Did you buy anything plastic today?

I'll try not to!

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=11

 

Quercis, That is Shocking, those poor birds must of died in agony.. So Sad..

 

It's almost impossible NOT to buy plastic. It would be good to see a few laws introduced forcing plastic and polymer manufacturers to only produce materials that can be 100% recycled - so many of them can't be. That and "encourage" all councils to provide a plastics recycling kerbside service.

 

A good starting point would be to make supermarkets and other big suppliers have to justify why they need to use so much packaging. I know that won't stop sea birds eating disposable lighters and bottle tops, but it would be a good start.

I agree about promoting recycling, but that should be the last resort in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle thing. If we can reduce the amount of plastic produced in the first place, then there will ultimately be less to dispose of.

Its ok to try to change the attitudes of ordinary folk, but I suspect those of us that actually care are still in a minority. It is big corporations that need to take the lead.

 

Not only human parents that feed their kids junk food then ! :wink:

Shocking but inevitable, very sad.:(

 

Absolutely. When you walk into a supermarket and see a bag of apples (in a plastic bag) for £1.00, it's easier to pick those than walking round the display to the loose apples. I've watched in disbelief at shoppers putting a bunch of bananas into a plastic bag! Why - they come in a skin which you don't eat!! I've also had to stop check out staff bagging delicate items (like cream) in separate bags - lovely customer service but a tad unnecessary. Most fruit and veg will survive quite adequately without it's shrink wrapped plastic coating. Short of laws being introduced actually banning wrapping, only consumers can lead the way by not buying products that are - using those brown bags that mushrooms can be collected in, rather than taking another plastic bag.

 

I've been scowled at by checkout staff a few times for turning up with loads of loose fruit and veg in the trolley rather than bagging it. It meant they had the great inconvenience of picking up several items instead of one bag of items to weigh them.

It's not just loose fruit and veg though, many things come with loads of superfluous packaging. I think the marketers do it to make you think you're getting better value for money than you actually are.

 

Awful....just awful

 

OMG...........I am just lost for words

 

Its not so much the fact its plastic, its the attitude of people.

Many times when I'm walking the dog I come across discarded plastic bottles, some half full.

People just chuck stuff, out of car windows or what ever.

Recycling is not the answer, responsibility on behalf of the consumer is the key.

OK if its biodegradable its not quite so bad, but its attitudes that need to change.

Anyway, what was wrong with paper bags.

 

People in Germany go shopping with canvas bags, even if just popping into town. You pay for a carrier bag in shops that are the equivalent to Boots, WHSmith, etc. I've started doing the same now when I go into town and then you see the difference. How many times have you bought a greeting card and had it put into a small plastic bag for you?

We've also stopped using bin liners at home, just empty the kitchen bin straight into the wheelie bin and give it a swill out with hot water afterwards. The bin men hate us, as the lazy sods have to actually empty the bin properly, instead of lifting several plastic bags out like they usually do!

 

The BBC doc on the oceans earlier in the year showed this too, tragic, as the Albatross is declining rapidly, some species are close to extinction.

We each take a backpack into town unless we know something won't fit. We refuse bags as and where we can.

 

Here's an example of why the problem won't go away.

At my work, an office of 500+ staff, every desk has its own bin. Every bin gets a new bin liner every day. That's just in one office. I worked out that allowing for working days, our office alone was going through about 125,000 bin liners per year, all of which would end up in landfill or an incinerator. That's a lot of waste plastic, and that's just in one of our offices.

We have person whose job title is 'environment, health and safety officer', whose job it is to try to find ways to reduce our environmental impact. I wrote to this person with the following suggestion: Why don't we just have one bin per two desks? For the one building alone, that would stop 62500 bin liners per year from going to landfill, not to mention that they wouldn't need to be produced in the first place. It would inconvenience nobody because we'd all still be able to reach the bin without leaving our seats. Apart from the environmental benefits it would save the company money in two ways, firstly because we'd need to buy less bin liners, and secondly because it would reduce the number of hours we need to hire a cleaner for.

The reply eventually came. It was along the lines of: What a good idea in principle, however we tried it on one floor of one of our other offices and people were too lazy to walk to the bin, and just threw stuff. Half the time it missed so the carpet became very dirty very quickly.

So firstly, we have a contingent of staff who are slobs, and the rest of us were tarred with the same brush. Secondly we have a person whose job it is to promote eco-friendliness within the company who is willing to dismiss the idea without considering it properly just because of a few slobs.

With that sort of attitude, its no wonder we have a problem.

 

i agree pete(what was wrong with the paper carrier bags?). i worked in the plastics industry for 35 years.the transformation in the use of plastics over the years was enormous.we supplied plastics for the car industry.the amount of plastic used in cars increased by a staggering amount.at first it was used on wheel trims(electroplated). dash board plastic, made to look like leather.other odds and ends. as the years went on almost all of the car was plastic.
the electrical items ,fridges,tv,vacuum cleaners,washing machines i could go on indefinitely . this was the start of the throw away public. things got so cheap as a plastic extruder mould can shove out millions of items,(cheaply).we do not get items repaired now .it would cost more to repair,buy a new one!!.
question> how much metal have you got in your tv, fridge, iron, car,fridge freezer,cd player, i could go on and on.also a lot of the parts you think are metal ,are plastic electoplated chrome.this material is not all biodegradable.
some plastics are treated with a flame retardent material,and this material will last for ever there will be no degradation with this material. i feel sorry for the birds, but i feel more sorry for the future generations. i dont want to sound like a doomsday book, i can only inform you of what i know about PLASTIC.
music.