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Do you recycle?

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pointless & uncalled for

11:03 / 04.09.06

At a supermarket I'm guessing. Perhaps a stroppy letter to the store manager is in order. Just because the job of cashier is a mindless one, doesn't mean that the employee is obliged to be mindless in it's execution.

12:23 / 04.09.06

Well, yes and no. When you've been behind a till for a few years, you develop a rhythm, and part of that rhythm is bagging the products. On many occasions I caught myself taking in that someone had said they didn't need a bag, thinking "excellent, another one, things are looking up, good for you" and then completely unconsciously and automatically bagging the books to be met with a blank stare.
We did try asking "do you need a bag?" when people obviously didn't (it's a fecking greetings card, it's already wrapped) but given the number of people who were openly hostile compared with the few who said no, it got dropped.

pointless & uncalled for

12:43 / 04.09.06

Fair enough. Although I think that there should be a routine response to a canvas bag. People toting these tend to be of a green ilk.

In practical terms, I would like to see the onus placed squarely on the retailer as an entity rather than their employees. Charging for a bag should be standard business practice with employees singularly justifying this as an environmental measure.

If I could ban the use and production of non recyclable plastic bags then I would.

pointless & uncalled for

10:45 / 07.09.06

Most compelling

20:15 / 13.09.06

I have a fairly roomy bag which can take a few bits of shopping, and usually have a couple of long-handled fabric bags tucked in a pocket. You do get a bit fed up with cashiers completely ignoring you when you say loudly, "No, thank you, I have a bag," while waving it in a really obvious way, and then packing your shopping into a carrier bag regardless. Some of them seem to delight in dumping the shopping in a spot you can't easily get at to pack it into your own bag. I suppose it's awkward getting out of a routine on that sort of job, but still.

Another recommendation for Grow Wild for anyone in this part of Scotland, their food is superb, the prices are good, plenty of variety, the delivery guy's a sweetie (who's never recovered from my answering the door in a towel five years ago, bless him), and they have a great selection of boxes, you can get practically any size or combination of stuff. I tried Damhead years ago but found the quality of both food and service was dreadful (lots of rotting veg), though for all I know they've changed.

Mooncups are fabulous things and more people should use them. They're a bit awkward for the first few days, but you get the hang of it quickly, and there's plenty of advice around (the LiveJournal community is good, and Mooncup have a nurse staffing an advice line). They're not as weird as they sound at first, they save you a fortune, they're blissfully comfortable, and yes, you do end up getting evangelical, so I'll shut up now.

10:16 / 14.09.06

As and when people have need for them, I want to evangelise about washable nappies. The additional hassle is absolutely minimal and not only do you know you're not clogging up landfill, you're also minimising the embedded energy (in manufacture, transport etc.), you don't have nasty chemicals against your baby's bottom, there's no packaging, and none of those individual dirty nappy bags (although I do use these for wipes, which can't be flushed down the loo - I should probably go on to washable wipes... will keep you posted). I think the environment agency did a study which concluded there was very little environmental benefit, and I'll look it up (I've just seen it referenced in Sunday supplements and heard the results touted by disposable-using-but-otherwise-fairly-green mums), but I imagine that it including the use of a tumble dryer. We have fleece-lined towel shaped nappies (PM me for more info) which dry in literally an hour in the sun, or in about six on a rack in the house. The bin does stink but only when you take the lid off, and tea tree oil helps. Plus the wraps are really cute.

The other thing I wanted to mention is the importance of not pouring fat down the sink. I usually pour it into a foil-lined cup, then put it in the fridge and tip it out of the foil into the bin (foil goes in recycling). I'm lucky in that I was brought up in a pretty green household and a lot of stuff is totally engrained (still feels very wrong putting an applecore in the bin though I haven't had composting facilities for about 18 years), but my SO is learning to get into the habit and feel wrong when he puts paper or glass in the bin. Fat not usually a problem for him, though, because he generally just eats it.

Will look into the mooncup (wasn't that on the gleushesusshes thread? haven't we grown up!), though I don't need it at the moment (yay breastfeeding).

Oh, and we've just started getting Riverford delivered, which is cheaper and seems a bit better than A&C, though I'm not sure about the food miles aspect.

pointless & uncalled for

10:31 / 14.09.06

There is a company in London that does a nappy washing and delivery service combined. They do all of their deliveries by bicycle as well.

10:39 / 14.09.06

Ah, another way in which I am environmentally responsible. I eat apple cores. My other half passes his over to me to finish off.

I've just started using soapods, little nuts of saponaria (botanical cleansing agent, my shampoo and conditioner are based on it) which you put in the wash in a fabric bag. You have to whack them with a hammer first and there's some nonsense about keeping them in a jar of water and reusing them which I suspect will fall by the wayside, but the first wash went well.

Unfortunately recycling gets incredibly difficult for me due to disability: I have enough trouble getting the rubbish down the stairs to the wheelie bin right outside the door, no way could I get any of it as far as the nearest recycling point. I end up doing other evil things such as flying to London from Edinburgh because five hours being jolted on a train leaves me in agony, or having nice hot baths to help with muscle pain. Oh well, I don't eat animal products and it uses up far more resources to farm animals than to farm plants, so that's probably doing something.

pointless & uncalled for

10:46 / 14.09.06

Have you spoken to your council about the recycling? They might have a doorstep collection scheme for the disabled or you might be able to persuade them to start one.

As for anything else like flights and baths. I don't begrudge anyone a higher footprint because of a degree of necessity, I'm, just perpetually dismayed by the lack of effort made by those that are more than capable.

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