Greener Living, and what we can do to help

Hi Kathy

All I would like to say is what happened to paper bags ???

Get them home recycle them - another paper bag.

Robert 

Unknown said:

I seem to remember some discussion of paper carrier bags vs plastic ones, and apparently there was some argument that there was more environmental impact by paper carriers than plastic.

Andy

Hi Andy,

I cant think of any reason why paper is more environmentally unfriendly than plastic; being that it essentially comes from trees and is organic and breaks down naturally.

I do know that recently enough the money in the cardboard and paper reycling industry did fall to such a low level that there was no business interest in it.

Hi Craig,

I don't know what the argument was either - I prefer to use a cloth or other long lasting bag, and recycle the others.

The question remains - why do the supermarkets still issue plastic carriers when they could have switched to paper like the USA? I don't know the answer to that either.

Andy

I use a long lasting bag, had it for donkeys years and still going strong! I wonder if the reason of plastic v paper is down to that age old worry... cost?

Claire

Money, money, money is what it is all about. I went into a well know shop front today and was asked if I would like a 5p plastic bag or a free plastic bag!???? What a completely pointless exercise.

I thought the whole point in paying for supermarket plastic bags was to put people off and use thier own.

BTW I was good and used my own ;)

Do not see the plastic bag as too much of a problem in moderation as occasionally if we do some shopping unexpectedly say after a trip to a RSPB reserve and we have not got the reusable bags we use the Tesco bags as bin liners so saving on that front. 

Just had a browse. Tesco have recently announced that all their plastic carriers are now biodegradable. Their website also says that "compostable" carriers have a bigger carbon footprint than plastic ones. They don't seem to define compostable but I presume they mean brown paper ones.

Andy

I suppose there is always going to be a carbon footprint for anything that is man made even domestic cattle have a carbon footprint by producing methane as a by product (we can all imagine how that happens!!!)

The thing that I have against plastic is the time it takes to break down (no less than a 1000 years n land flll sites) and other issues of it getting into the food chain at a molecular level.

Here is an interesting article (its not all one sied) about the research into plastic that has entered our oceans.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plastic-decomposes-oceans-seas.html

thanks

Craig

I remember getting a paper bag when shopping a couple of years ago - the disadvantages to them became pretty clear because it was raining, the bag got wet split and split open!  I usually use a cloth bag but get normal carrier bags every now and then because they make ideal bin bags for the smaller bins and are good for packaging fragile items which is always useful when sending things by post!  Saves having to buy packaging or the small bin bags (which apparently are more damaging to use than a carrier bag).

We are working to keep the house warmer - it's a rented house so we aren't prepared to do any big stuff but we recently bought those curtains that help keep the heat in and have one in front of the door, it makes a big difference.  We're also planning on new carpet for the living room for the same reason but that will have to wait a while now.

I think one of the biggest differences is a different type of "feminine hygine" product that I use which has considerably reduced waste (and saved me a fortune).

I also use the RSPB Skinny Dipper products because they don't contain any of the nasties such as palm oil!

Then there is recycling, some kerbside but stuff like cardboard we have to take to the recycling centre which is pretty annoying as cardboard is still the biggest waste.