To think that driving 20 miles to recycle my crisp packets is not the answer?

[PizzaCrunch]

I try to live as waste- free as possible. I buy things like cleaning products in bulky containers and decant into smaller, reusable ones. I re-use the wax paper my bread is wrapped in to wrap other things to keep them fresh. I never ever buy cling film/ sandwich bags. Every plastic bag I get I re-use as many times as I possibly can, either for carrying shopping, to wrap things in, package for posting items or as bin liners for smaller bins. I don't buy pre-packed fruit and veg and take my own tupperware to the meat counter. My milk comes in glass bottles from a milk vending machine at a local farm which I sterilise then re-fill. I re-use my plastic diluting juice jugs for things like mixing screen-wash in or making cleaning solution with bleach for my white work uniform.

There are more but you get the gist. I try to re-use everything in some way and always think before I buy how things are packaged.

There are some items that it seems impossible not to fill the general waste bin with such as crisp packs, sweetie/ biscuit wrappers, pringle tubes and cigarette ends.

A friend has pointed out to me that there is a collection point 20 miles drive from where we live which will accept these items for recycling and that I should take anything I cant recycle there. I visit this town maybe once a month, sometimes less frequently and to be perfectly honest I dont fancy hoarding rubbish in my home until then.

She seemed a bit miffed that I didn't agree with her that it's a good idea.

Also, if its relevant, and I know its not a competition, I am certain she is not half as conscious as me about the amount of unecessary crap we bring into our homes in the form of packaging although she is vocal about it I'm not sure she acts on it.

Am I being selfish not to take this extra step? Im not even sure how they manage to recycle the items in question when nobody else does.

Thanks blocked looks like they only take Walkers though.

If enough people stop buying crisps in plastic packs the manufacturers will come up with a solution , profit is their first need. Crisps originally came in a sort of grease proof pack. Not as tough as plastic, probably shorter shelf life but still available.

Do you have/know any small DC? You could donate the pringles tubes to nursery/reception for junk modelling.

They are a good shape for plant tubes too - like if you want to protect a baby tree etc.

You can't post them back to Walkers any more (see link above) they have to go via a Terracycle point. Which is why it makes a lot of sense for school (or local pub, leisure centre, whatever) to register as a Terracycle point. Problem is it takes time and dedication from the unpaid mugs dedicated volunteers who organise them, and as OP says above they 'have no desire or time to organise one myself'. Someone ought to be paid by the council to organise plastic recycling properly, preferably subsidised by the manufacturers of all this excessive plastic packaging. And anyway, pretty much all plastic recycling is downcycling. It is disingenuous to imagine it gets recycled in any kind of circular sustainable sense.

Crisps originally came in a sort of grease proof pack. Not as tough as plastic, probably shorter shelf life but still available.

Weaker packets and shorter shelf life means more wastage though, and could end up with more going to landfill, not less.

I don't know what the answer is maybe we should just fry our own crisps?
I hate all the waste and pollution and inefficiency too, come on humanity get your act together 🧐

My dear old mum tries to do her bit. She diligently collects and washes (don’t like to point out the energy needed to produce the water/detergent) her cat food pouches each month. Her parcel is then collected and driven away by a recycling company she subscribed to quite some miles away - in its diesel van!
Haven’t the heart to say.

Terra cycle ship the recycling to America so it has its own carbon foot print issues.

However, we have a number set up at work so a lot can be collected at once. Maybe that’s something you could look at doing?

I understand why you are laughing at your dear old mum but the reality is that it's very difficult, may be impossible to be truly eco-friendly whilst participating in the modern world
We are just not setup to be efficient we are set up to maximise the profits of the people in power

@joyfullittlehippo No worries!

@goteam - they take any brand - look at the FAQ below the map.

See if any if your local shops stock Two Farmers crisps, their bags are compostable.

bombom

Oh I’m absolutely not laughing at her! I haven’t the heart to point out the problems because she would be crestfallen.
Love you mum

It feels as if someone is having a laugh at us though atleastimhousetrained 😕
those of us who want to make an effort to be environmentally friendly when the truth is that most of our efforts are just pissing in the wind 🙄

@OrchidInTheSun I used to do the ecobricks but I just couldn't keep on top of the washing and stuffing, and I wasn't 100% convinced about the use of them. I now just try to reduce as much as we can by making small buying changes (eg making snacks for lunchboxes instead of buying individual items, we use little individual pots for jelly and yoghurts etc, buying big bags of crisps not individual etc) and then try to send off the bits I can't do to various places like this.

I think marks and Spencer's will collect crisp packets and other plastics in their stores? Our local
One definitely does.

Our local authority seem to take hardly anything in the black bin (for recycling). The first time I put something in the black bin that shouldn’t have been there (in good faith) I found it strewn across my side garden. Bin men had lifted it out and chucked it onto the ground. So that was nice

We have an eco-brick drop off point in our village library car park. Any chance something similar could be set up in your area?

I think we need to put pressure on manufacturers, make them responsible for packaging waste

So much of it is completely unnecessary just there for the marketing smoke and mirrors

crisps - pricey bags of fat and air. Bad for you and bad for the environment. Simple solution - stop buying.

ditto pringles in the ultra-wasteful pack. The cancer sticks also come in this category.

Combatting climate change means reductions in quality of life, although losing the burning turds will improve it for you and everyone downwind. Jobs will be lost if we all do this but as I've said elsewhere, wagging school and prancing about with banners achieves nothing.

bombimboobah

Mum also started some years ago unpacking as much stuff in the shop as she could and leaving the unnecessary packaging on the packing shelf. I think this was a very good idea, I do it myself and urge other people to. If we all did it and the supermarkets found themselves drowning under piles of wrapping, I’m sure they’d pass the pressure back to the manufacturers.
I noticed recently that Lidl have started selling reuseable veg bags. Unfortunately though, they’re next to the free plastic ones. They need to be bold enough to do away with the plastic ones altogether, take the initial hit and provide reusable ones, say 4 per customer, free or at less cost (they’re 99p for 2).

onceupon they are nice. A quid a pack though as opposed to 10 for 85 p from Lidl. You have to way up sustainability with cost. Just being realistic. I live v sustainably in most ways - vegan, reusable nappies and sanpro etc but I do wish big companies would do their bit.

I really like that idea atleastim 😊
is she part of a movement, are there instructions, does this deserve its own thread, shall I start tomorrow in Tesco's?

Thanks blocked I'll definitely use the walkers recycling

I'm not sure much stuff actually gets recycled. I put things in recycling bins but i think it all ends up in landfill. Where the market for all these recycled bits. Im big on reducing andcreusing though.