GW / Gove Plant Pot Crusade

Watched Gardeners World last night and, apart from becoming more disillusioned with the programme content, I found myself shouting at the tellybox at this years GW crusade on plastic.

For me, the article was skewed to add weight the wider current plastic problem.

They were making a big issue about the plant pot problem and how they cant be recycled.

My thoughts :
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Plant pots can be recycled, it just takes more effort to sort them at the Materials Recycling Facility.

If plant pots are not recycled back to plastic products they go to Energy From Waste - a recovery route. They are not, generally speaking, finding their way into the oceans / landfill sites

A lot of gardeners, me included, move plant pots up the waste hierarchy by reusing them. A far greener option that recycling / EFW

Is this GW looking for a story and spinning it to meet their needs or does the story have real merit ? Interested in your thoughts.

 

Well I think the Beeb are hooking onto the current hysteria around discarded plastic in our oceans - which IMHO is a massive issue.

Plastic plants pots - not so much of an issue - and if changing from black to a taupe colour will do the trick - then change - job done.

GW do tend to spend too much time looking at stately home gardens etc - I'm not interested, I want to pick up some tips from Monty working in his own garden.

Beechgrove is much better.

 

Agreed on all points. I think that this series they have attempted to make the plastic debate fit their needs. It is a huge issue but plant pots are not where the real issue is. People seem to be looking at the symptoms rather than the cause right now. If changing the colour makes plant post more easily recyclable, do it. But this change will be just a drop in the plastic filled ocean.

And Beechgrove is a far better watch - down to earth people talking about down to earth subjects​

 

Agreed - we need to take a closer look at where the waste is ending up and why / how it is reaching the oceans. It is already understood where the majority reaches the oceans. Trace that back and hit the offenders hard.
I'm not coming at this as an eco-warrior but do see the issue as needing fixing fast. We run a small waste management business and the levels of legislation in the UK and Europe are rightly strict. Not so when it hits some foreign shores.

Packaging is a real problem and some supermarkets are starting to do something about it. Its too little too late and, again, wont stop plastics being dumped into rivers.

Tax …. don't get me started on that one. Our local council are about to charge extra for emptying our garden waste 'to increase levels of recycling'. I already fill two bins with garden waste and will not be paying two lots of stealth tax to have two bins emptied. Other people have said that they will put their garden waste in the general waste. Talk about ill thought policies !

Anyway I'm ranting now. Calm thoughts …..​

 

All plastic, single use especially, is an issue so if GW wants to highlight plastic plant pots, that’s fine by me.

I recently received an email saying there is a campaign directed towards Walkers crisps. Apparently Walkers have said they will phase out plastic crisp bags by 2025. 2025!!!!!! Really!? The plan is to send old crisp bags to Walkers customer service freepost address and swamp them with this rubbish. I will participate . I’m not a big crisp eater but when I get an empty bag I will post it........might even try to find Tesco customer service freepost address and do the same with other unwanted plastic.

 

I don't want plastic plant pots to be recycled.

I want them to be made available free for re-use.

 

It does work - my Council introduced a charge this year - in response to which I built a composter.

But, the real reason is they need the extra cash. What did annoy me was that the Council were saying that they previously collected the green waste free of charge - when clearly it was funded from our Council Tax - I told them this and received a good stiff ignoring.

 

I’m not sure if I have got this right so don’t shoot the messenger so to speak but when GW went to visit a plant pot manufacturer or recycler the chap on there was saying that the modern computerised machines can’t recognise the black pigment that is in the flower pot the same is why the black plastic trays that some ready meals come in can’t be recycled and have to go to landfill so it seems that until these new coloured flowerpots get made by the millions then we are still stuck with the black ones.

I personally wash mine out and reuse them each year until they crack or split then they go into my landfill bin

MD was waffling on about the use of clay potshut I have lost count of the number as have bought from either the garden centre or supermarket only to have them crack and flake when the frost gets to them and also if I use clay pots in the greenhouse I have to water my plants more often as they dry out quicker.

It is a pity the black pots can’t be melted down and then the black liquid used to make something else like litter bins for all those plastic bottles discarded

 

This plastic war is all very nice and flavour of the month for the UK Masses but it wont change anything in reality.

The vast amounts of plastic entering the Pacific,Indian and South Atlantic oceans isnt being reduced by anyone. The worlds fishing fleets continue to dump snagged nets, box's and all sorts of carp overboard.

And tragically none of this matters anymore because the Fukushima plant or whats left of it is pumping hundreds of tons of radioactive water into the sea on a daily basis.

The north Pacific is already dead, any fish caught there and examined are riddled with tumours,the whales are dying or mutating horribly and the seals have gone.

This will spread across the worlds oceans. The evaporation and resulting rainfall from it is raising radiation levels across America to scary levels already.

So getting rid of plastics would have been great but unfortunately it no longer really matters because a worldwide extinction event is underway anyway.

 

If we all believed that @WeeTam , nothing would ever change. We all need to do our bit, every single one of us.

At the very least, try.