To think its time we went back to the old pop bottles banned most plastics??

[LanaKanesLeftNippleTassle]

Reading an artcle in The Guardian this morning....

www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/27/plastic-debris-inundates-remote-uk-coasts-endangering-wildlife

From the article:

A Greenpeace research ship has spent the past two months touring the Scottish coast and islands assessing the impact of plastic waste.

Marine scientists on the Greenpeace ship Beluga II will undertake a detailed analysis of the results over the next two months. But the initial findings from the voyage paint a bleak picture:

Plastic waste, from bottles to bags and packaging, was found on every beach surveyed

Microplastic and other plastic fragments were found in the feeding grounds of basking sharks, seals and whales

Plastic bottles, bags and packaging were found in birds nests at internationally significant seabird colonies, in areas such as the Bass Rock, Isle of May and the Shiant Isles

Last month scientists found nearly 18 tonnes of plastic on one of the world’s most remote islands, an uninhabited coral atoll in the South Pacific.

The tiny landmass in the eastern South Pacific, was found to have the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the world, with 99.8% of the pollution plastic.

It's a fucking environmental disaster.

We need to do something about this, strting with forcing drinks companies to completely change their packaging.

Added to the fertiliser run off poisoning our seas, plus all the other crap we leave floating about there, and I'm frankly surprised there is any sea life left at all.

What can we do MN??

[GhostsToMonsoon]

I like the idea of a Mumsnet campaign.

Our school must use 1000s of plastic cups each year. I think I'll raise it with the PTA as they organize the assembly refreshments (I help out sometimes and it wouldn't take long to wash up - might save the school some money as well).

On holiday abroad recently a lot of people had plastic bottles of water which they drank from disposable plastic cups, many of which ended up as litter.

[VestalVirgin]

I like plastic bottles for some uses - carrying water in my backpack, for example - but here in Germany, they are apparently recycled at a higher rate than in the UK. (I prefer those made of thicker plastic, which I think might even be cleaned out and used again?)

[GhostsToMonsoon]

You can get a reusable water bottle like Sistema. I have a One Green Bottle one which is quite sturdy. During the heatwave I thought I might get one that keeps your drink cold.

[NotCitrus]

Thing with plastic is it's so light that it doesn't take much energy to transport it about, and it's strong, doesn't smash, and still dirt cheap (hence production of all those free plastic toys). Switching from glass to plastic bottles saves companies huge amounts in reduced fuel costs.

Setting up bottle deposit schemes costs. Small retailers who don't have the space to store returned bottles are scared they will lose out as they won't be able to participate. And the bottles that would get returned are mostly recycled already, minus some of the litter. The ones chucked in bins would probably still not be recycled.

Not all plastic created is still around - some will have been incinerated to create energy. Oddly, Brits are content to have fossil-fuel power stations burning coal or gas, but not ones that take plastic waste and turn it into energy, which is common elsewhere (eg Amsterdam). A waste-fired energy plant or two would assist UK with providing energy over the next 50 years without being dependent on Russia etc, but dear Joe Public freaks out.

Another plastic recycling plant has recently opened in East London to take plastic bottles and produce food-grade plastic for new ones, which should lead to more plastic being collected and recycled.

None of this is to say that reducing single-use plastic, littering and pollution isn't a good idea, just that it's not that simple - energy used to make 'green' cloth bags or metal reusable mugs often dwarfs the environmental impact of plastic alternatives.

[SleightOfHand]

Wonder how many people on this thread voted for the Green Party.

[PickAChew]

I considered it, Sleight but their manifesto was a little simplistic for me and most of the issues I was concerned about (including those which are nothing to do with the environment) were covered amply by the party I did vote for.

It's a bit daft to vote based on a single issue.

[teaandakitkat]

I have been trying to reduce the plastic that comes into our home but it bloody hard. Try buying toilet rolls without them being wrapped in plastic? And pasta, comes in a plastic bag. There's one brand, Barilla, which comes in a cardboard box but our local spermarkets don't regularly stock it. We do ok with avoiding plastic bottles and disposable cups. But still get our milk in plastic bottles because we just don't have room in the fridge for glass bottle. I refill washing up liquid bottles too. But that's such small change really, even if I never bought plastic ever again I would probably only save one fish.
I read an article once about a shop which sells absolutely everything loose. So you bring all your own bags and storage boxes and fill them up. I'd love to open a shop like that but I don't think people would have the time or the patience for it nowadays.
If there was a mumsnet campaign I would definitely be on board. I'm constantly harping on about plastic waste to anyone who will listen.

[SleightOfHand]

That's the thing, the environment should be our number one priority, we're fcuk if it's destroyed.

[winglesspegasus]

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89099470

this article is almost 10 years old

we have waded into salt marshes of the gulf of mexico and removed huge(tons) of tis crap every year

[winglesspegasus]

well done slight was my next post

[Natsku]

I voted for the (Finnish) Green Party at the last election, so did OH who tends to be a bit right wing but says now that the environment is the single biggest issue facing us so changed his vote to the Greens (they went up a lot in this last election so not just him that's realised that thankfully)

[Coffeetasteslikeshit]

I have my milk delivered in glass bottles, it's slightly more expensive but it saves me money in the long run as I'm not always "popping" to the shops for milk.

[Picklemuncher]

I think in the western world we are already doing a fair bit to try to recycle and reuse. We have changed our attitude. We could do more like the banning of microbeads but how much will it help when one country, China, is responsible for at least one quarter of the garbage that gets dumped in the ocean? The UK has a tiny population compared to other countries so how much of what we do really makes a difference until other countries spend money to dispose of waste properly as well? Frustrating....

[PickAChew]

The party I voted for had a very green manifesto. Thanks to the green party, probably, they (the Greens) are not the only people sitting up and taking notice.

We are all quite capable of caring about more than one thing at once.

[Picklemuncher]

Actually China, the U.S. and India are responsible for almost all of the trash in the ocean. If they disposed of their waste properly there would be so much less plastic in the ocean. I don't know how we can make them do that though!

[PickAChew]

And I've just had a load of school uniform delivered for DS2, who starts secondary school, next year, so needs mostly new stuff. It's simple uniform like sweatsirts, polo shirts and joggers. He only needed a couple of new pairs of joggers, for now (he's incontinent and needs a lot of spares!) and I'll just keep him in his current ones until he outgrows them or they get big holes in them (once one starts, it gets help!) but between 5 sweatshirts, 3x2 packs of polo shirts, those joggers and a couple of pairs of sorts for PE or hot weather (though i tried to get him into shorts last weekend and he was horrified!) I have a massive pile of plastic wrapping and coat hangers. The big pile of hangers is c/o the big store that prides itself on its "Plan A"

[GhostsToMonsoon]

I got some toilet rolls not wrapped in plastic from Who Gives a Crap (I am sure DCs will like having a cardboard box with a rudeish word on!)

[tothesideoftheirlives]

I was just coming on to say about the company Who Gives a Crap - buy in bulk - no plastic wrapping, everything recyclable and some of profits to charity.

There is also this company //www.terracycle.co.uk which organises recycling of many things you never thought could be recycled.

Though I think the priority is a deposit return scheme and a Mumsnet campaign would add to the campaign already ongoing I think run by the Marine Conservation Society with other organisations.

I have goal of picking up at least three pieces of rubbish a day at least. Every evening and morning I take the dog out for her quick walk I pick up along the same route - found £10 the other day.

There is also an app I use to report particularly bad rubbish to the council, because often the council has no idea about the location of fly tipping or broken bins. its called Love Clean Streets although there is also Littergram.

You can probably tell I hate litter!!!

[ErrolTheDragon]

Reduce, reuse, recycle... and in some cases, as with bottles 'replace'.

However, 'Ban all plastic production, only allow recycling' is almost certainly too simplistic in today's world. Yes, there is too much packaging - but the flip side of that is that eg it's used to keep medicines sterile and appropriate use of packaging can have a positive effect on reducing food waste. If plastics weren't used in cars, then they would be heavier and use more energy.

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

No, of course we can't stop using plastic.

But we can use less, and recycle more. There has to be a way of cleaning up our mess.

[kateemo]

I run a small cosmetics company and use a mix of paper, glass and plastic. The plastic I use is biodegradable. It IS possible, but it increases my product cost a little. So far, my customers are happy to pay it because it's worth it to them. Whole countries who are a lot worse off than us have banned styrofoam. It is possible, but it takes a certain amount of will. Every day I see people dropping things out of their car window or casually tossing wrappers on the streets. It's SO depressing.

I found this online yesterday, which gives some hope that our scientists have some better answers. It was on BBC Three - a profile of a contraption that nets ocean plastic, and the inventor (a 23-year old ) thinks it can clean the oceans entirely of plastic by 2050. Still, it will be in a landfill somehow.

www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fbbcnews%2Fvideos%2F10154892096090787%2F&show_text=1&width=560