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Do you recycle?

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13:31 / 25.10.05

Getting an organic box delivered is something I often think about but get discouraged at the prospect of having to eat mounds of potatoes and carrots every week. I keep swithering about it but perhaps one day I will give it a go.

00:41 / 29.10.05

I'm plugging Banana Paper again, because I just got their kraft notebooks and they're even nicer than the premium notebooks that I have. They were cheaper, too. Ecopapers sort of need to update the pictures on their site --these notebooks are actually twin-wire bound, like the premium notebooks. (Twin-wire is better because it doesn't snag & you can take it apart, if you want to shuffle the pages or put on different covers.)

I'm very inordinately in love with this product, because I like recycled products & I like recycled products that give thought to good design & I like recycled products that compete at a normal price point, and aren't four times as expensive as conventional products.

Everybody order Banana Paper notebooks! They can never go out of business, I will need these notebooks for the rest of my life.

12:48 / 17.11.05

Does anyone know whether you can recycle old clothes that are too worn to give to charity shops? Things like old socks or t-shirts full of holes, that sort of thing. A lot of that must be going to landfill but I wonder if it can be turned into cushion filler or something.

19:36 / 17.11.05

My local council will collect 'textiles' along with our weekly green box collection, so there must be something useful purpose to which it can be put! Their website is apparently undergoing redevelopment at the moment however, so they won't tell me exactly what it might be that they do with it....

Tryphena Absent

13:37 / 03.01.06

I found this article interesting (partly because I have the Antarctica enthusiasm bug) but anyway thought you might like to read it and couldn't think of anywhere better.

22:15 / 28.01.06

There was a really good edition of Changing Places about Zero Waste on Radio Four on Friday, and you can listen again here.

Tryphena Absent

22:44 / 28.01.06

I'm listening to it at the moment and it's very interesting, thank Lula.

I really love what they're doing in Chew Magna, it makes me wish I lived there.

Tryphena Absent

22:52 / 28.01.06

Incidentally I have just sent an email to Camden council asking them whether it's possible to recycle plastic packaging that isn't a bottle or bag in the area. I'll keep you updated on our correspondence.

22:57 / 28.01.06

I love what they're doing in Chew Magna too and it's really near to where I used to live, which makes me sad. I don't think there's the same community feel here in Birmingham!

I still can't get over the fact that there's nowhere to recycle plastic bottles at ALL in Birmingham, but there was in a tiny town in Somerset. I still collect all mine and then about once a month I either drive down to Somerset or give them to my Mum when she comes to see me, so that I still get to recycle them.

This surely can't be the way forward. Why is Britain so utterly crap?

Tryphena Absent

23:02 / 28.01.06

Write to the council and ask them to provide services! I write to all of my councils, I asked Westminster why they don't have recycling facilities around my workplace (bomb threat). I wrote to Camden about boxes (they sent me one and talked about a trial scheme) and I've emailed them again today. If I try to make myself the bane of their email existence then perhaps they'll do something about the lousy plastic recycling in this country. What the hell am I meant to do with meat packaging. The butcher's opens after work and closes before I get home. I'm stuck with plastic that I have to send to the landfill. It's nonsense I am going to throw down my handkerchief and duel them. DUEL THEM.

Tryphena Absent

21:34 / 23.02.06

Camden Council recycles plastic with a 1 or 2, that's PET and HDPE. Where can I recycle PP (5), which is the other really common household plastic?

09:23 / 24.02.06

Recoup has lots of info on plastic recycling and includes a database of companies who accept used plastic. You can specify the type of plastic (such as PP) and search by locality. It does seem geared towards commercial operators rather than home recyclers though. A useful aid for local authorities I would have thought....

pointless & uncalled for

13:32 / 24.02.06

Nina,

Contact DEFRA, I think they are comitted to having a registry of recycling facilities. If people use it more often than that then they might spend some effort on this.

In the meantime, try this link.

There's going to be a seminar in Toronto on recycling in condominiums. I don't live in one but might go anyway. Such voyeurism and it doesn't even make me feel dirty.

16:06 / 24.02.06

I'm a barbelith posting virgin, but had to add to this thread, as I'm a recycling bore/eco-Nazi too.

I live in Hackney, and can walk to the recycling depot for glass, cans, newspapers, but not plastic. I've also got one of the Bokashi composters, took a while to get used to, but works like a dream now.

Ecover products rock (dear god I need to get out more). If you haven't tried it, get the floor cleaner, it smells amazing (think it has orange and linseed in it). Downside is their washing powder - tried it for a couple of months but it didn't clean properly so I always smelt of stale sweat. Nice. So now I use it for bedding etc but have Ariel for clothes.

I get organic veggies delivered each week - it really isn't all potatoes and carrots, but for a few months every year you do get too much kale, which is like eating a plastic bag.

16:50 / 24.02.06

It's not the kale that bothers me but the endless, endless rainbow chard...

09:27 / 25.02.06

Funny - I use Ecover washing LIQUID and my clothes always smell okay (and I sweat buckets, especially when exercising).

09:55 / 25.02.06

Toopage, if you're in Hackney, you could check out Growing Communities (if you're not using them already) for veg. It's cheaper than most other schemes and they have a big commitment to sustainability issues etc.

Tryphena Absent

18:20 / 26.02.06

Ecover products rock (dear god I need to get out more). If you haven't tried it, get the floor cleaner, it smells amazing (think it has orange and linseed in it). Downside is their washing powde

Thanks for the recommendation I'll try the floor cleaner out!

The washing powder isn't great as it tends to clump. Like Brunner I use the liquid. It lasts for a long time so it's better financially and there is at least one other member of the board who uses it and says it works like a dream- even for people who are allergic to bio powder- and your clothes smell great.

18:23 / 26.02.06

Hackney City Farm is also worth a look-in for veg.

> Ecover [...] washing powder - tried it for a couple of months but it didn't clean properly so I always smelt of stale sweat. Nice. So now I use it for bedding

you want your bed to smell of stale sweat?

show-off.

18:44 / 26.02.06

Yeah, another vote for Ecover's Clothes-wash Liquid here. Haven't had the problem you've had with the powder, toppage (and welcome, btw!)

09:07 / 27.02.06

Can you get veg from the City Farm then? I pick up my box from them, but didn't know they did direct vegetables themselves... I've often wondered about asking them whether they'd consider having a community composting scheme, I hate throwing vegetable scraps away (live in a third floor flat with no outside area).

I might try the Ecover liquid. Must say I have no problem with the powder on clothes, but I am definitely starting to wonder about bedlinen, towels etc., and whether I mgiht not be better off with another option for those.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:19 / 27.02.06

Incidentally, does anyone have any experience of these? They smack to me of witchcraft...

Tryphena Absent

09:26 / 27.02.06

For that price it had better be witchcraft. Am sure I've seen some cheaper, will look into it.

12:00 / 01.03.06

Thanks for the tips (and the welcome!) - I'll try the ecover liquid, hopefully then I won't smell like an unwashed armpit.

Re those eco-fluffy balls - are they for real? I saw them in the Indie, but was a bit skeptical.

Tryphena Absent

12:43 / 01.03.06

I don't know... tumble dryers, they're kind of bad for the environment aren't they?

10:29 / 13.03.06

www.bigbarn.co.uk, picked this up from a friends livejournal.

Put in a postcode, find a list of organic farmers, farm shops and locally produced food, with a handy "what's in season" section.

Excellent if you want to help fight against the big four supermarkets controlling how we farm and eat.

18:43 / 16.03.06

Thanks to those who've pointed me in the direction of Hackney's 'Growing Communities' - very good stuff, although I did get a cabbage in my veg bag this week and am completely baffled by it. We’re having a bit of a stand off, me and the cabbage.

Now, here's a problem for you all. I work for an arts charity. This charity produces greetings cards and other promotional items, including carrier bags, pens, and so on. Our cards aren't printed on any sort of recycled card, and our bags are just crap plastic. This makes me feel guilty, because I know that I'm in a position to at least encourage, if not enforce, more environmentally friendly merchandise.

The first problem is that our cards are, basically, expensive fancy goods for rich people, and such people do like thick glossy luscious cards. I know diddly puff about this, but is there such a thing as an environmentally friendly but also expensive-feeling card? All the recycled papers I’ve encountered have had a rough, off-white quality that really doesn’t go down well with the lords and ladies of Surrey. And if that’s just the way it is, then should I be pushing for off-white recycled cards anyway??

Secondly, the bags. O, the bags. Our carrier bags are fantastic, because wherever we go people take them and fill them with things and walk around carrying them and advertise our worthy cause. But I know they probably just chuck them when they get home. Paper bags just wouldn’t have the necessary durability for a day at a trade fair, for example - or would they? Could they? Should we be using something else entirely? And would the alternative be as cheap as our current plastic version?

And lastly, can anyone suggest alternative environmentally friendly promotional items, or any organisations that manufacture such things?

These, Barbelith, are the things that keep me up at night. Please help....

18:55 / 16.03.06

can anyone suggest alternative environmentally friendly promotional items,

you could consider wrapping baby seals in promotional plastic and having them run thru city streets. more attractive than buses, and theyre used to having run anyway. they could use a less harsh environment than their native one, even if we have to give them lots of water to drink, i think it's still a positive payoff.

Tryphena Absent

19:30 / 16.03.06

This has been a very clean, interesting and informative thread so I am asking everyone not to rot it, even if that means putting a stop on your responses.

In other news Camden is now accepting aerosol cans, cardboard and plastic bottles in doorstep recycling bins and bags.

I was wondering if anyone here who lives in London wanted to join forces to send PP5 plastic to one of the companies on the Recoup site? When I emailed Recycle Now they informed me that none of the London councils accept that type of plastic and quite a lot of it is used in packaging. Shampoo bottles, some food packaging and a number of other products are made of it. I intend to email some companies and find out if they charge and how much it costs if they do, hopefully we would only have to pay to post it. There are a number of reprocessing factories around London, in Kent for instance, it's a shame that Royal mail are going to start charging for size as well as weight. Anyway let me know if you're interested.

Doozy Flop, you could try contacting a site like this one and asking them about their cards or contact the GCA.

19:38 / 16.03.06

Can anyone tell me about the feasibility of passing legislation that makes companies responsible for the fate of products and packaging they produce?

I really want to be able to make it the company of origin's problem if their packaging is not reusable, recyclable or degradable.

Have their been any draft legislation attempts in the past? Any in the works at the moment? What's the likelihood of getting something like that into law in the UK?

19:46 / 16.03.06

Thanks Nina - those sites are definitely a sign that hope is out there for me / my employer / the good card purchasers of the home counties. I'll investiage further.

19:50 / 16.03.06

am464: I believe something similar is now part of the law in Germany. From here

The German Packaging Ordinance obliges manufacturers and distributors to take back used, empty sales packaging from consumers free of charge at the actual point of sale or in its direct vicinity and to forward it for recycling.

Makes it seem much more likely that something like that will become law here, though we're still a long way off. I do think we may experience quite a few "green laws" in the next few years though. Public consciousness of this issues seems to be growing.

Tryphena Absent

19:56 / 16.03.06

am464, I'm really not sure about packaging law but it concerns me quite a lot because so much plastic in particular isn't accepted. The aims for recycling in this country as published by DEFRA are around 60% for paper and glass but only 22.5% for plastic. The current waste directives are divided up between DEFRA and the DTI as is explained here. This makes the issue complicated because it means that packaging law is outlined by two departments that have to co-operate with one another.

This part of the document in particular might interest you: The current UK compliance system works by requiring companies above the threshold of a £2million turnover, and handling more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year to pay for a certain proportion of the UK obligations to recycle packaging. Different companies in the supply chain from manufacturer to seller pick up a different sized proportion of the obligation. Importers of pre-packaged goods pay for 100% of the obligation.

Tryphena Absent

09:13 / 25.05.06

I bought an energy saving (E14) spiral lightbulb yesterday and it's brilliant. It takes no time to light up and it's a 9 watt bulb.

09:21 / 25.05.06

Really? We've got one in the flat and it drives me barmy - when I go into a room and put the light on, it's because I want to see, not because I want to stumble round in gloom. It makes me want to leave the light on all the time, so I don't have to wait for the stupid thing to work.

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