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This sounds like a great idea - go without something for a while and you'll appreciate it and notice it more when you go back to using (hopefully less of) it.
by danw1979 7y ago
This sounds like a great idea - go without something for a while and you'll appreciate it and notice it more when you go back to using (hopefully less of) it.
It sounds like a significant challenge to do this outside of an urban environment that is well served with "alternative" retailers though.
A friend nearby, leading a similar suburban-supermarket lifestyle to me, tried a slightly different thing for a few months - all single use plastic was disposed of in a very visible location (a clear plastic (doh) sack in the kitchen) as a reminder of how much you've used. Apparently it was very shocking.
Other motivational ideas:
- any plastic you use goes to landfill. In your back yard.
- Collect all your plastic waste. Take the 10% that would on average (globally) end up in the ocean. Chop it up and add it to your meals. See if you like it as much as the seabirds and turtles do.
- Admit that any plastic you send to recycling is just going to get "recycled" into energy anyway. Incinerate it at home instead.
- benj111 7y ago"- any plastic you use goes to landfill. In your back yard" Even if it does end up in landfill, id be more confident of the rubbish actually staying in a landfill, than a shallow pit in the garden. What happens if a mouse finds and eats it? Its in the food chain. What happens if $burrowing_mammal digs it up? Plus you're removing it from official figures. Some politician can look at the figures and declare "problem solved" when in fact it dispersed all over the country, and virtually impossible to fix.
- heavenlyblue 7y agoIs that a joke? - 10% of the plastic I dispose of doesn’t end up in the ocean because I live in a civilised country that disposes of it in the places made for it’s disposal. - Plastic is incinerated in special chambers that make sure everything burns to a simple combination of CO2+H2O, while your home probably doesn’t have the necessary equipment to do so.
- danw1979 7y agoYeah. I wasn't being serious.
- simonebrunozzi 7y agoYep, I think it was pretty clear you were being sarcastic.
- vegannet 7y agoThe majority of plastic waste in “civilised” countries is shipped elsewhere: out of sight out of mind. There’s a strong likelihood that your plastic waste is ending up somewhere you do not expect it to end up. https://www.wired.com/story/the-worlds-recycling-is-in-chaos-heres-what-has-to-happen/ https://www.wired.com/story/the-worlds-recycling-is-in-chaos...
- danw1979 7y ago... also I just read this (on the front page now !) - https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2019/08/smart-plastic-incineration-posited-as-viable-solution-to-global-recycling-crisis/ https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2019/08/smart-plas... - Nonetheless, the risk of harmful substances reaching the air may not be completely eliminated by engineers. In some countries, newer incinerators would apply air pollution control technologies, including fabric filters, electrostatic precipitators and scrubbers, the CIEL authors argue. However, these filters may not prevent all hazardous emissions, such as ultra-fine particles - unregulated and particularly harmful to health - from escaping into the air. This was my uninformed understanding of incineration - that there's at least some toxic leftovers no matter how hot you burn it. Is there really a way to burn it down to just CO2 and water ?
- dawnerd 7y ago> Incinerate it at home instead. Okay, you have to be joking now, right? Edit: so you all think it’s better to incinerate plastic at home instead of the industrial plants that have methods to reduce pollution? Okay...