Climate Change & Environmental Issues - It's Not Weather

[Brookie]

Suggested/requested by fitz.

[Deleted]

Clearly I want to try to be kind to the environment but today(everyday)a simple shop I bought plastic packaged mushrooms, peppers and meat at prices I can afford locally to go and buy these products with less plastic I have to drive my old car petrol 10 miles or so,, limited public transport options, therefore cancelling out any potential good., Plastic vs petrol emissions.
Thoughts and help(ideas)...

Watching Telly and American telly in particular impression I had thought u used brown paper shopping bags ours here were plastic and Ireland did a thing in 2002.Good intentions with an impact but since then other plastics packaging has worked its way in, what good is my canvas/cloth bag for life if I fill it with pre packaged fruit, veg and meats .

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The plastic bags usually cost about 5 – 15 cents. In 2002 Ireland became the first country to impose a plastic bag levy. It led to a 90% drop in use of plastic bags, with one billion fewer bags used, and it generated $9.6 million for a green fund supporting environmental projects.

[chitowngirl]

Grocery stores in my area have both paper and plastic. I bring my own bags, I just keep them in the car so they’re handy. Some cities charge for each plastic bag, encouraging folks to bring their own.

The bottom fell out of our recycling. The only paper we can recycle is corrugated cardboard. Cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles like laundry bottles are the only plastic we can recycle. Our trash is burned turning into energy, so we aren’t contributing to the landfills.

[Martini Girl]

Here in LA, we're charged $.10 for paper bags, and in Santa Monica, they're trying to do away with plastic altogether-- which I applaud. The most environmentally friendly city I've lived in is SF. They take their recycling and composting seriously.

In LA, they dump all recyclables together, and then some high-tech machine separates paper/plastic/tin/bottle etc into different areas. It's a fascinating process. The only thing that trips them up is if people fill plastic bags (found in the grocery store for fruits and veggies), with bottles or other items, the machine can't separate them out, and workers are then tasked with throwing everything in the garbage dump.

What I've also noticed is that friends all say they're for the environment, but never want to make the sacrifices themselves (recycle, reduce water usage etc...)

I really hope the youngins' help set us straight. I majored in journalism/environmental policy and analysis, so it's important to me, but I feel like it's an uphill battle.

[mojogirl]

Seattle banned plastic bags about six years ago, and you're charged 10 cents for a paper one.
We have trash pickup (expensive), compost pickup (all food waste including bones, grass clippings, leaves, etc - cheap) and recycling (free).
If the recycling truck driver sees that your bin is contaminated with non-recyclables he won't pick it up.

[Mugsy]

We have had blue box recycling pickup (in urban areas) in Ontario for decades; in fact, the blue box was started by some University of Waterloo students. Out in the country, it's been slower to establish, with my municipality finally getting roadside pickup a few years ago. We could bring it to our landfill and put it in big recycling bins there. They have added green bins to the program in some cities, for compostable stuff. In the country, we just toss compostables in the field.

Plastic bags in grocery stores are 5 cents usually, but for some reason a large population of Torontonians seem to hate the idea, calling it a cash grab by the store. It's frustrating, since it's easy to avoid - bring your own bags. Yes, they get dirty - wash them. It's not rocket science.

We were in Kenya last month and they banned plastic bags there. Shoppers (whether at a big grocery store or a roadside fruit stand) are given flimsy cloth bags that are meant to be reusable, and they easy fold up into a purse or pocket. The culture there is to shop every day for a few items, so no one is hauling 20 little bags of groceries around. It works there, so why not in North America?

I also think companies that over-package their products need to be penalized somehow. Many things are packed with layers of cardboard and plastic, twist ties and staples, even screws holding stuff in place. It's irritating and wasteful.

[divasahm]

Austin's got a good recycling program--giant wheeled carts for each household, emptied every other week. They make it pretty easy for us.

We also have bins in front of our grocery stores where our plastic bags can be recycled. We usually take a bag full of other bags every week or so, since Mr. d can't be bothered with reusables. There are also some charitable groups who take them, cut them into strips, and knit or crochet them into sleeping bag-sized mats for the homeless to keep their bedding dry.

[Deleted]

Boston just enacted a single-use plastic bag ban in December, it's taking some getting used to but I'm glad they did it. A couple of neighboring cities already had bans like that in place. I've had reusable bags for the grocery store for years, so I've just had to try to remember to bring one of them with me to CVS now.

[biondetta]

They charge for plastic bags in Netherlands an Italy and the ones in Italy now seem to be thinner, and in some cases, potentially more biodegradable. Though we generally have to use the biodegradable bags for the loose fruit/veg. Sadly, a lot of it is packed in additional plastic and packaging. I use the fruit/veg bags afterward for gathering plastic recycling before putting it in the bigger bag for pickup. I also use it for holding organic waste. Plastic and paper are picked up once a week from our building. Glass/aluminium and organic have various containers above ground and below ground for people to drop off their stuff. There's one across the street from me, so I tend to do it when I take the dog out for his walks. I've definitely reduced the amount of trash. We have one relatively small container under the sink that can generally go for two weeks before it needs to be emptied now.

Bologna also has T-days on weekends where traffic is completely banned from some parts of the city center, which is nice. On the other hand, the local government also decided against a plan to build new roads that would lessen the traffic in the city and help reduce the traffic backups that occur pretty much daily.

[Mugsy]

A little thing that drives me nuts is people who put a bunch of bananas in a plastic produce bag. The hell? Bananas are already conveniently packaged in a bunch that can go straight into the grocery bag. Why add another layer of garbage? Anyone have any idea why people do this?