Stopping the waste first

Coca Cola bottles are 100% recyclable, the problem is with those people that do not put them in the recycling bin.

Some people still don’t get it, my neighbour told me she was doing her bit as she had thrown two boxes of plastic straws away and now used paper ones.

That phrase 'throw away'. There is no 'away'.

We were talking about the packaging and how fast it builds up. I realised when I buy my meat from the butcher there is little plastic. The meat is in paper and all the pieces are put in one bag together - not a tray in sight. I wish I could buy my fish like that too.
I try and buy all my fruit loose so it goes into a paper bag or a biodegradable one.
Do you remember years ago when drapers used brown paper to wrap things or paper bags?

I have lived rural for 15 years, there is no street lighting at all. I'm not sure it is a great idea tbh as it is pitch black and people do unfortunately have nasty accidents and get killed regular (by cars usually)

M&S packaging is already changing to card rather than plastic I have noticed but it is M&S

Glad to see the most recent supply of Vagifem came with a reusable applicator. About time! I have always saved the blue sticks for recycling. I am currently using one of the blue ones instead of the white ones so I can see the white tablet is in the correct place and doesn't get lost on its way to where it is going.

And look in our bathrooms.
How many of us have plastic bottles of shower gels? Shampoos? Hand pumps of soap at the sink?

And lifestyles?
Plastic bottles of water to carry around/put in the car? Do we live in the Sahara? What is this constant need for hydration.

Elizabeth27
Did you see the Panarama program last night? They company have been lying since about 2008 about their green credentials.

Urmstongran
Not in my bathroom ? Good old fashioned soap for washing and shampooing. I’ve never bought a bottle of water.

Ave been trying to oust plastic containers from the bathroom and by scouring the internet and paying quite high prices am slowly managing, although I'm not sure if tins and glass pots are any more environmentally friendly. And I accidentally dropped a glass pot of facial cleanser and cracked the washbasin.

In the shops, however, it is nigh on impossible to avoid plastic bottles.

Here in Germany, all drinks containers - bottles of plastic and glass as well as cans - are paid for at purchase and you get the deposit back when you return them.

When buying vegetables you are encouraged to use the reusable net bags rather than the plastic bags.

Otherwise, it is not easy to avoid plastic
As for presents for the DGC, we would never get anything without asking the parents first, and then never anything plastic (except Lego).

I have made lots of things for them out of my huge stash of old clothes, towels and sheets: aprons, bags for their play shop, smocks for art lessons at school, etc.

MerylStreep

Coca Cola produce 100 billion plastic bottles a year ?

I was horrified when I watched a tv programme www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0010zxs?at_medium=custom7&at_custom4=CF016260-35A3-11EC-889E-43280EDC252D&at_campaign=64
We had it right in glass bottles, for soft drinks and milk. Returnables always better.

JackyB

Ave been trying to oust plastic containers from the bathroom and by scouring the internet and paying quite high prices am slowly managing, although I'm not sure if tins and glass pots are any more environmentally friendly. And I accidentally dropped a glass pot of facial cleanser and cracked the washbasin.

In the shops, however, it is nigh on impossible to avoid plastic bottles.

Here in Germany, all drinks containers - bottles of plastic and glass as well as cans - are paid for at purchase and you get the deposit back when you return them.

When buying vegetables you are encouraged to use the reusable net bags rather than the plastic bags.

Otherwise, it is not easy to avoid plastic
As for presents for the DGC, we would never get anything without asking the parents first, and then never anything plastic (except Lego).

I have made lots of things for them out of my huge stash of old clothes, towels and sheets: aprons, bags for their play shop, smocks for art lessons at school, etc.

Yes am always impressed re bottle recycling in Germany, very handy to have stations inside supermarkets to dispose of your used items.

JackyB
I agree, it’s a conundrum. Take glass. Sand is used in the manufacturing and yet the world is running out of sand.

www.bbc.com/future/article/20191108-why-the-world-is-running-out-of-sand
Then you have the mining of tin: not environmentally friendly.
If I pit these against plastic then they win. Do the experts know what affect ingesting these plastics are going to have on the human race? But then again, perhaps the human race will adapt to suit eating plastic.

MerylStreep that is a very interesting article. It’s not just glass sand is used for but concrete for building and roads, and also silica chips. It’s extraction is a factor in erosion and flooding, apart from climate change, but which rarely gets mentioned. Attention is being focused on climate change and not these other factors which we ignore at our peril. Where is the joined up writing?