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All our packaging: how to reduce it substantially?

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135

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    #62
    james678
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21 ✭james678


    Stick it up your arse instead of throwing it in the bin.


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    #63
    CalamariFritti
    Registered Users Posts: 5,448 ✭✭✭CalamariFritti


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Occurred to me over Christmas when I saw some company's HR folks walking in with palettes of 'selection boxes' for staff. I can't believe that they're still dong these when otherwise they're all about passive heating and recycling and local community and all the other (token) things companies do to be perceived as responsible.

    These selection boxes literally produce a mountain of rubbish for a tiny bit of chocolate.

    These selection box are actually the opposite of what should be happening. Here are companies using excessive packaging for disguising extremely poor value for money. Its in direct relation to what I said earlier about capitalisms flaws. Excessive waste is actually used here as a method for profit maximisation, its quite disgusting really.


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    #64
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Graces7 wrote: »
    My wartime generation could teach a lot.. We wasted nothing. And the habits die hard. Old clothes end up as dusters and floor cloths. Paper waste lights the fire. Cardboard goes on the vegetable patch to mulch down. Turf ashes are cat litter....

    The plastic milk cartons with the tops off make excellent planters. And they make great bird feeders and nest boxes. Leave the tops ready to put back on to make mini greenhouses..

    Of course we had rationing. Limited all we bought.
    Saving coupons for a new dress..

    Cloth /string shopping bags. etc etc etc

    NB where I live now there is no bin system etc. All empty tins eg cat food go to the recycling banks as do glass jars etc. I have now literally no waste that is not usefully made use of.

    It is surely up to each of us, not "the govt"


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    #65
    Fiftyfilthy
    Registered Users Posts: 554 ✭✭✭Fiftyfilthy


    Western countries aren’t even the problem as plastic gets recycled

    It’s the developing countries Indonesia etc that just throw their plastic in the sea

    Until they do something, I will continue to buy plastic as it is convenient


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    #66
    Dakota Dan
    Registered Users Posts: 3,761 ✭✭✭Dakota Dan


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    CalamariFritti wrote: »
    Occurred to me over Christmas when I saw some company's HR folks walking in with palettes of 'selection boxes' for staff. I can't believe that they're still dong these when otherwise they're all about passive heating and recycling and local community and all the other (token) things companies do to be perceived as responsible.

    These selection boxes literally produce a mountain of rubbish for a tiny bit of chocolate.

    These selection box are actually the opposite of what should be happening. Here are companies using excessive packaging for disguising extremely poor value for money. Its in direct relation to what I said earlier about capitalisms flaws. Excessive waste is actually used here as a method for profit maximisation, its quite disgusting really.

    Boxes of chocolates and boxes of biscuits have more packaging than contents, whether they are trying to fool people into believing the boxes contain more contents or they like fancy packaging they need to cop on and start using less packaging.


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    #67
    Feisar
    Registered Users Posts: 6,609 ✭✭✭Feisar


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    The amount of packaging around meat is silly, hard plastic tray and a soft plastic top. In Waitrose I've noticed meat comes in a soft plastic sleave, OK not perfect but much better than the tray and top combo. Could that be made from a biodegradable "plastic"?

    It's mad to think buying two chicken fillets leaves waste that takes 450 years to break down!

    First they came for the socialists...



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    #68
    yellowlabrador
    Registered Users Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭yellowlabrador


    this lecture explains the whole issue of plastics really well. my conclusion was that we need to build incinerators and see the plastic as fuel

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URRjrC2gis4&t=1496s


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    #69
    victor8600
    Registered Users Posts: 1,617 ✭✭✭victor8600


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Deleted User wrote: »
    Where do all the other animals live?

    In and on the refuse heaps? Seriously though, population size is not a very large problem. Now, 55% of people live in urban areas. With a population of 20 billion, the absolute majority of the world population would be city dwellers, probably 80%. As long as there is cheap energy, it is possible to feed the current population and even twice as many people, without consuming a lot more land. We should grow tomatoes, lettuce, bananas and so on locally in the cities where they are consumed to reduce the transport impact.


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    #70
    incentsitive
    Registered Users Posts: 436 ✭✭incentsitive


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    I get annoyed in the supermarket when they offer half price peppers (2 of them) in the one plastic bag, why can't the just say here's a box of red peppers here's a box of yellow peppers, take one of each, get them half price?
    I don't need that bag, I pull it off when I get home and it goes in the bin. And that is just 1 example.


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    #71
    Cienciano
    Registered Users Posts: 14,232 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    questionmark? wrote: »
    Plastic waste for food products is completely over the top and it's the one that fills your bin every week. For example you want some tomatoes but you get six in a plastic tray wrapped in non recyclable plastic wrap. Why is that necessary? Just have them loose buy as many as you need and put them into a bio degradable bag (like supervalue are doing) It's the same across most food products just excess packaging waste everywhere.

    TBH I generally couldn't give a shít about packaging and recycling, but this is ridiculous:
    http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/26/pre-peeled-bananas-incur-the-wrath-of-humanity/
    CelticRambler wrote: »
    Apples and pears, mainly, and nuts of various kinds. Plus whatever you threw in the freezer and/or dried, bottled or made into jam during the summer glut ... :cool: My Christmas guests have been gorging themselves on a fig and apricot chutney made last February from the 2017 harvest.
    I can picture guests eating big handfuls of chutney with their hands straight from the jar. You have to sacrifice someone in a giant wicker man to get a good harvest?


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    #72
    TomSweeney
    Registered Users Posts: 3,194 ✭✭✭TomSweeney


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Blaizes wrote: »
    Plus we have lot of cheap junk coming from China.For example I couldn't find my good computer mouse and bought a one euro fifty one.Well one bang on the floor and there it was in bits. Whereas the good one might have withstood the bang on the floor.But there you go my fault for buying the cheap one but the good products that you pay more for will probably last longer in the long run and is worth the extra money and won't be clogging up landfill after a single use.


    Problem is too there is less and less "good stuff", seems everything is made in China nowadays.
    Can't get decent sound system anymore, even Bang&Olufsen is crap made in China now.


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    #73
    topper75
    Registered Users Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    9352_4a98_620.jpeg

    nICE! Needs a big green Murder Someone bar on top, 75.4 I'm told.
    In time, trees grow over them, which absorbs even more CO2.


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    #74
    TheBoyConor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 ✭✭✭TheBoyConor


    Andrewf20 wrote: »
    .....

    Kids are getting so many toys now at Xmas etc that they hardly appreciate half of them.

    I'd definitely agree to that. My nieces are spoilt to the point of insanity. I cannot see how they will turn out to be well rounded, thoughtful people. They are showered with gifts and stuff and this, that and the other. The house is literally like a tipper-truck backed up and tipped 20 tons of toys, expensive and cheap into it.

    For one of their birthdays I went out and bought a gift, put a bit of thought and effort into it. Arrived to the house and gave it to them. Didn't even say thanks, they just kinda half tore the wrapping paper off, gave it a brief look (not even opening the box) and then discarded it on the couch before going off to the next thing. Pretty unappreciative and I think I'll be making less effort in future presents wise.

    At christmas the house could be overflowing with presents. Half of them are broke or have pieces missing by the end of the day and are never looked at again.

    But on by BILs family that is the culture. Excessive quantity and often expensive gifts. The children and the adults of the family are all spoilt brats.


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    #75
    TheBoyConor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 ✭✭✭TheBoyConor


    CelticRambler wrote: »
    Apples and pears, mainly, and nuts of various kinds. Plus whatever you threw in the freezer and/or dried, bottled or made into jam during the summer glut ... :cool: My Christmas guests have been gorging themselves on a fig and apricot chutney made last February from the 2017 harvest.

    That's all well and good if you are into horticulture and home processing. But that is a small minority, very small.

    The overwhelming majority neither have the skill, time, patience, interest or facilities for doing something as labour and time intensive as growing and preserving their own food. I certainly wouldn't have the time or interest to do it.


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    #76
    dudara
    Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Fiftyfilthy wrote: »
    Western countries aren’t even the problem as plastic gets recycled

    It’s the developing countries Indonesia etc that just throw their plastic in the sea

    Until they do something, I will continue to buy plastic as it is convenient

    Someone elses’s problem eh?

    The Western World should lead the way. Each of us needs to take some personal accountability for the rubbish we produce. It’s not always possible to avoid plastic, but at least make sure it’s disposed of correctly or put into the correct recycling bin.


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    #77
    Fiftyfilthy
    Registered Users Posts: 554 ✭✭✭Fiftyfilthy


    dudara wrote: »
    Someone elses’s problem eh?

    The Western World should lead the way. Each of us needs to take some personal accountability for the rubbish we produce. It’s not always possible to avoid plastic, but at least make sure it’s disposed of correctly or put into the correct recycling bin.

    Yes exactly, someone else’s problem


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    #78
    Blaizes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 809 ✭✭✭Blaizes


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    TomSweeney wrote: »
    Problem is too there is less and less "good stuff", seems everything is made in China nowadays.
    Can't get decent sound system anymore, even Bang&Olufsen is crap made in China now.

    Yes it's all stuff from China now and so much of it is cheap tat and just look at their pollution problem, masks and staying indoors.


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    #79
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Some great contributions in this thread since Christmas Day.

    Just listening to Paula Mee on the Marian Finucane show talking about that Lancet report last week on meat and plant diets get and she says an astonishing one-third of all food purchased is thrown out. Unfortunately, I think that would reflect the reality in my home and I suspect in most families with little kids.


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    #80
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Is any country leading the way in reducing packaging? I surmise Sweden, the home of Tetra Pak, is not leading the way here?

    More specifically, is there any supermarket chain which has a system where you collect when you need/refill something you already have without adding yet more waste to the world? Is there any organisation promoting a vision of consumerism where we refill our existing things insofar as possible?

    Those plastic bottles of water are crazy, by the way. No addition to the world. They are so cheap to buy, when we could simply buy one bottle and fill it up as we go through the day.


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    #81
    humberklog
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,429 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    Should be able to refill your plastic bottles with water from a bowser in larger shops.


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    #82
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    humberklog wrote: »
    Should be able to refill your plastic bottles with water from a bowser in larger shops.

    As in cutting out single use plastic bottles completely, not a bad idea.


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    #83
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,092 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Fiftyfilthy wrote: »
    Western countries aren’t even the problem as plastic gets recycled
    You do realise that the vast majority of plastics aren't recycled? According to this study 91% isn't. Much of it is a bugger to recycle anyway or just not economic at the moment to do so.

    On another thread on cars, I mentioned my car was built in 1998 and how it struck me that since it rolled off the line half of all plastics ever produced have been produced since then. That's fcuking scary.

    Industry is dependent on current consumerism. It's not going to slow down the churn. It's not going to want to make stuff we buy last longer. It doesn't fit the quarterly, hell daily view of the market that needs the "next version" of whatever. Finance won't halt it as it depends on it too, as do governments to a large degree with tax returns from it.

    I personally think nothing will change much from the grass roots. Human nature being what it is, we tend to put things on the long finger and live in the now and so long as the now seems grand and we get our dopamine hit from the novel shiny things and manufacturers tell us they're "greener", then it is grand. We'll think we're doing our bit driving a battery car, that'll be "upgraded" every four years, buying free range spuds flown from Israel and having a separate bin for recyclables. It'll only really hit us when it actually impacts our lives directly and negatively and it'll be pretty close to too late by then.

    Another part of it is there are too damned many of us. Do you know what's the single biggest thing you can do to reduce your environmental footprint? Don't have kids, or have one, maybe two. Yet again the top down drive is to say we're not replacing ourselves fast enough(that gets trotted out in debates on immigration and economics even in Ireland which has one of the highest birthrates in Europe and is above replacement levels), which again is more about the basic system of the consumer culture that requires more people to buy it and more people to make the stuff.

    TL;DR? Until we rejig our consumer model we're boned and we could do well to reduce the world's population.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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    #84
    Blaizes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 809 ✭✭✭Blaizes


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    The single use plastics should be gotten rid of though.I know parents who buy packs of bottled water and their children get one each day with their school lunch.What is wrong with buying a decent bottle and refilling it everyday from the tap this is what I do.I would not waste money on bottled water and then at the end of the week have more plastic to put in the bin and pay for. What is wrong with people? I am now trying to eliminate plastic from my weekly shopping it isn't easy but already I have seen a reduction.


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    #85
    PCeeeee
    Registered Users Posts: 1,465 ✭✭✭PCeeeee


    Wibbs wrote: »
    You do realise that the vast majority of plastics aren't recycled? According to this study 91% isn't. Much of it is a bugger to recycle anyway or just not economic at the moment to do so.

    On another thread on cars, I mentioned my car was built in 1998 and how it struck me that since it rolled off the line half of all plastics ever produced have been produced since then. That's fcuking scary.

    Industry is dependent on current consumerism. It's not going to slow down the churn. It's not going to want to make stuff we buy last longer. It doesn't fit the quarterly, hell daily view of the market that needs the "next version" of whatever. Finance won't halt it as it depends on it too, as do governments to a large degree with tax returns from it.

    I personally think nothing will change much from the grass roots. Human nature being what it is, we tend to put things on the long finger and live in the now and so long as the now seems grand and we get our dopamine hit from the novel shiny things and manufacturers tell us they're "greener", then it is grand. We'll think we're doing our bit driving a battery car, that'll be "upgraded" every four years, buying free range spuds flown from Israel and having a separate bin for recyclables. It'll only really hit us when it actually impacts our lives directly and negatively and it'll be pretty close to too late by then.

    Another part of it is there are too damned many of us. Do you know what's the single biggest thing you can do to reduce your environmental footprint? Don't have kids, or have one, maybe two. Yet again the top down drive is to say we're not replacing ourselves fast enough(that gets trotted out in debates on immigration and economics even in Ireland which has one of the highest birthrates in Europe and is above replacement levels), which again is more about the basic system of the consumer culture that requires more people to buy it and more people to make the stuff.

    TL;DR? Until we rejig our consumer model we're boned and we could do well to reduce the world's population.

    Our consumer model is going no where as long as global debt levels remain the same. They are only serviceable as long as the global economy continues to expand.


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    #86
    humberklog
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,429 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    As in cutting out single use plastic bottles completely, not a bad idea.

    Well probably not completely but giving the customer the option.


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    #87
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,092 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    PCeeeee wrote: »
    Our consumer model is going no where as long as global debt levels remain the same. They are only serviceable as long as the global economy continues to expand.
    I agree PC. Essentially we're boned. I can only imagine it'll take some kind of natural or unnatural disaster will reset the mechanism. A mechanism that is essentially imaginary anyway. In the sense that money/debt doesn't really exist as such.

    It's certainly not getting better, but worse, much worse. On another thread recently some had the daft idea that previous generations were to blame and it was their "fault", yet our grandparents and great grandparents were significantly and measurably more "green" than we are today. To illustrate the plastics thing again; a twenty year old man or woman of today, in their lifetime has witnessed the production of half the plastics ever made.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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    #88
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    PCeeeee wrote: »
    Our consumer model is going no where as long as global debt levels remain the same. They are only serviceable as long as the global economy continues to expand.
    Just remember the fundamental rule of modern finance:
    money is lent into existence,this basically means that for every penny that is in the economy is owed by someone to someone else and that growth is required to repay that debt including interest.
    This economic model demands that we are wasteful as it requires us to be wasteful in our consumption to sustain the economic growth that is needed to service the debt.

    A vicious cycle, that benefits the few and powerful 0.1%, they are happy so nothing will change soon, no matter what tinkering we do.


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    #89
    Blaizes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 809 ✭✭✭Blaizes


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Wibbs wrote: »
    I agree PC. Essentially we're boned. I can only imagine it'll take some kind of natural or unnatural disaster will reset the mechanism. A mechanism that is essentially imaginary anyway. In the sense that money/debt doesn't really exist as such.

    It's certainly not getting better, but worse, much worse. On another thread recently some had the daft idea that previous generations were to blame and it was their "fault", yet our grandparents and great grandparents were significantly and measurably more "green" than we are today. To illustrate the plastics thing again; a twenty year old man or woman of today, in their lifetime has witnessed the production of half the plastics ever made.

    Yes, it's so wrong to blame the older generation.Plastic was very scare back then, as a child I remember my Mum wanting to buy some tupperware bowls to make Christmas pudding in but they were expensive, guess it was only the start of plastic leading us to where we are today.I get really annoyed when a new toy comes into the house cardboard and plastic packaging and cable tie things to hold the toy in place.There is no end to it and we would really need to stop buying in order to make a change. Plastic toys must be a huge contributor to the plastic in our oceans.


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    #90
    PCeeeee
    Registered Users Posts: 1,465 ✭✭✭PCeeeee


    Wibbs wrote: »
    I agree PC. Essentially we're boned. I can only imagine it'll take some kind of natural or unnatural disaster will reset the mechanism. A mechanism that is essentially imaginary anyway. In the sense that money/debt doesn't really exist as such.

    It's certainly not getting better, but worse, much worse. On another thread recently some had the daft idea that previous generations were to blame and it was their "fault", yet our grandparents and great grandparents were significantly and measurably more "green" than we are today. To illustrate the plastics thing again; a twenty year old man or woman of today, in their lifetime has witnessed the production of half the plastics ever made.

    Ah who knows Wibbs, it might not have to be a disaster. 'The Singularity' approaches...:)


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    #91
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,092 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Yes (such waste reduced by 25%)
    Blaizes wrote: »
    Plastic toys must be a huge contributor to the plastic in our oceans.
    Oh they're in the mix B, but I'd bet they're a tiny proportion of it. Take the common mobile phone. Itself chock full of plastic. The box will be made from plastic coated paper, because it feels more "luxurious", the phone will be wrapped in a plastic bag, with a plastic screen protector and the other gubbins like earphones and the like will be wrapped in their own plastic bags. All go in the bin. Hell you have gobshites on youtube doing "unboxing" videos(get an effin life you sad bastard) oohing and aahing at all this waste. That's just phones. Damned near everything we buy is wrapped similarly. Larger household goods have that plus Styrofoam. And cardboard. All into the bin.

    What could help is a mass boycott where possible of Chinese produced tat and they do produce a lot of tat. Buy local as much as possible, that at least cuts down on fuel used to get it here. I've seen boxes(plastic) of fruit with more air miles than I have. Personally I studiously avoid buying Chinese stuff as much as possible. Never mind that I baulk at supporting totalitarian states.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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