Reusing plastic bottles and pots.

[Bambambini]

I keep and clean plastic pots (like humous/coleslaw) to use again like for the kids packs lunches. Also refil and use some plastic bottles a good few times before recycling.

I do worry about the plastic leaching etc element but hard to know how really this is and I hate waste and they are just so handy. Anyone else do this or are their any scientist types who know more about this.

I know in Denmark they refill coke bottles and the like so they're doing it on a countrywide scale (They're noticeably more solid than the ones over here)

Reduce, re-use, re-cycle.

I re-use as much as possible. Hate waste. Much to DH's annoyance, I have a cupboard full of "handy" plastic boxes and bottles - I have just the right size and shape for every eventuality!

I do it, too. I think the risk of anything leaching from the container is negligible, but the risk from not making the very best use of our resources that we can [coughclimatechangecough] is well-documented, serious and absolutely terrifying.

Yes, keep and recycle. I keep those pots that contain marge butter, cream, dips, coleslaw etc and milk bottles. I have a water meter so when I run the hot tap, I collect the cold water in an empty milk bottle(s) until the hot water appears. I also collect the cellophane bags that greetings cards are sold in and the poly bags that post comes in (useful in the kitchen). Used envelopes to write shopping lists on or notes by the telephone. Cardboard boxes are useful to keep for posting gifts. I've always got one the right size. Good job we have two garages.

Gosh! Reading that makes me look like a hoarder. Anyone want 6 inches of string?

Terrifying?ReallY?
I think Iraq is terrifying at the moment. I cannot compare that to what may or may not happen in a zillion years.

I reuse plastic tubs for the animals but don't bother with bottles. They are too thin.

That said, I have an unidentified substance in the freezer in a flora tub so old it's design is retro. They are useful for that and apparently can last for years if mine is anything to go by..

Terrifying?ReallY? I think Iraq is terrifying at the moment. I cannot compare that to what may or may not happen in a zillion years.

If you really think problems caused by climate change will only happen in a zillion years, then you really haven't been paying attention.

No I don't really bother that much with it. I am happy to admit it. I think everyone has causes they care deeply about, mine are just different.

That's your choice, Theodorus, but it's going to bite you and your kids on the arse in the end, whether you care deeply about it or not.

I pulled a container of my favourite ice cream out of the freezer last night to find it contained soup - most disappointing.
Downside of recycling I suppose !!

How?

I reuse plastic containers all the time. DS2 is using the same plastic bottle that he first had in January for his packed lunches. It's washed every day and has lasted really well. (Originally from Costa).

And YY to unlabelled ice cream tubs in freezer with mystery contents. Is is stock, soup, lasagne, bolognese? Well it's going to be tonight's tea anyway.

Theodorus - well: flooding, extreme weather events, species reduction, agricultural yield collapse leading to food shortages, increase in resource conflicts, etc etc etc. We aren't immune just because we live in a western industrialised country, and the projected timescale is quite short.

There's a ton of resources out there. but if you want a link to a very conservative (ie the opposite of fear-mongering, one which looks at a pretty rosy scenario) one, try this: climate.nasa.gov/effects

I am not stupid you know, I don't need to be educated by Google. I simply do not lie awake worrying about what may or may not happen, and pat myself on the back when I reuse a flora tub. Because to be honest, I don't think it really makes any difference. Iraq however (and I used to live there) is now, it's real, it's true and can be quantified. Yet nobody bothers. I don't live in an industrialised western country by the way.

You asked a question, and I answered, Theodorus. Don't ask if you don't want an answer.

Climate change is now, is real, is true, and is quantified. I don't like awake worrying, or pat myself on the back - I try to help in any way I can. If you don't, that's your choice but don't imagine it won't affect you.

And - amazingly enough - it's possible to be concerned both by the situation in Iraq and climate change. Fancy that!

But not everyone shares your views or concerns, but the world really would end if everyone only cared about the same things. It doesn't mean that people are stupid because they don't care about some things that others do. Ask the average British person how they feel about either the environment or Iraq and I bet most of them worry about neither. I care about Iraq because it's on my doorstep, I used to live there and I am repulsed by the British part in the invasion. The end of the world/floods doesn't really factor in my life and I don't worry about it. It doesn't make me nasty and certainly not unusual.

Where have I said that you are either nasty or unusual? You asked a question, I answered. And I know all too well that not everybody shares my views or concerns. That still won't stop us all being affected by this, whether we give a shit or not.

Well what's the bloody point then ?????

Because if more of us do give a shit, then we can at least stop making it worse. But I can't decide that for other people.

I reuse small plastic pop bottles or water bottles. Saves spending a fortune buying drinks when out on a day trip. I also reuse ice cream tubs to freeze food when I batch cook. I don't normally bother with empty hummus pots or anything like that though.

Why can't they make water bottles better quality? They already charge more for the water than petrol so why not use glass or good quality plastic? A few weeks ago I was enroute though Heathrow and a liter bottle was about 2 quid.