Stopping the waste first

You are so right Scones, I've been of this opinion for years. Of course we need to produce this stuff to keep our ever increasing population in work!

I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say, except the streetlights. Women feel venerable enough without giving councils license to switch off all the light.
We would probably be told to just stay in after a certain time if we didn’t like it. A defecto curfew.

Its not about stopping the waste first, its about stopping the waste as well.

The scale of this is bigger that most of us realise.

I agree with you Alegrias. But so long as this rubbish is sold it will be produced. Most of the Hallowe’en etc ‘novelty’ stuff comes from China or Taiwan I suspect so in addition to the huge amount of plastic there is the huge distance it has travelled. The only answer can be to refuse to buy it, which might be difficult if you take a child too young to understand the problem when you go shopping. And to refuse to buy any goods with unnecessary packaging. This is where the traditional greengrocer or market stall and the butcher and fishmonger come into their own. We need to vote with our feet. Not always easy I know especially if you have little time.
As regards shop lights being on all night, this is to deter thieves and may possibly be an insurance requirement. Street lights are turned off after midnight in some areas, which has raised safety concerns and is not in my opinion something to be encouraged.

Think back 60 years. We had dusters, dish cloths, floor cloths, nappies, handkerchiefs, etc all of which were washable and reusable. Now it’s all disposables with their cost to the environment. So many things we are wasteful on when we only have one earth, although according to William Shatner we are exploring space to move manufacturing there. That is if there is room amongst all the junk man has left floating around up there. Modern man does not live in harmony with the world whereas early man who we like to call primitive did.

I have said this in several posts. We all have too many gadgets - this includes me - we are all getting to materialistic. Must have the latest phone, a new car etc. We need to think about these things. And we will save money as well. I am not very good about putting my thoughts down in writing, but sometimes I think that a lot of us feel we are banging our heads on a brick wall.

How long will it be before it’s proven that somebody has a serious condition through injecting plastic.

www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/you-eat-thousands-of-bits-of-plastic-every-year

Obviously that should be ingesting ?

Well, I can’t help thinking that saying no to to children’s expectations when shopping (and otherwise) ma get be a good place to start. Most of this plastic rubbish is aimed at children and its adults that buy it, along with mountain of. stuffed toys.

Come on, how many of you have bought a little (unnecessary) present for the grandchildren?

It’s called relative deprivation Peasblossom. When all the other kids are getting so many toys etc if you don’t get the same for yours they are deprived. However, when you look at the Owen Children on ou Yorkshire Farm it brings home what a nice bunch of kids they are without all the toys etc.

Totally agree. I try to avoid as much plastic as possible when I shop but it's SO hard. EVERYTHING has bl**dy plastic on it. And as for homewares etc, it is hard too to find non plastic stuff. What is wrong with a wooden spoon etc, for goodness sake?

I’m not the cook in our house but I do know that all the kitchen utensils are recycled plastic or bamboo. We have a set of recycled metal pans.

We all have too many gadgets - this includes me - we are all getting to materialistic. Must have the latest phone, a new car etc. We need to think about these things.

I do not want to be rude, but speak for yourself, by all means, but do not speak for others. I am on my fourth mobile phone in 25 years. Each one only replaced when it failed. They were all recycled.

None of our cars are less than 15 years old. I have had my lovely bright blue Yaris since 2007, it was 4 years old when I bought it and I will keep using it until it has to go the scrapyard. It is running perfectly and has never broken down, so, with a bit of luck, it will last me quite a few more years. It is not that we cannot afford new things, we just cannot see the point if secondhand will do as well and is so much cheaper.

I say this not to show how virtuous we are, but DH and I have always been like this. The first thing we did when we got engaged was go to an auction sale and buy a brand new bed and several pieces of antique furniture. The bed was a fraction of its price in the shops. The antique desk, make-up box, and most ofthe books we have still.

I am on my way to visit DGC next week. DGD is going to get a second hand pair of walking boots, that I bought ages ago and have rarely worn, if she doesn't want them DDiL certainly does - we are all the same shoe size. DGS will get a book from our local secondhand bookshop.

A fair number of the implements in my kitchen drawers have plastic handles on metal working ends and I have no plastic spoons, although I do have a set of plastic measuring spoons that I have had 40 years or more.

When all the other kids are getting so many toys etc if you don’t get the same for yours they are deprived. Do they really or do parents and grandparents use this excuse to justify their expenditure on tat, because they are competing in the parent/grandparent stakes, not the children.

Never think of myself as wasteful due to a pretty frugal upbringing. However, in the past I have undoubtedly indulged in more clothes than really necessary. This is currently being dealt with! Shock horror when I told my 'save the planet' children that one of my jumpers, which they admired, was 63 years old. M&S in the days of style and built to last. Crazy world.

I wonder if the newer ‘biodegradable’ plastics are actually biodegradable, or do they leave micro plastic residues?

Well as I buy 80% of my stuff from charity shops I m doing ok
And my stuff I don’t want goes back to charity shops so I have a nice circular scheme going on

Blossoming

I wonder if the newer ‘biodegradable’ plastics are actually biodegradable, or do they leave micro plastic residues?

Blossoming
This might give you some answers.

news.berkeley.edu/2021/04/21/new-process-makes-biodegradable-plastics-truly-compostable/

Thank you all so much for your thoughts on this. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

Whilst I completely understand the concerns about streetlighting being turned off I've actually lived in an area where this happened in North Somerset. Purely selfishly I loved it as it seemed good for the environment and the dark skies were beautiful and great for wildlife. I say that as someone who rarely goes out at night and can see exactly why the light streets would make people feel safer.

Even the PM is talking about reducing plastic today. I like to think he read our thread.

I thought biodegradable plastics were made from corn starch, so are made from a biological base material, so once composted the residue will be no different from any other vegetable material you put on the compost heap.

Most of the biodegradable bags I get are from packaging around direct mail and subscription magazines. One of these will hold a weeks food waste and any spare ones go on the compost heap.Tthey are never there in any recogniseable form when i dig the compost out in spring and put it on the veg beds.

We’ve just come back from a couple of days in Yarmouth with DGS. I feel like the grinch who stole Christmas.
After the sea life centre, where we were among a handful of visitors who wore masks, I managed to convince said child that plastic tat from China was not the way to go.
We went into a couple of Penny arcades on our way back to the car. Enough plastic tat there to fill a few containers. Luckily no one manages to win anything so, presumably, it never needs replacing!
We have to stop it but I don’t have the answers on how to.

Biodegradable shopping bags do degrade. I recently found one which had been stuck down the back of my car seat for goodness how long. Most of it had turned to a sort of dust and had to be hoovered out.

Coca Cola produce 100 billion plastic bottles a year ?

All that coke drunk and nobody really even knows what's in it!

I think of all the plastic bubble top things on McDonalds drinks cups too. Must be billions of them.