The new banish plastic movements

[Flo]

Now that the government has jumped on the idea that we should banish plastic, it's surely the latest "in" thing. We won't mention that the latest plastic using wheeze is plastic £5 and £10 notes. We've been saying banish plastic here for years though haven't we?

An interesting but old idea for a month of reducing our plastic waste is here

I have to say that I have collected many storage containers over the years which have seen good use over 10 years and which are going strong. Along with inherited plastic tubs and plant pots on the allotments (also some given and some shared on). They may be a bit weathered looking but they are working.

There's a place for long use plastics surely? And no place for the endless plastic packaging that comes with everything.

[Green Aura]

Plastic packaging has always annoyed and baffled me - often in equal measure. I may have mentioned it once or twice. I can feel my hackles rising as I think of ridiculous examples, so I won't go there. Yes I will, plastic-wrapped coconuts in their shell, peeled oranges in little plastic boxes, trays of peeled bananas. It's almost as though they're trying to turn the buying public into idiots who can't even peel their own fruit - which makes the coconut even more bizarre.
I fear the sudden Government concern re plastic is a smokescreen, rather than a commitment, but I definitely won't go there.

[Skippy]

I fear the sudden Government concern re plastic is a smokescreen, rather than a commitment, but I definitely won't go there.

I've heard others say just that . Personally I do wonder just how much of a coincidence it is that this announcement comes so soon after China's decision to limit waste plastic imports or whether that decision has forced action here?

[Thomzo]

I guess the important thing is that the rollercoaster has started. We may only just be pulling away from the station, but the movement will gain momentum and improvements will happen. So, shall we share tips and hints?

I have been known to remove wasteful packaging at the shop and hand it back to them. If they have to arrange for the disposal, perhaps they’ll think twice.

Cheers
Zoe

[Skippy]

Yes I've considered doing that before now but have wondered just how much of effect it has. Leaving the packaging at the supermarket might not influence the producers at all but just merely inconvenience the supermarket themselves. Perhaps it might get more noticed with own brand goods where the supermarket has some input on production rather than just buying in and reselling? Still I suppose any effort is better than nothing.
On the whole I think China's decision to reduce imports of plastic waste is a step in the right direction if it encourages producing countries to produce less of that waste in the first place . I only hope that it's seen as a impetus to use less but in the short term at least I can see a lot of that waste being sent to landfill or simply incinerated.
On the subject of supermarkets and packaging do many leave out cardboard boxes for customers to use nowadays? It seemed quite common at one time but it's not something I see now.

[diggernotdreamer]

Plastic is the bane of my life, no matter how much you try to reject it, it comes into your home. I saw a a plastic free page I am on that Lidl have agreed in Sligo to accept any plastic wrapping from your shopping that you don't want. I was in the butcher and got all my sausages, bacon and chicken in greaseproof paper and paper bags, that is my new year resolution to try and cut down even more. Slightly paradoxically, China are not accepting the plastics which in a large part they are creating in the form of cheap consumer goods

[Skippy]

Slightly paradoxically, China are not accepting the plastics which in a large part they are creating in the form of cheap consumer goods

I know what you mean there. I suppose in some ways I can sit on the fence a bit. The plastic is or was being recycled ( albeit to a degree into stuff nobody really needs) rather than being dumped or burnt which is a positive but on the other hand it's waste that's being transported across the world , in oil burning ships , to be remade and transported back a cycle that for all I know may go on and on . Is there a limit as to how many times plastic can be recycled?
I doubt anyone on a forum like this would disagree with the concept of using less plastic although I do see people on other forums with a different view. On one building related forum recently a member was arguing that the whole plastic pollution in the sea was all just hype and not a problem even worth consideration and I've seen similar attitudes on social media too.

[Flo]

( albeit to a degree into stuff nobody really needs)

Ah but how do you tell people want they want as opposed to what they need? You could wreck the global economy going down that route

[diggernotdreamer]

I still think the Swedish model is the way forward, they are incinerating plastics to provide heating for homes, some plastics are hard to recycle or they are not recycled at all so go to landfill, we use virgin oil in power stations, in my view, that plastic that is being burnt has just had a previous life, so rather than use virgin oil, use the plastic. the incinerators used in Sweden are very efficient and the pollution is minimal. I can't figure out how people don't think the mountains of plastic in the oceans is not a problem, that life in the wild programme had a family on some island in Australia and every day they collect up plastic washed up on their beaches, head in the sand some people.

[Skippy]

I must admit I'm in two minds about the incineration to provide power as it has good points and bad. My father worked at an incinerator in the '70's but all that did was convert household waste to ash to reduce landfill although they did remove the tin cans but all the heat was simply wasted. Even back then I thought there should be some way of using that heat but it never came about.
So thus it does seem a great idea to use our waste to provide power but if we are relying on power generated by burning waste there's then less imperative to reduce producing that waste in the first place or to look at recycling it into something else. All the plastic we currently moan about we should have to become happy with as it would be powering the countries fridges and washing machines.
I do agree that a lot of things are however almost unrecycleable . There was a tv programme on last year that talked about the disposable cups that are used by Starbucks and the like and are a mix of materials paper and plastics and are certainly uneconomic and largely impractical to recycle.
The "answer" isn't any one thing as I see it and needs to encompass several aspects , a change in attitudes , manufacturing processes , localisation and so on.
Perhaps we should recycle some of the plastic into ear plugs to protect us from those who would moan about changes...

[Weedo]

I wonder what has happened (or is happening) with the various types of degradable packaging that have been popping up from time to time? These days a lot of my farm consumables, seed, fertilisers etc. are in solar degradable packages - they last about 2 weeks in the sun - others are now in returnable /reusable containers (some larger containers are now "leased" and refunded when returned) Corn starch based packaging is showing up in more places - this gets broken up and fed to the worms - and take away coffee cups that are rapidly biodegradable can be found in a few places (I take my own re-usable Thermos cup)

Given that much of the packaging is either decorative, only to hold multiple items together (so that you have to buy more than you want)or otherwise not needed for food saftey, the packaging type could be better.

A recent programme buy the NSW State Government is attempting to manage the drink container problem by mandating a 10c refund per container and providing facilities for collection - suppliers of the containers carry much of the cost (actually the consumer because it is passed on)http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environm ... n-and-earn.

[diggernotdreamer]

I am interested in your solar degradable farm sacks, is that oxo degradable. I have those as salad bags, but I was very disappointed when I found out they are oxo degradable so useless for a compost heap.

Iceland the frozen food shop have now started to remove plastic from their own brand foods, they say that in 5 years they will have moved completely to less packaging and what they do use will be compostable

[Weedo]

DND - my understanding is that these are oxo-degradable and the main trigger is sunlight as produce may need to be stored for some time. Perversely, a few products come in the degradable bags but with a moisture proof, non-degradable liner! I have shifted to FIBC's (bulk bags) where possible but these have their own problems, the majority are designated "one way" so cannot be returned for re-filling; all are (supposedly) recyclable but there is no facility that accepts them around here

[Green Aura]

I read to day that a few establishments are going back to the old paper straws, I'm don't know how much of an improvement that is, really. It seems to me that straws are, like most packaging, largely unnecessary.

[diggernotdreamer]

I don't get the whole straw thing, as kids we drank the stuff unaided and I certainly didn't start that with mine.

I bought some toilet paper from Who Gives a Crap, no plastic film, forest friendly paper and they put 50 percent of the profits into improving toilet hygiene in the developing world