Is this a good thing?

We have a pop up shop locally which sells liquid soap among other products, I take the empty soap dispensers and get a very nice refill of lime and coconut soap.

BBbeven
I've got the bathroom plastic free. The toothpaste thing: we buy charcoal whitening tooth powder in a container made of tin & made in the uk.

Thanks Petra I will look out for that. GDs coming to stay soon. They will be proud of their old GPs

All the carpets in my house are made from recycled plastic. If we all do our bit that's ok.

The plastic in our seas is there because irresponsible a***holes have no idea what a rubbish/recycling bin looks like or how to deposit items in one!!!

Someone locally collects old toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, crisp packets, biscuit wrappers and other stuff that cannot go in recycling bin and sells them on to make money for her charities.

Anything that is plastic free can only be good if you look seriously at the state of the planet and want to do your bit to help it.

In itself it's a good thing but if you have to travel a long way to get there I expect the carbon emissions balance it out. We can only do our best. We used to have a shop like this locally long before we became aware of the plastics problem but I believe it closed down a while ago.
I bought some 'Veggio' bags from Lakeland which I use instead of single use plastic bags but the impact on the planet must be very small.

M&S is giving away plastic "playfood" at the moment according to my daughter. It's one item per £20 shop. When she asked why they have a company schedule to get rid of plastic and yet are deliberately having these plastic give-aways manufactured she was told to just recycle it!

GG54, agree that the coach station is not the best advertisement either for Birmingham or for Digbeth. The Custard Factory (used to be Birds) however is a thriving hub of interesting art, enterprise and ethnic culture.

Go on, you know you want to...

Dentists aren't so keen on that charcoal toothpaste , especially for children .Toothpaste used to come is metal tubes , not sure if that is any better.
I couldn't water my plants with a heavy galvanised can , my plastic ones are at least 10 years old and are not polluting anything.
Plastics still have their place , what about PVC windows ? ( personally not my choice ) They perform better than old leaky wooden ones at half the price .
I have been using cloth shopping bags long before it was fashionable and never used those soap dispensers ,

At least people are trying. We go to the senior screening at our local cinema most weeks, which includes free coffee and biscuits. This time when I handed over the lidded cups we always take along, the assistant said it would be easier to use theirs - “you just throw them in the bin afterwards and don’t have to carry them home.”

I ' treasure ' any paper bags that I get and re-use them as often as I can. This week have gotten them from the chemist, McDonalds and Pret. I hope more shops will adopt this.

It's only single use plastic items that are bad. We are never going to get away from using plastic at all.

Of course it doesn’t make sense to drive a long distance to use these shops! Don’t think anyone would advocate that.
And Digbeth is an awful place??
I wouldn’t know as I’ve never been there. But even if I had I wouldn’t comment..
some of the remarks on here are unbelievable!

Plastic won't disappear from our life. The problem is the single use and the disposal of the stuff. There will be new methods of production with a view to causing less pollution and there will have to be a lot more efficient recycling. What kind of goods are those plastic free shops selling? How many miles have they travelled? Before the obsession with plastic wrapping we did quite well with paper or just shopping bags for specific products eg fruit and veg, meat and fish and loads of the general foodstuffs. We are all so gullible being enticed with the latest "must have" with not a thought how it is manufactured or from what. Even the electric car being given hyper publicity about how clean they are. But are they. An EV capable of under 200 miles before needing recharging will produce 16% of the amount of an oil based fuelled car. All good. But what do we hear in the media - longer range is needed. An EV capable of over 200 miles before charge emits 84% of the oil based emissions. The small one in cities must prove beneficial surely but the bigger one, is that a real improvement especially since that is the one that seems to be craved. We are so gullible!

It is a good thing because it’s success will mean that it spreads. I don’t use Morrison’s but popped in because I wasn’t local and they offer really sturdy paper bags as alternatives to plastic - fantastic. Hopefully more will follow. You could say don’t bother as there’s a bigger picture - or...every little helps.

Yes, it is single use plastic that's the main problem. Here's a thought though, every piece of plastic ever manufactured is still in existence! Makes you think doesn't it?

Shops are catching on though. Even Sainsburys in my area now allows you to take your own containers for the deli, fresh meat and fish counters, and their recycling plastic bag bin isn't just for used shopping bags. They accept all sorts of plastic wrapping, like that from toilet roll packs, bubble wrap, bread wrapping etc, just ask at your local branch.

We also have several shops that do a refill service of cleaning products and toiletries.

I couldn't get on with shampoo bars but happily fill up my bottle. I do use hand soap and find its kinder on my skin.

Slowly people are waking up. I just pray it's not a nine day wonder!

Some posters on this site are rude and cutting, can we have some regard for others please. At the weekend my youngest granddaughter asked me what I was doing to cut down on plastic: Glass bottle door step milk, solid soap, beeswax wrap are just a few. Are manufacturers looking at cleaning products, all the detergent containers are single use plastic. Can any posters suggest what I might use?

I think it's all too little, far too late. We all managed without plastic and it's a fairly recent invention (within the last century). Of course, every single effort helps but we're encouraged to think that our token gestures will actually solve the problem. Reducing single-use plastic and recycling won't save the world. We've poisoned the seas and the very air we breathe.

I agree with Monica that some of the Anti-plastics ideas are taking things a step too far. Whilst I would be happy to put bird seed or similar into my own box, I wouldn’t be happy to buy unwrapped meat or fish etc and place it in my own reusable box. Surely, food which is prepackaged in a factory is hermetically sealed under strict hygienic conditions. Who can guarantee that their reusable box is totally germ free or that it will get home safely without any leakage? And who needs paper carrier bags which disintegrate in the rain, especially if you are using public transport? I’ve even seen shoppers refuse to buy a bag and then drop a dozen shopping items outside the supermarket! ?. I now keep one of those foldable bags in my handbag at all times. Whilst I agree that some plastic packaging is unnecessary, as a hygienic way to transport food it is very practical and a method which will be hard to replace. I wonder how long it will be before people become ill using their own, not-so-clean food boxes? ?

Well I suppose you know if you have washed your own container thoroughly enough?
I think it’s a very good idea.

Blinko
I may well treat myself to a trip. I've only been to Birmingham once, can't remember when or why (many decades ago) but I saw the 'Bullring' area and a group of musicians playing bin lids? which was interesting. There was a park nearby, just across the road but I didn't go there.
I believe B'ham has the largest Primark in the UK. ???
That might be my incentive. ??

I never buy supermarket 'fresh' fish as much of it is 20 days old (recent BBC programme) whereas frozen fish is frozen and/or gutted at sea.

I agree with M0nica. I read the other day that the single most important household item in the world is a plastic bucket!
Also that a cotton tote bag needs to be used 323 times to counteract the pollution in its productions, while a plastic bag only needs 3 uses... go figure, as they say!

Stella.... do you need a big gas-guzzling giant of a car.? I don’t drive , or fly since my understanding of the destructive forces of these two things. I cycle and use public transport ,and heres a thought for the able bodied , walk!! but I’m certain nobody NEEDS a gas-guzzling giant of a car . Your words..., not mine. In our immediate family of two adults with two grown children only one drives, and she only started at age forty as her job demanded it! We all manage our day to day life very well and mostly with a relatively clear conscience.... the fact that my shopping is double wrapped in stupid amounts of plastic and cardboard is not my fault and I feel we could make more complaint than we do about that. I used to have a customer that when he brought anything too wrapped he would discard all the packaging at the till... cereal boxes....cake boxes....plastic wrapping around newspapers with supplements , all gotleft at till. Used to think he was bonkers twenty years ago, now I know we should all be doing it.