A month without plastic

[Big Al]

Starting 1st of January I'm going to have a go at this. This topic came about from a link on another web site so I've taken the idea on board and it's on my blog with the link below.

I know we have a good number of zero waste enthusiasts on here so this will be no news to you good people but it's a major improvement for me if it comes off.

Take care,

big al.

[Green Aura]

I'd love to have a go at this Al - I've been reading the other thread with interest too. We don't have a lot of waste - burn cardboard and paper, bokashi/compost all the food scraps and I can't remember the last time I threw away any clothes. But plastic remains a huge problem - I have to put the bin out every 3-4 weeks almost entirely plastic

I just can't work out how to reduce it. Virtually everything comes in a cellophane bag or shrink-wrapped and I don't have a choice in where I shop. I'm trying - on another thread - to not buy anything new which must help cut down the plastic, but it's mainly food that's wrapped this way anyway.

Any advice would be welcome - the only thing we've got left in the garden is kale and sprouts so I am going to have to buy some veg. Meat and fish I could probably avoid for a while - the freezer's pretty full (but of course it's all in plastic anyway from when I bought it). Cat food is the other big problem - I buy the sachets because my fussy cat won't eat a full tin of the same stuff and OH won't let me feed him real meat even though I'm sure it would work out cheaper.

Help!

[red]

good luck Al

[Big Al]

I'd love to have a go at this Al - I've been reading the other thread with interest too. We don't have a lot of waste - burn cardboard and paper, bokashi/compost all the food scraps and I can't remember the last time I threw away any clothes. But plastic remains a huge problem - I have to put the bin out every 3-4 weeks almost entirely plastic

I just can't work out how to reduce it. Virtually everything comes in a cellophane bag or shrink-wrapped and I don't have a choice in where I shop. I'm trying - on another thread - to not buy anything new which must help cut down the plastic, but it's mainly food that's wrapped this way anyway.

Any advice would be welcome - the only thing we've got left in the garden is kale and sprouts so I am going to have to buy some veg. Meat and fish I could probably avoid for a while - the freezer's pretty full (but of course it's all in plastic anyway from when I bought it). Cat food is the other big problem - I buy the sachets because my fussy cat won't eat a full tin of the same stuff and OH won't let me feed him real meat even though I'm sure it would work out cheaper.

Help!

The other thread said no NEW plastic so the freezer stuff is ok,lol. As I said on my blog I've not used plastic bags for fruit and veg for 15 years or more and still the asda checkout ask if I want 2 carrots in a smaller bag!!!

I say yes if it's paper just to see their reaction. I got chucked out of T**&*o's once for stuffing a cucumber ( wrapper) in the managers pocket telling him to get rid of it. I also got stopped from using their paper mushroom bags for all the veg so I asked why they didn't provide paper for all F&V. The answer was that mushrooms sweat in plastic...

There is an European directive that says you can dump your old electrical gear on the retailer in a like for like move, buy a new toaster... give the old one to the retailer to dispose of. If only plastic was the same....

I can't really see much reduction as I have done most of it already although training the wife is still an ongoing problem... It's easy to pick up a bag of 20 cox pippen apples rather than pick 20 individual ones etc.
A net of oranges appears to be ok unitl you realise that the net is plastic.
In Germany there are large bins post checkout so if you want to remove the plastic the shop has to dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way.

I feel a petition to the government website regarding plastic coming on....should get a bit of publicity for this site...

Keep the faith and we will win.

Alan

[Flo]

I've been involved in a consultation group of older people and the environment recently. Waste disposal was the hottest topic and we had the packaging buyer from M&S come to visit us to answer questions.

It seems that plastic packaging adds to the shelf life of a lot of fresh food and so stops wastage for the shop. He did have facts and figures to back this up and from other retailers too (obviously he keeps up with the competition). He said that we were unlikely to see less plastic packaging in major chains for just this reason.

As not enough of us support the smaller, independent retailers who do not do plastic packaging and who are now going out of business I would say that we have bought the wider use of plastic upon ourselves.

Until there is a widespread consumer uprising of the size of the poll tax protests, I fear we shall not get rid of the dreaded plastic packaging.

I'm on with rubbish reduction so hope to at least reduce the plastic I use/reuse.

[Big Al]

I've been involved in a consultation group of older people and the environment recently. Waste disposal was the hottest topic and we had the packaging buyer from M&S come to visit us to answer questions.

It seems that plastic packaging adds to the shelf life of a lot of fresh food and so stops wastage for the shop. He did have facts and figures to back this up and from other retailers too (obviously he keeps up with the competition). He said that we were unlikely to see less plastic packaging in major chains for just this reason.

As not enough of us support the smaller, independent retailers who do not do plastic packaging and who are now going out of business I would say that we have bought the wider use of plastic upon ourselves.

Until there is a widespread consumer uprising of the size of the poll tax protests, I fear we shall not get rid of the dreaded plastic packaging.

I'm on with rubbish reduction so hope to at least reduce the plastic I use/reuse.

This is exactly the problem... US !!

It is far easier to pick up a couple of 4 pint milk cartons twice a week than buy from a local shop so supermarkets seeing this offer us the convenience etc. Plastic use is like the use of DDT in the 60's etc, in the beginning it was good then as it got out of hand and more known about it it became a problem.

It's easy for supermarkets to espouse the longer life etc due to packaging but if they didn't have timed deliveries and bar code stocktaking then the more human side of retailing could win again. It's ok having plastic to increase shelf life and then be told to use a pair of scissors to cut the plastic off but if you are losing the use of your hands how do you hold the scissors....