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Plastic problem ?


observer

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The Gov has announced the eradication of our reliance on plastic in 25 years time; but should it take 25 years ?      Surely a tax on plastics use, would encourage industry to use less in packaging, convert to re-usable glass bottles etc;  and the target could be reached much more quickly ?

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I agree with EvilS on this. The tax would cause industry to pass the cost on to customers without doing anything to solve the problem. Then later prices go up again when they do make changes. There needs to be a look at what is feasible and the tax should be applied to the laggards when action is understood but not taken by everyone. The knowledge that a tax will come should be enough to cause action but immediate application is a tax on the currently unavoidable costs and is therefore just opportunistic, expect a proposal from Corbyn.

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Ironically what was developed as a convenient & hygienic way of storing medicines  & food  &  liquids has become a bigger problem than the previous tradition of using reusable packaging...a loaf wrapped in tissue paper was never seen to be a problem. The trouble is the industry is now massive & a major worldwide employer.

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Plastic bag charges were brought in to hopefully cut the number of bags used and while many say it has helped and people now take their reusable or bag for life own bags etc you only have to go into the shops to see that sales of bags are still very high despite the charge.

Tesco for example have done away with their 5p bags and now charge 10p for theirs and yet people still pay. 

I think because most know the money from 5p bags (and now tescos 10p bags) all goes to local charities people don't mind buying them  and are guilt free.  I still buy them :oops: 

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9 hours ago, Dizzy said:

But surely if the said 25 year old crisp packet was thrown away the day before it would still mean it had been 'discarded' Asp..or am I just being pedantic lol

 

But the way Obs worded it made it seem like it had been floating around for the whole 25 years, rather than it having been recently discarded. I'm not saying it's right (litter bugs need stringing up - it really annoys me to see the amount of litter blowing around Warrington) just that the age of a particular item is irrelevant.

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It merely demonstrates just how long this careless waste disposal has been going on,  they've found islands of floating plastics in remote areas of Ocean, at the bottom of the Ocean etc. Albatross returning to their young, with a stomach full of plastics.  Some breaks down into micro beads, being consumed by creatures at the bottom of the food chain, which then makes it's way by predation, up the food chain - NB. we are ultimately top of the food chain - so nature is giving us back our waste as a poison.       Whilst I'm no tree hugger, obsessing on climate change,  the evidence in this case is clear and tangible; so we've all got to get a grip and quickly.          :ph34r:

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  • 1 month later...
On 13/01/2018 at 12:53 AM, Dizzy said:

Plastic bag charges were brought in to hopefully cut the number of bags used and while many say it has helped and people now take their reusable or bag for life own bags etc you only have to go into the shops to see that sales of bags are still very high despite the charge.

Tesco for example have done away with their 5p bags and now charge 10p for theirs and yet people still pay. 

I think because most know the money from 5p bags (and now tescos 10p bags) all goes to local charities people don't mind buying them  and are guilt free.  I still buy them :oops: 

I'm the household "Shopper" these days and note that most people over 30'ish have their bags with them,but the younger ones still pay for bags.

Why don't supermarkets use the brown paper bags that Primark use ? I have noticed that shops in the USA seem to use them.

If they find it cost effective why not others?

 

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Definitely obs, carts pulled by horses that cuts down on exhaust emissions  except for a minimal amount of methane when the horse trumps*,  plenty of recycling there with loads of horse manure for the gardens then.

*45.5 pounds of methane per horse per year  (34% of that from a cow).

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plus waking people up at some unearthly hour as the bottles rattled and clinked when the cart went over the cobbles.:lol:

 

Did read an interesting bit on some science page the other day where somebody was reusing chewing gum to make plastic cups and even soles for shoes. was surprised at the fact that chewing gum has so much plastic in it. they have even made plastic bins out of chewing gum to collect chewing gum in so that they can make more use of the plastic in it.( might have been the bbc website science page. made interesting reading though)

so if they can do that for chewing gum why not other plastic waste.

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On 3/7/2018 at 8:42 PM, observer said:

Ah, the glass bottles and tokens on the doorstep and the good old milkman delivering to your door -  those were the days !      :D

Those still are the days. We've had a milkman delivering our milk to the doorstep in glass bottles for a great many years now...although we don't leave him tokens like you mention as he just knocks for a cheque or cash every two weeks.  
I know it costs a bit more but our milkman is great and he even keeps an eye out when he's delivering early hours for any odd balls hanging around and also notices if people dont take their milk in and knocks on theirs to make sure they are ok...or on neighbours houses if he gets no answer form the person he's concerned about.  Great chap he is :D 

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Your milkman is behind the times Dizzy. I saw the news item the other night, and the milkman they interviewed had an online ordering service and you can pay your milk bill online. I never drink or use milk (for reasons too boring to go into) but I can see how this sort of delivery is better than overbuying cheap milk in plastic bottles at the supermarket (and having to lug it all home) only to find yourself throwing the surplus milk you don't use, and the plastic bottles, away.

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On 12/01/2018 at 11:16 PM, asperity said:

Just because a crisp packet can be shown to be 25 years old, this doesn't tell you when it was discarded. It could have been thrown away the day before!

I got a downvote for this comment nearly 2 months after I posted it for some obscure reason. Come on, if you don't agree with something someone posts don't just downvote it, have the courage to say why you don't agree. I don't think my post was in anyway controversial, I've posted other things that, on reflection, I might have downvoted myself :huh:.

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