To be bothered by how much we consume as a society...

[Cakelesswonder]

Don't get me wrong I love a retail therapy session but today just felt utterly gluttonous in the amount of ads for Black Friday, the 'deals, I couldn't move for emails offering me 20% off lots of things I don't need. I'm not suggesting everyone knits their own yogurt and lives like Mormons but I really feel we don't have the resources on Earth to keep consuming, throwing and consuming like we do. Everything is disposable, straws, clothes, we buy water in bottles then throw them away polluting the oceans and planet for ourselves and future generations. I have no idea what the overall solution is but it really got to me today .

Rewearing? FFS.

Re posting back packaging
I'd worry that they will just bin it instead of recycling what can be recycled - and we are creating work for people, the lowest paid staff probably.

I'm now wondering about handing it in at customer service though the whole "creating work" thing is still a concern for me.

I'd rather send it to CEOs etc, it will still be the PA dealing with it but at least the PA won't be on minimum wage I suppose....

But again, it will get binned rather than recycled I expect.

I am going to be writing to companies for sure. Haven't heard back from Body Shop yet , they're probably too busy sending out all the Black Friday parcels!

No, I dont have a website. It was a friend who suggested it to me and I think if we al do it it could work. Getting the CEOs address would be the best thing. I was looking at the number of plastic bottles in our bathroom today and felt ashamed. I recycle them.but even so. Switching to soap and shampoo bars as soon as this lot is used up.

I've been through 3 reusable coffee cups:
Ceramic and silicone - just leaked everywhere.

Plastic and silicone - leaked everywhere.
Bamboo and silicone - by far the best but cracked after 2 months.

Then I spent a long time trying to figure out the energy and resources to make those 3 useless cups Vs single use ones.

I've been eyeing up the Waitrose Ines for a while now. I will get one tomorrow.

Lately if I have a takeaway coffee (I have greatly reduced these) I don't use a lid.

Bit reckless. Bit brace. No plastic lid so hooray.

Great thread. Have picked up some good tips.

RebeccaBunch have you tried a Contigo? They are not cheap but worth the money. Don't leak. Keep drinks hot for hours.

I have an old fashioned thermos flask. I've had it for 23 years. It still keeps my tea hot, and has a handy cup and lid, so you don't have to drink the tea all at once.

I use Sainsburys online shopping a lot and I get the carrier bags because it's easier to transport the items and it's easier for the delivery guys too. But I do it because I give them back to be recycled each week. Do they actually get recycled? If they don't, I'll rethink things. I use my own bags when I go the supermarket myself and have done since way before they started charging for them in England.

Flask of tea.

With Sainsbury delivery, I get mine delivered without bags. The stuff arrives in the crates at the doorstep. I bring my own bags into the hall, unload the crates straight into my own bags and carry them into the kitchen. I don't think that's much more hassle than getting a bagged delivery.

I'm really pleased that you no longer automatically get given bags in shops these days too. I often had to try really hard to refuse bags, even though I always had my own. Once had quite an argument in Debenhams with a shop assistant who tried to tell me it was compulsory to have a bag!!

Rebecca what about a regular thermos?

Re delivery bags, could use them as bin liners? I mostly go to Aldi so no delivery for us sadly!

I do have a regular thermos which I use on winter picnics etc, but I need something for my takeaway coffee. I have cut these back substantially, but still want one from time to time.

I think poster above are correct and absolutely we need legislation to control waste and especially single use plastic.

The recent scandal on how take away coffee cups cannot be recycled (though I see Coasta are now saying they will recycle all single use coffee cups of any origin if you drop them in), and how companies can develop new products like coffee capsules without any thought to the environment/waste consequences, how McD's can promote Happy Meals supplying free plastic crack/crap to kiddies the world over, show businesses and the consumers cannot be trusted with our environment.

There are alternatives to plastic straws, plates, cutlery etc and business need to be forced to use them, or punished for using plastic.

Rebecca "I do have a regular thermos which I use on winter picnics etc, but I need something for my takeaway coffee. "

yes, I mean a thermos mug/cup thing with a lid and a handle? I think DP has had his for years. He won't have bought a pricey one either.

ah yes those do exist don't they - forgotten about them - cheers.

Sainsbury delivery I normally get the guy to bring it into my kitchen then empty it there.

But when I use the shop i try to remember my own bags. But I seem to forget and accumulate carriers. The carriers I do take back long with other bits of packaging (ie bread bags) and put them in the recycle bin.

the thermos mug people could make a fortune doing an ad campaign now, I reckon!

Rebecca I don't often get a coffee (a free waitrose one) but when I do I remember to rinse and put the lid back in my bag to use again. It just sits there in a pocket for when a Waitrose free coffee appeals to me!

Although seeing on this thread re thermoses, I have a very nice small steel traditional thermos flask I hardly use. I might use that for all future coffee takeaways. It would go in my (capacious) coat pocket easily.)

Things we can do on a local and small scale.
Does your town have a repair cafe? They are staffed by volunteers usually run once a month and for a small donation will have a go at fixing most things but not phone screens. There are aprox 130 of these across uk. If your town doesnt what about setting one up.

Does your town have a transition network, see what they are doing or start one. Lots of advice online.

Look into clothes swaps for old clothing.

There are lots of reuse organisations that take furniture and sell it to very low income families, people. Of course there are main stream charity shops, so when you are ready to replace something they will keep it out of landfill and give it another home.

I love the idea of sending back packaging to the supermarkets, I wonder how many mumsnetters would need to do it before they had a rethink!

I have had a reply from the Body Shop about packaging

I feel I should have guessed this rather than take up their time! Essentially everything that is plastic sealed, it's about hygiene.

So I will need to think about buying massive containers of anything that isn't bar soap etc. Who sells face moisturiser in glass jars, does anyone know?

Nyx1 My M&S Pure moisturiser is in a glass pot - just has a plastic lid.

Who sells face moisturiser in glass jars, does anyone know?
Neals Yard used to but I've not bought any for a while now.

I took a box of M&S chocs out of the cupboard to take to a friend's yesterday. And then I had a look at the packaging.

Each chocolate was individually-wrapped.
All the chocolates were arranged in a pattern on a plastic tray.
The plastic tray was nestled in a cardboard box.
The cardboard box had a plastic box covering it.
The entire package was wrapped in another card wrapper.

...five layers of wrapping, just for chocolate! I won't be buying those again.

Who sells face moisturiser in glass jars, does anyone know? Dr Organic in Holland and Barrett do too.

*They're good for putting other things in too if you go away/holiday.

For me it's about my failures as well as the victories.

So I really dislike excessive packaging, I try to consume less, live more ethically etc.

And then I get busy, and I get caught up in things, and I'm juggling life/work/kids (working FT, single parent, lots of demands) etc and that is when I do something like ArcheryAnnie above and realise I've bought chocs in 5 layers of plastic. Or in my case this week, salad tomatoes with a plastic tray as well as a cellophane wrapper (nice one Waitrose). Usually I don't buy F&V in plastic trays, but this time i did and I wasn't even conscious of it.

So it's about taking the time to consume mindfully for want of a better word, and that does take more time and thought. And for so many people, time to consider and make decisions like this isn't even something they want to consider. And I do want to do it, but still I have failures when other demands are there.

I need to bring the environment to the forefront of my decisions, which are usually based on price. I'm really good at doing it with price. I need to be come excellent at doing it re the environment.

I'm sorry to be un Mumsnetty but looking at this thread makes me go all 'I love you guys ' and want a group hug. Only for the huggy people of course.

I had stuck with Body Shop because of the vegan products but I do need glass now. I'll have a think. Dr Organic use the snail stuff I think.

Rebecca, snap re price.