to ask what you're doing to reduce your use of plastics?

[k2p2k2tog]

Lots of coverage on the BBC yesterday about how we used to ship loads of plastics for recycling to China, and China have said they aren't taking it any more.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42455378

Of course recycling is a good thing. But that should come third after reduce and reuse.

Plastics are an environmental nightmare - we can't avoid all plastics but we can certainly reduce what we're using. I've just ordered reusable sandwich wraps for the kids to take to school rather than wrapping in cling film. Little steps. If everyone does a little bit, we can reduce the total amount of plastics.

So what are you doing???

OP your hectoring tone makes me (and I would guess others) want to go out and buy more plastic.

Ive vut iut plastics entirely
We use only glass storage containers for leftovers
Beeswax papers for wrapping things
Glass water bottles
Buy only loose fruit and veg and cook from scratch to eliminate food packaging
We buy all our beans nuts seeds etc for cooking in bulk from our local farm shop weigh and pay using our own jars
This might not be possible for everyone but since cutting out plastic entirely we've noted we get ill less and feel less sluggish too

Those who are saying they don't care or are put off... you do realise that the usual export route of our waste plastics for recycling has been cut off - China has banned their import. So that means there is nowhere for our waste plastics to go. We do not have anywhere near the capacity to deal with the intensity of the consumption rate we use plastic packaging. We will either have to rapidly commission more landfill sites, more incineration plants, or "mothball" much of it in sheds in light industrial estates... with the fire risk that entails - many recycling plants regularly go up. Any of those could be sited the other side of your back garden wall. How does that suit?

OP your hectoring tone makes me (and I would guess others) want to go out and buy more plastic.

Agreed.

Switching from shower gels and hand wash to soap.

Stopped buying bottled water, have 2 3litre bottles that get refilled and put in the fridge, then use washable water bottles.

We have 4 straws that I nicked from Macy d 's, they go in the dishwasher (not bendy, thick ones). Had them for about 6 months. Ds has cups with lids and a straw hole, better than spilt cups of milk. Totally reusable, will last us forever.

Reusable bags, I too washout reusable plastic sandwich type bags as ds uses them for his cookery ingredients for school as they fit better in his big sandwich box than small plastic tubs.

Loose fruit & veg, no bags or packaging when shopping.

It's a start, been doing this for years.

Oh yes - although I use wrapping paper I make sure it's fully recyclable paper (anything shiny is likely to contain plastic) and no longer buy shiny ribbons or bows to go on them. Think brown paper packages tied up with string

I am replacing individual plastic bottles of fairy liquid, body wash and hand wash with whatever decent product I can find in industrial quantities and decant onto glass bottles. Suggestions for such product/s would be much appreciated.

If you want to check if your teabags have plastic in, there's a list here:

moralfibres.co.uk/is-there-plastic-in-your-tea/

There are some teabags that don't contain plastic but the packaging is plastic!

I'm trying to persuade the PTA to use china cups and reusable plastic cups when they do the refreshments after special assemblies. I am on the rota to help out and it wouldn't take long to wash them up in the staff room.

I use a refillable water bottle and flask on days out.

We use washable sandwich wraps or re-use bread or cheese bags and try to avoid using clingfilm in the fridge. When buying fruit and veg I try to get them loose and we get a veg box delivered that doesn't use plastic. We get our shopping delivered without bags (although we get the little ones for fruit and veg).

My Achilles heel is the amount of plastic toys my children have - DD loves magazines with little plastic toys on the front, and many of toys they had for Christmas were packaged in a lot of plastic.

Nothing

Iwillsurvivehayley
Farmfoods do catering size bottles of fairy liquid if that helps

Mrs Hathaway
Have you heard of using fabric to wrap presents ? You can buy Christmas print fabrics and reuse them year after year they look pretty luxurious under the tree too

I find it sad when people say they don't care about this issue. How can you see pictures like this and not care?

Even if things are thrown away and don't end up in the oceans or littering the countryside, there is no 'away'.

These girls put the non-caring adults to shame.

Not sure what happened to my pictures there.

I'm really concerned about this but don't think teabags are anything to shout about. The micro amount of plastic in a teabag (which is generally compostable) is so tiny compared to the massive amount that can be saved just by switching to shampoo bars, soap and conditioner bars. It's about picking the right changes.

The more people switch away from plastic bottles and bags and clingfilm etc, the more companies will invest in coming up with alternatives. Before you know it there will be a Pantene silicon free shampoo bar - but only if they see the trends emerging and want to reclaim the customers. We can all help with that.

I have indeed, PraiseBe , but they only seem to work if you can keep it in the family not least because we were looking at £8+ per present (because obvs can't be polyester ). Lovely if you can get family on board; less useful when DC takes a book to a classmate's birthday party.

Gift bags which keep getting passed on are a surprisingly ecological solution too though alas ugly as fuck but again that requires consensus and cooperation.

OP your hectoring tone makes me (and I would guess others) want to go out and buy more plastic.

Agreed.

Also, the plastic industry working poster has made a lot of statements, but I've seen no evidence offered. One lettuce does not equal a field of lettuce. I'd be interested in facts and figures, but I'm not believing one hundred times anything without evidence.

I've been doing things for years, interesting to see all the bandwagon jumping.

99% of my recycling comes from unnecessary and unwanted packaging.

Glass bottles should return, so should recycling schemes.. as happen in other countries..

Get the industries to start and people wouldn't need to follow. It would happen as part of the natural course of things.

I was listening to Jeremy Vine too. It was really illuminating. One thing he did point out is that a huge amount of the plastic we have here is because we buy too much cheap plastic crap from China in the first place! Maybe we should be buying more locally and cutting down on the disposable rubbish toys we import from there, stuck on the front of magazines and given out in McDonalds for free. How many fidget spinners are going to end up in landfill over the next few months?

Personally, I'm not doing anything to reduce my use of plastics. I use what I need, and have never found a good reason to do otherwise.

We are not on this planet for a long time, so we may as well use the resources we have available to us in order to live fulfilling lives. "Live for the moment" and all that. So what if China don't want our rubbish any longer? The world has plenty of space suitable for landfills, and plenty of poor countries that would be eager to take our waste, few questions asked, as long as the money is right.

If we were serious about saving the planet, we would focus on reducing the spiralling population. More people = more resources needed. There will come a point where the world can no longer afford to support everyone who occupies it. (It afford to at present, it's just that we choose not to!)

Earth does not need our help. We cannot "save" the world. The planet will be fine. It will still be here in one form or another, long after humanity has been erased from its memory!

"so we may as well use the resources we have available to us in order to live fulfilling lives. "Live for the moment" and all that."

Does that include the use of disposable plastic drinking straws that are frivolously used for all of 10 minutes, then disposed of, finding its way to the river and the sea? Where it's ingested by a sea turtle, becoming lodged up its nose. There's a horrifically distressing video on youtube featuring marine biologists on a boat struggling with pliers to remove the offending detritus from the poor fucker and causing a massive nosebleed. Baffled by this attitude... how we live has implications for other members on this planet - human and non human in the here and now. Yes the planet itself will be fine in the long run, shaking off its bad case of humans like a dog shaking off its fleas. But modern humans are doing their damndest to take as many other organisms down with them. 200 species go extinct every single day.

Nothing. Your question is a bit "when did you stop beating your wife?" Isn't it?

I'm already very careful about buying in bulk and refilling rather than using lots of little disposable containers.

I don't use clingfilm, don't buy takeaway coffee, don't buy cans of drink at all so no plastic connectors and don't use plastic bottles for water. Never have.

I don't buy new stuff just because it exists, I buy second-hand if possible.

Plus, you might want to read this retractiondatabase.org/(X(1)S(b4dvfoqr50ct42dlkcy1nul2))/RetractionSearch.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1#?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport%3d1%26auth%3dL%25u00f6nnstedt%252c%2bOona%2bM

Not plastic, but I was very excited that my cheeky wipes reusable make-up removal wipes arrived today, along with a wet bag for my reusable sanitary towels.

Sad to see so many on here hostile even to the idea of doing something as an individual to help.
Lots of ideas in Bea Johnson's book Zero Waste Home.

We try very hard to reduce our own waste by not buying it in the first place meaning we choose loose veg over packaged and glass bottles over any plastic.
Majority of clothing is second hand as is most of our furniture.
We grow what we can and swap what we can with our neighbour. Eggs from a local farm, glass bottles from the milkman. I haven't found anywhere to buy stuff with your own containers. We are Midlands. Countryside.

I'm not an eco fairy for those bashing us, I drive and we use gas and electricity plus the internet.
I always pick up at least 3 bits of litter on my short walk to work. It's almost always fast food wrappers.
I don't use toothpaste and do have the bamboo toothbrushes but they travelled a long way and came in packaging. It's hard knowing what to do for the best.
I love avocados and they usually are loose but then there are articles on the corruption and bullying of avocado farms. The Mafia started their protection business by threatening lemon growers and their trees and it seems the same happens to the avocado growers. It is an absolute minefield trying to live without harming anyone or the planet.

Can I also add that glass for milk/ drinks would be a nightmare for those of us who don't drive? Same as the reusable metal bottle- great if you don't have to walk a lot, but when you do it's suddenly less appealing. Add back issues (sciatica in my case)/ disability/ being pregnant and not allowed to carry a lot and things are a lot more complicated.

I do try to buy things I need and buy things that will hopefully last so less waste overall. And things like upcycling and mending stuff as well.

But whilst I live right next to a butcher's, no way can I afford to buy meat from there. And the prepackaged veg are cheaper at my greengrocer's.