"We are soooo Green...!?!"

Media articles about money-saving topics
pabenny
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by pabenny » Tue Jun 25 2019 11:59am

On the basis that
- Plastic carriers have a markedly lower carbon footprint than paper (assuming each is only used once)
- Most plastic carriers supplied to UK households are properly disposed of – either through domestic waste, or through effective recycling schemes

I would argue that plastic carriers are environmentally preferable.

Chadwick
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by Chadwick » Tue Jun 25 2019 2:02pm

pabenny wrote:
Tue Jun 25 2019 11:59am
On the basis that
- Plastic carriers have a markedly lower carbon footprint than paper (assuming each is only used once)
- Most plastic carriers supplied to UK households are properly disposed of – either through domestic waste, or through effective recycling schemes

I would argue that plastic carriers are environmentally preferable.
How do you properly dispose of a plastic bag?
I know you can chuck it in the collection bin at Tesco, but what happens to them after that? Are they easily recycled?
Similar question with paper bags. Are they more easily recycled than the plastic ones? Does that tip the balance?

This may be a moot point - we''ve got more jute bags than we need, and we are possibly the only people in the UK who still use the plastic boxes for shopping.

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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by pabenny » Tue Jun 25 2019 2:45pm

Chadwick wrote:
Tue Jun 25 2019 2:02pm
How do you properly dispose of a plastic bag?
I know you can chuck it in the collection bin at Tesco, but what happens to them after that? Are they easily recycled?
Similar question with paper bags. Are they more easily recycled than the plastic ones? Does that tip the balance?
Proper disposal of plastic bags - if you put it in your household waste, it's likely to go to (properly managed) landfill, or to be incinerated. It's unlikely to end up littering or as ocean plastic. As for supermarket collections - Plastic carriers and also shrink wrap from pallets etc are all LDPE, which is relatively easy to recycle. And since the collections are dedicated to a single type, in theory, it all can be recycled in Europe. Whether it is recycled is another matter.

There is a good and established infrastructure for recycling paper waste, and there is every reason to believe that most paper collected for recycling is actually recycled.

Does that change the balance between paper and plastic? I don't think so. If a paper bag is three times worse than a plastic one, and if both are used only once, the disposal process of plastic would have to be much worse to offset the preference when used.

The answer is ultimately that it depends. It depends whether you re-use bags. It depends where they are sourced and whether that is from recycled material. It depends on the disposal options.

Does that mean we should do nothing? No. But it maybe shows that abandoning plastics can a kneejerk reaction driven by public opinion rather based on sound evidence.
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by Boro Boy » Tue Jun 25 2019 3:05pm

pabenny wrote:
Tue Jun 25 2019 2:45pm
Chadwick wrote:
Tue Jun 25 2019 2:02pm
How do you properly dispose of a plastic bag?
I know you can chuck it in the collection bin at Tesco, but what happens to them after that? Are they easily recycled?
Similar question with paper bags. Are they more easily recycled than the plastic ones? Does that tip the balance?
Proper disposal of plastic bags - if you put it in your household waste, it's likely to go to (properly managed) landfill, or to be incinerated. It's unlikely to end up littering or as ocean plastic. As for supermarket collections - Plastic carriers and also shrink wrap from pallets etc are all LDPE, which is relatively easy to recycle. And since the collections are dedicated to a single type, in theory, it all can be recycled in Europe. Whether it is recycled is another matter.

There is a good and established infrastructure for recycling paper waste, and there is every reason to believe that most paper collected for recycling is actually recycled.

Does that change the balance between paper and plastic? I don't think so. If a paper bag is three times worse than a plastic one, and if both are used only once, the disposal process of plastic would have to be much worse to offset the preference when used.

The answer is ultimately that it depends. It depends whether you re-use bags. It depends where they are sourced and whether that is from recycled material. It depends on the disposal options.

Does that mean we should do nothing? No. But it maybe shows that abandoning plastics can a kneejerk reaction driven by public opinion rather based on sound evidence.
Precisely! This can be said about a lot of things...!!!
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by blythburgh » Wed Jun 26 2019 9:43am

:lol: How many 10p lifetime bags are in your house? I bet many people have more than one.

We have none and the plastic bags in our house are the ones that held the loo rolls. We save them for when we need to put something in a bag, sealing and then dumping in black landfill bin.

My sister in law is fond of boasting how green her daughter is.

Met up the other week to exchange birthday presents (birthdays only 3 days apart). The presents from both women and their husbands were in gift bags (I give them back and they often come back to me so they get recycled endlessly). But daughter thought it might rain so gift bags were put in a waitrose one use bag with a 2nd one on top.

Oh 'im indoors neice and her Mum are sooooo green. :lol:
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by xrppzi » Thu Jun 27 2019 9:54am

blythburgh wrote:
Wed Jun 26 2019 9:43am
We have none and the plastic bags in our house are the ones that held the loo rolls. We save them for when we need to put something in a bag, sealing and then dumping in black landfill bin.
The plastic bags our loo rolls come in are recyclable - they are put in the plastic bag collector bin at the supermarket.
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by blythburgh » Thu Jun 27 2019 11:13am

I just wish I could recycle all my cling film at the local supermarket. Can do it at local recycling centre but you queue for a very long time 30mins to an hour is quite common so not worth the waste of petrol and its green house gases to go unless we have to
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by Boro Boy » Fri Aug 09 2019 10:03pm

Blythburgh you are soooo green!
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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by blythburgh » Sat Aug 10 2019 10:54am

Boro Boy wrote:
Fri Aug 09 2019 10:03pm
Blythburgh you are soooo green!
A bit pale shade of green but I do try.

I do not get plastic bags at the checkout and my cloth bags have been used so often they have become green.

I do get plastic bags with stuff I have bought on the net. But I use an indelible pen to remove my details and pass the bag on to a small charity that does not have plastic bags with their logo on. At least they get used twice at least this way.
Keep smiling because the light at the end of someone's tunnel may be you, Ron Cheneler

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Re: "We are soooo Green...!?!"

Post by Chadwick » Sat Aug 10 2019 4:07pm

blythburgh wrote:
Sat Aug 10 2019 10:54am
I do get plastic bags with stuff I have bought on the net. But I use an indelible pen to remove my details and pass the bag on to a small charity that does not have plastic bags with their logo on. At least they get used twice at least this way.
We keep ours and use them many times over, typically until they fall apart. Even then there's sometimes a need to wrap something dirty up for handling and a useless carrier bag is as good as anything.

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