Recycling Plastic

RobinWren said:
Yesterday when I went to the depot to drop them off I was told to resort into hard and soft plastic? when did this happen?
Click to expand...
In Sweden they went in the other direction. Hard and soft plastic containers used to be separate but now go into the same container. Almost all plastic bottles and bags in stores are made of recycled plastic.
 

Glowworm said:
In Sweden they went in the other direction. Hard and soft plastic containers used to be separate but now go into the same container. Almost all plastic bottles and bags in stores are made of recycled plastic.
Click to expand...
On my visits to Sweden I was very impressed. Other countries should take note.
 
We’d reached the point that plastic bags were prohibited in most BC cities and many Canadian cities. Then the stores had to offer free plastic bags during Covid. They charge 5cents for plastic. It’ll be a while before we go back to just paper or using our own cloth bags. Now the cashiers won’t touch our cloth bags and I don’t blame them.
 
The problem that I had when plastic bags were banned in my area was that I had to start purchasing bags to put my trash in.

Now that I'm used to the change I manage to put most of the trash in plastic bread bags, frozen vegetable bags, or other types of plastic wrapping similar to what is used for bales of paper products.

I wish that they would allow us to dump the actual garbage directly into the dumpster without bagging it.

Copy-of-Paper-waste-min-1024x724.jpg
 
Chet said:
Remember brown paper bags? Do some stores ask if you want paper or plastic? Not in mine.
Click to expand...
Just prior to the return to having to use plastic, I’d ask for paper. 10 cents. It was more than twice the size so double the win.

When we were travelling in the western US a couple of summers ago, the clerks looked askance at me when I sometimes wanted plastic. They’d say paper or plastic. We needed them for wrapping.

It’s time for me to ask for paper in the self-service section when I go into a grocery store.
 
Chet said:
Remember brown paper bags? Do some stores ask if you want paper or plastic? Not in mine.
Click to expand...
In our main supermarkets you have the choice of packing fruit and vegetables in brown paper or plastic bags. You can also choose to pack all your purchases in brown paper or plastic bags. The brown paper bags are free but you have to pay for the plastic bags as we have plastic bag tax to reduce use of plastic.

Since the pandemic started we do almost all of our shopping online and the supermarket staff always pack everything in the brown paper bags.
 
@Glowworm Sweden is obviously way ahead of the game in caring for the earth.

Hmm. Interesting idea of packing the vegetables in a paper bag. They provide lunch size bags here for mushrooms. I could use some of those for small items. Most items wouldn’t fit into these. A year ago, I had just started using a couple of mesh bags - wonder where they are now.

Our online shopping items are all packed in plastic.
 
digifoss said:
Sweeden is ahead In more ways than one. Sweeden just shot down Bill Gates stupid plan to dim the sun by releasing stratospheric aerosols into the atmosphere at high altitude. Too bad that they were even considering it at all.
Click to expand...
Would you care to clarify?
 
I probably mentioned this elsewhere but I was very impressed with Sweden's care for the environment when I've visited. I did have fun teasing my friends when seeing a piece of litter and telling them it would go down in my report. 😎
 
SetWave said:
I probably mentioned this elsewhere but I was very impressed with Sweden's care for the environment when I've visited. I did have fun teasing my friends when seeing a piece of litter and telling them it would go down in my report. 😎
Click to expand...
Best bring a big notebook with you next time you visit because it's got a lot worse the last few years. Now some people are just throwing face masks in the streets. Though cigarette ends are worst. People say they're bio degradable but hey aren't because they contain cellulose and take about a hundred years to degrade. It's estimated that about four and a half billion cigarette ends are thrown away each year. My girlfriend and I are both heavy smokers but if we're somewhere where there isn't a container for cigarette ends we have a tin that we put them in to take home. I won't just throw them on the ground for someone else to take care of.
 
Last edited:
digifoss said:
You can read about it in the links below. It was supposed to be carried out from Kiruna and other parts of Sweden but I read somewhere yesterday that Sweden is backing out because of potential risks and bad press.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/367869#:~:text=Bill Gates-,A Project Supported by Bill Gates Is Set to Temporarily,carbonate to dim the sunlight.&text=This article was translated from,exist due to this process.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielc...traction-but-concerns-linger/?sh=1d055cc4793b
Click to expand...
Bill Gates has too much time on his hands and he just causes mischief.
 
Glowworm said:
Best bring a big notebook with you next time you visit because it's got a lot worse the last few years. Now some people are just throwing face masks in the streets. Though cigarette ends are worst. People say they're bio degradable but hey aren't because they contain cellulose and take about a hundred years to degrade. It's estimated that about four and a half billion cigarette ends are thrown away each year. My girlfriend and I are both heavy smokers but if we're somewhere where there isn't a container for cigarette ends we have a tin that we put them in to take home. I won't just throw them on the ground for someone else to take care of.
Click to expand...
That is so disappointing. :confused:
Before the goddamned virus began circulating I made it a habit to pick up pieces of litter but no longer. I ain't touchin' nothin' no more. :mad:
When I was in the service we were taught to field strip a cigarette by removing the filter (if it had one), squeezing out the tobacco that's left, wadding up the paper and stuffing it all in our pocket to dispose of later. I'm sure that technique is unknown to the slobs tossing their trash everywhere.
It seems to be the classic Out of Sight Out of Mind.....
 
I think it's time to ban non-recyclable or non-biodegradable plastic altogether and require all recyclable plastic to actually be recycled.

There should be a substantial fine for those caught improperly disposing of it, too.

The planet is choking on plastic.
 
It seems like plastic could be disposed of by mixing it in with concrete and asphalt–obviously not so much that it would become flammable, but considering the perpetual construction around the world, that might be a viable solution. I haven't researched it, although I do remember a story about houses being built using recycled plastic for the walls.
 
Irwin said:
It seems like plastic could be disposed of by mixing it in with concrete and asphalt–obviously not so much that it would become flammable, but considering the perpetual construction around the world, that might be a viable solution. I haven't researched it, although I do remember a story about houses being built using recycled plastic for the walls.
Click to expand...
Seems like they could grind it up and either mix it with concrete up to a certain percentage or maybe create some new high strength goop that could be molded into blocks, bricks and planks, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top