AIBU to think singe use plastics should be banned?

[LunasSpectreSpecs]

Actually, I don't think I'm unreasonable at all, and am sure anyone who saw Blue Planet will agree.

We don't need disposable coffee cups, you can get reusable ones for around £1. When you're buying carrots or garlic in the supermarket, why are you taking a wee plastic bag to put it in? Plastic straws are also totally pointless - if you truly have some sort of condition which means you NEED a straw then get paper ones. 5p carriers should be banned - bags for life only.

In fact, other types of plastic should be taxed too. Christmas cracker gifts - mostly plastic and then chucked after an hour.

I think actually making small changes is a lazy option I think we need to force the government to place serious sanctions on countries causing the most problems but also help them too. Not sure possible this would be though.

I think we need to try to do both - changes at a personal level and trying to convince the government to do something about it too. The problem is the world leaders we have at the moment, (not mentioning names trump ). Can you really see them getting tough on this issue? I can’t .

Future generations will look at us with disgust in pretty much the same way we look at the slave traders.
Our attitude to this planet and the environment is appalling.

Annorlunda tell your grandfather that there are places where youncan refill your own bittl3s for certain kitchen products and toileteries. Ok they're not in mainstream shops but they are there.

And as for taking your own cups for takeaway drinks, then there are brands which make a variety of sizes which correspond to standard coffee shop sizes

As has already been mentioned, The UK - and indeed lots of Europe is miles ahead of other parts of the world. The sheer number of plastic bags I get at the supermarket is astounding and no, I'm not "allowed" to pack my bags myself (I do repack the worst offenders, but get some very strange looks), and can't take in reusable bags - all bags must be left at the security counter and collected on the way out. Recycling is unheard of.

So, how can the rest of the world come up to UK levels in terms of reducing plastic usage, reusing plastic, and recycling? Honestly, you dont realise how far forward the UK is til you live somewhere it isn't ingrained.

Agreed pricilla.

I think (hope?) the generations younger than mine are a vast improvement.

^”Sir David certainly feels very strongly about the need to address the issues that are there. Plastics is an issue that comes through strongly in this film. The bleaching of coral and the warming seas are also really big issues. But there is a message of hope as well. What we know is that where people take the pressure off the ocean, it bounces back strongly.

Monterey Bay in California is a famous story. This is a bay that was polluted to complete devastation in the 1930s and 40s, that was absolutely over-fished, so the whole wildlife system collapsed, and yet you can go there today and see some of the greatest ocean spectacles on the planet. And there are other anecdotal stories around, off Kenya and Somalia, where because of the piracy in the last decade [and the absence of fishing trawlers], the numbers of big fish have begun to return.

So there really is this sense that the oceans have an incredible capacity to recover; that there are some big challenges out there, but at the same time it’s not too late. We’re probably at a unique moment where, in many ways, we’re the first generation to get the full scale of it and to really understand humanity’s impact, and there’s still a chance to do something about it, and that has to be a positive message, and it has to be an exciting opportunity.”^

^^From interview with one of the Blue Planet II producers.

Thanks guys! It does make sense for them to make it in their own washable cups and then pour it in! Was getting carried away thinking about the details. 😀

@whiskeyowl - the main problem reusing bags for produce would be contamination. If something started making you sick, how would you know it was the product and not something stuck to the packaging that was reused? Same with pests/insects in fresh produce. Fresh meat and fish would be impossible to sell this way due to the possibility of food poisoning.

@Chardonnaysprettysister - I think we need to start looking at packaging as a whole system not on a single-issue basis:

1. Prosecute retailers for excess packaging.
2. Tax single-use plastics and/or give a rebate to retailers using reusable plastics.
3. Increase the demand for recycled materials (for example by specifying minimum recycled content in paper/plastics).
4. Tax consumers for their general waste bins (by weight) and/or give a rebate for recyclable waste.
5. Consider how the kerbside recycling system could be strengthened to take more material.
6. Provide adequate money for industry to invest in adequate recycling facilities (for example for single-use coffee cups or tetra-paks).
7. Encourage changes in consumer behaviour that normalises and values recycling. A bottle return scheme is one way of doing that but I think it would be more useful to have separate recycling bins as standard next to general waste bins in the street. If necessary, these could offer the 5p rebate.

There's lots of options (the government are considering most of them currently) but a blanket ban on single-use plastics isn't the answer, IMO.

Everyone is focused on groceries here, but it’s much wider than that. Most clothes, shoes, accessories etc have some form of plastic in them or are made completely from plastic and are seen as relatively disposable. Your carpets, curtains, roof insulation... almost everything solid in your life that is not glass, a metal, animal product, or earth/stone product (bricks, ceramic etc) is plastic.

Businesses produce an extraordinary amount of waste, the university I used to work at had a rebrand and then had to get rid of everything with the old branding... there must have been skiploads of stuff just thrown away because it was no longer current.

We need to find humane and environmentally friendly ways to produce what we need from either animal products or crops. And we need to stop consuming so fecking much.

I’m not good at this at all as I have a limited budget, to make these choices we need it to be affordable too.

Oh, and with the refillable bottles:

1. How do you guarantee that customers will a) rinse the bottles adequately and b) not fill them with the wrong cleaning solution or whatever, potentially creating some sort of chemical reaction?
2. As someone else has mentioned, this penalises people who shop on line and can't make it into stores, such as the house-bound. It has to be equitable for everyone.

Everyone is focused on groceries here, but it’s much wider than that

It is, but clothes are single use are they? I still would like to see more to combat fast fashion though. Second hand clothes can be great! That’s what I tend to go for.

Nappies is another thing. There are great, second hand reusables available online.

Aren’t*

stepaway - sounds like another argument for being veggie!! I've reused Ikea sandwich bags literally dozens of times for fruit and veg - it works absolutely fine. You just turn them inside out, wash them in hot soapy water, and shove them on top of a wooden spoon in your utensil jar to dry.

Same with refillable bottles - just have a central cleaning point, as used to be the case for milk. It would probably use less water/detergent than everyone washing individually.

Chill no, they’re not single use but they still end up being thrown away, and they aren’t going to biodegrade, so it is still part of the problem. I suppose what I was trying to say was that I don’t think stopping single use plastics is enough. We need to do much, much more.

And it is easy to feel virtuous buying a coffee in a reusable cup while being oblivious to all the other damaging plastics that surround everyone.

How can we do that?

Email companies, MPs?

I'm happy to do that.

stepaway - sounds like another argument for being veggie

Good point!

Or you can bring Tupperware boxes you already have into the supermarket, only buy over the counter meat and fish and ask them to put it straight into the box.

I suppose what I was trying to say was that I don’t think stopping single use plastics is enough. We need to do much, much more.

Completely agree. Consume less in general. Cosmetics are my bugbear. We are led to believe some of this stuff is essential and so much of the packaging can’t be recycled. Don’t get me wrong, I use cosmetics, but there are options which use less plastic packaging.

I mean, as a consumer I try and avoid plastic as much as I can, but if at the same time nothing is done to reduce production and use and there are no new ways to recycle it, then aren't we fighting a lost cause?

It's everywhere, it's true, my neighbors even wrapped their garden in it.

I was just thinking about this this morking and how there are so many crappy little collectable toys for kids. They have a plastic wrapper around a plastic container inside which is a plastic toy, none of which is recyclable.
I've now switched to stretchy bowl wraps and putting stuff in a tupperware box instead of cling film. The bowl wraps are not quite as good, but i can live with it, espefially after seeing what poor, bloody baby albatrosses are ending up with in their stomachs!
Just bought bamboo toothbrushes and bamboo straws as well. I do get annoyed though, that I can make these small changes, but there is almost no point when there is very limited recycling or reusing going on in whole continents like Asia and America. Nothing will trulybchangs until governments force corporations rethink packaging entirely and impose consequences for not doing the best thing for the environment.

I've now switched to stretchy bowl wraps and putting stuff in a tupperware box instead of cling film.

Aha! That answers my earlier point about cling film. Thank you!

Yes! You're totally right and YANBU. I've thought about starting this thread many times recently. What's up with sainsburys putting lots of their veg in non recyclable plastic film instead of plastic bags/ just naked, of late, too? E.g. organic celery. Seems absurd up to care about organic food, but not about the packaging it comes in. Diverting the site of the pollution. It also makes me despair to think that whatever we do in our own lives, food giants like the supermarkets and manufacturers seem to be increasing the amount of non-recyclable plastic they use. Maybe a boycott of these products, or a big mumsnet campaign/ petition, could make some progress.

Where do do you find the bowl wraps?

It's be been looking in Lakeland but they didn't have any.

Agree other countries need to do more - supermarket bags in America would be a start.

I know reusing bottles or having a reusable coffeecup isn't the answer to everything but it's such a easy win - a no brainer.

For those knowledgeable in the area of environmental protection/preservation, what are the most effective things an average, concerned but a bit confused consumer can do?

We generally buy loose fruit and veg, use reusable bags until they fall apart, recycle what we can, use 'eco' laundry/hygiene products etc...but am not convinced we're doing all we can.

bowl wraps

I've never tried these but would be interested to give them a go.