material either and shops can choose to donate to a good cause. 15 years ago a milkman only delivered in glass bottles, now they do plastic a lot of the time. Glass is better for the environment overall.

[HarryMonkey]

I read somewhere that one of the supermarkets was doing away with its loose bread rolls and would be prepackaging them in plastic bags. Apparently too many people handle the rolls and it's not hygienic.

[hardtailstar]

Use plastic boxes instead of plastic bags. They should last longer then the plastic bags.

 

Buy a 1l bottle or similar that you can fill up with water/whatever you want instead of buying bottled drinks throughout the day.

 

If your work provides the foam/plastic cups for tea/coffee buy a travel mug.

 

Im no means an eco warrior but I have switched to using my own bottle and filling it up with water, not only has it been better for me ive also saved money by not buying 4-5 drinks a day.

Edited February 23, 2018 by hardtailstar

[Norphy]

Tetra paks are recyclable. Our local authority allows them to be put into the plastics bin.

[HarryMonkey]

I worked at Kwik Save over 15 years ago and the plastic bags there (cost a penny) but biodegraded in 5 years. Not perfect but that was 15 years ago, its taken all this time to get to charge for bags, and even then the bags won't degrade, aren't all made of 100% recyled material either and shops can choose to donate to a good cause. 15 years ago a milkman only delivered in glass bottles, now they do plastic a lot of the time. Glass is better for the environment overall.

 

Tesco took £3.4m out of their donation for administration costs last year (none of the other "big" supermarkets deduct admin charges). Poundstretcher keeps its carrier bag money and doesn't donate any of it!

 

Years ago, like you say, milkmen delivered the milk in glass bottles ... using electric vehicles ... way ahead of their time.

[elsiegee40]

Tetra paks are recyclable. Our local authority allows them to be put into the plastics bin.

 

Not all LAs take them. Ours doesn’t. And despite their best plans most are not now recycled. We don’t have sufficient plants to do it.

 

The Chinese took a lot, but have now banned their import so they’re still going to landfill or being burned despite being separated.

 

The bottom line with tetrapacks is that they contain plastic. Recycling leaves a waste product - plastic - that cannot be reused. They’re not environmentally friendly and they need to go.

Edited February 23, 2018 by elsiegee40
Apostrophe abuse

[localzuk]

Tetra packs have to go to our recycling center here - they don't go in the kerbside collection boxes.

 

One of my biggest bugbears is takeaway places - those horrible polystyrene things, and the plastic trays at the chinese. Why can't they switch to the aluminium trays and just paper wrapping? A burger will wrap just fine in paper like at a chippy.

[elsiegee40]

My uncle, who used to work on a tin plate line at a steel works, has pointed out that most food cans are also plastic lined... just like tetrapaks.

 

So there is a plastic byproduct from recycling cans too. In his opinion the metal from cans is more easily reused than the card from tetrapaks though

 

I suppose that what we should be looking at is having less waste, not at recycling more of what we currently use. Recycling requires energy. If we don’t dispose of stuff in the first place then that’s the best option.

[CAM]

I shop local instead of at a supermarket and there are a number of step you can take to help the environment.

 

- First is fuel costs. I'm walking within the village instead of driving my "big evil" diesel car to the next town!

- Most of the fruit and veg is loose and not packed in plastic wrapping. Pop it in the carrier bag, or one of the paper ones hanging up.

- Some sell loose cheese and cooked meat to pop in your own metal tin. If raw meat isn't in plastic packaging, you can have a tin for that as well (but do clean it between trips!) although for hygiene reasons they tend to be wrapped in plastic at source.

- Dairy is harder as we no longer ask for butter to be cut or cream to be poured like old-style 40's shops. Some local stores do sell their milk in glass bottles though (sadly mine doesn't!).

 

A note on biodegradable plastics, there are limited facilities in the UK to handle these as they require specific conditions to break down. Even if your plastic pot says compostable on the side, they need to be exposed to heat far higher than your compost heap to turn into soil. They also need to be broken into pieces to help composting take place. A compostable pot in landfill or the side of the road doesn't acquire these conditions and so doesn't break down. They also don't degrade in water so biodegradable plastic does not help protect our oceans or waterways at all and they tend to get rejected from the recycling process.

 

Also for standard plastic, black plastic is the devil. It cannot be recycled like other colours due to how it is made so it too tends to get rejected. Avoid it if you can.

Edited February 23, 2018 by CAM

[Seb1780]

I'm pleased to say a suggestion I made to the Head has been acted upon and we are doing something here to reduce and recycle plastics. I raised the point after we visited Mrs Seb's old high school in India and saw the sign writ large on the gate.

 

 

It's not true that plastics can't be recycled, some can actually be broken back down into monomers. The problem lies with the purity of the recycled product as only certain grades can be used for food and there's a limited market for "dirty" plastic - mainly park benches and street bollards.

 

The design of the packaging can help here. Often a fizzy drink bottle will have a PET bottle with a polypropylene cap and a polyethylene (polythene) label, this makes separation difficult. Compound containers like coffee cups and tetrapaks require specialist recycling. The milk industry have made a start - most manufactureres now have the bottle, the cap and the label made from polyethylene so throwing the entire item in the recycling bin doesn't cause problems later.

[CAM]

The problem is the sorting process. Black plastic isn't picked up by the sensors used to sift it away from general rubbish so it ends up missed and in landfill unless someone manually pulls it off the conveyor.

[TechMonkey]

I never understood why you get paper bags for mushrooms but plastic for the rest

 

To keep them dry. Moisture ruins mushrooms, paper bags wick the moisture away, plastic bags hold it in and make them sweaty.

 

On topic, we switched to a local milkman which has cut down massively on our plastic recycling. It's actually quite shocking how much we cut just doing that. Plus I get to feel warm and fuzzy about using local produce.

Edited February 23, 2018 by TechMonkey

[eyetea]

Our list of things so far are:

 

- Reusable drinks containers. The Mrs takes a water bottle to work and has a travel mug that she'll either fill up or take to a coffee house to be filled. I've got a glass here at school for water to stop using the plastic disposable cups provided.

- Reusable freezer bags for when we divide meat up

- Solid bath products - I've gone back to solid soap and also picked up some solid shampoo. Trialling a deodorant bar this weekend...

- Been on the phone to the milkman and hopefully our delivery woes are sorted now so hopefully we will be getting glass bottled milk

- Buying loose fruit and veg where we can at the supermarket

 

I'd love to buy from a grocer / butcher but neither are local and concerned about pricing as we're quite tight at the moment with saving up for our wedding next year. We're also looking into ordering some beeswax cotton sheets to use instead of cling film.

[spookyspoof]

- Solid bath products - I've gone back to solid soap and also picked up some solid shampoo. Trialling a deodorant bar this weekend...

 

 

I've been using solid deororant from Lush for years, Aromaco,(I love it!) husband has just swapped to it and it lasts for ages. Also the soild shampoos from there, and they've just got solid shower gels - good but don't seem to last that long.

 

Making lunches yourself helps, we get massive bags of crisps / sweets etc and just decanter them into the box (has compartments).

Reusing water bottles

Use paper straws at home

 

also I would defo use a butchers or green grocers if there were any around.

 

I struggle with poo bags for the dogs

[jmak]

 

I struggle with poo bags for the dogs

 

Forestry commission advice is now to flick off the path

 

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-8pymrq

 

We operate a flick and stick policy. In wider forest areas, if you dog fouls ona path please find a stick and flick it into the forest. However, around the main visitor centre areas, please bag and use the bins provided near the cafe.

 

[/Quote]

 

Although doesn't work in town and on hard paving. Personally the idea of having to pick it up is enough to put me off dog ownership, but I know lots of people love their pets...

[nicholab]

I reuse the inside of cereal packets for my lunch and then wash and reuse them. I still remember my parents washing up sandwich bags when I was a child.

[spacebar]

I reuse the inside of cereal packets for my lunch and then wash and reuse them. I still remember my parents washing up sandwich bags when I was a child.

 

Would this not result in leaching? especially in those plastics!

[witch]

Stop using plastic straws anywhere - refuse them in cafes etc. Get your own metal one if you really need it.

Stop using cotton buds that have plastic middles - I have just done a beach clean and there were SO MANY of those cotton bud sticks around. You can get ones with rolled paper middles.

Use your own cup at the coffee shop - you sometimes get a discount!

Use a water bottle - STOP buying plastic bottles of water - our water is some of the best in the world - we dont need bottled water

Stop using wet wipes - they take a very long time to decompose.

Switch to loose tea (you can get nifty little containers that you put the tea in and then dip like a teabag - I have a manatee shaped one). Some teabags contain plastic!

Buy bamboo toothbrushes (slightly dodgy as they are chemically treated - but still)

 

I am horrified by the amount of plastic such as meat trays etc. I'm sure Sainsburys had plastic film made of corn oil a while ago - what happened to that?

I have dog poo bags ( https://www.muttsbutts.com/mutts-butts/about-us) that are made of properly recylcable materials: Symphony Environmental Technologies | Making Plastic Smarter : Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc shows you the chemicals used in the bags. Why other plastics such as film cant be made of this I dont know

[jmak]

Stop using plastic straws anywhere

 

We use hundreds of these in school every week.... for the provided free milk for our under fives.

 

Our supplier is School Milk. We've asked them for an alternative; not had a response yet. Does anyone have a different supplier that uses paper straws?

 

They also come in cartons and I'm pretty sure that even if they are recyclable they go in general waste. Maybe we can get pupil monitors to sort them, but quite tricky with three and four year olds.

[HarryMonkey]

We are now encouraging our camera club members to bring their own cups for their free tea and coffee rather than us having to use single use "paper" cups for them. This is ahead of introducing a charge next season for anyone who doesn't bring a cup. They will have to pay 50p for their drink whereas anyone bringing their own cup will still get it free.

[nicholab]

How do I stop my wife buying 5p plastic bags when shopping? This is the plastic I hate the most as it can't go in our normal recycling. I would love to know how you deal with electric tooth brush heads and razors (beard solves this but not for women).

[witch]

How do I stop my wife buying 5p plastic bags when shopping? This is the plastic I hate the most as it can't go in our normal recycling. I would love to know how you deal with electric tooth brush heads and razors (beard solves this but not for women).

Make sure you have a set of reusable bags in any car she might use - and make sure they get put back afterwards!

I carry a nifty little material bag that folds up really small for those small purchases.

 

Electric tooth brush heads? You need to pick your battles - one every couple of months is not as urgent as the bag/packaging/straw etc issue