Going Green...is it worth it?

Given the current global population of about 7.5 billion (based on the most recent estimate as of mid-2017), that means those of us currently alive represent about 7% of the total number of humans who have ever lived............................. ;)
 
The thing is how much actually gets recycled and not just burnt efficiently. Poorer countries don't take low grade mixed recyclables now leaving most of what we happily 'recycle ' going to burn. Only way is banning plastics/ reverting back to glass and tin etc .We are being led poorly with only eyes on profits nothing else .
 
The fill your own tub thing feels quite a niche thing, and dare I say, middle class. I'm not saying don't do it or even try it, but are there better ways to go about it? Perhaps looking at cereal packaging or have a tub swap scheme instead?

Tbf, using a reusable coffee cup/flask instead of disposable cups is sadly still niche but in the US it is the norm. Both reusable cups and taking your tubs (or at least using reusable store ones that you pay a deposit greater than the cost) should be heavily pushed in this country by public authorities and private sector together.
 
I made my last post on this thread on 24 May 2019. Since that date 4,080,000 people have joined us on earth.

Scary stuff.

I can’t see sex going out of fashion, and if you are skint you are not going to choose condoms over a meal, so understandably third world countries are going to see huge population rises.

First world country’s had huge population rises in the recent past, that helped lead to the easy lifestyles that many on here live today, so it’s a bit hypocritical to ask other people around the world to temper their ambitions and dreams once people in the West have reached a level of wealth where sorting recycling and keeping shopping bags is considered virtuous.

If we fucked we are fucked, unless some clever b****r comes up with something humanity will probably crash and burn, done well to make it this far so you might as well accept that you are not a God and can’t control the actions of 8 billion humans and just enjoy your life rather than fret about a planet that will be fine if humans cause their own extinction.
 
Tbf, using a reusable coffee cup/flask instead of disposable cups is sadly still niche but in the US it is the norm. Both reusable cups and taking your tubs (or at least using reusable store ones that you pay a deposit greater than the cost) should be heavily pushed in this country by public authorities and private sector together.

pfffft….have you been spending a great deal of time in Portland?

Because in the rest of the US, disposable coffee cups are used at a staggering rate.

I believe the US now throws away more than 100 million coffee cups a day - which is more than twice as many per person as in the UK.

They do drink a lot of coffee here, mind...…..


My experience is that while you can go green in the majoity of the US - my wife & I do most of our shopping at stores where you can bring your own containers and buy in bulk - it is much, much further from the norm here than back home.
The norm here is going to Target to buy a single item that has seven layers of packaging, and then taking a plastic bag to carry it home in...….
 
I can’t see sex going out of fashion, and if you are skint you are not going to choose condoms over a meal, so understandably third world countries are going to see huge population rises.

First world country’s had huge population rises in the recent past, that helped lead to the easy lifestyles that many on here live today, so it’s a bit hypocritical to ask other people around the world to temper their ambitions and dreams once people in the West have reached a level of wealth where sorting recycling and keeping shopping bags is considered virtuous.

If we fucked we are fucked, unless some clever b****r comes up with something humanity will probably crash and burn, done well to make it this far so you might as well accept that you are not a God and can’t control the actions of 8 billion humans and just enjoy your life rather than fret about a planet that will be fine if humans cause their own extinction.

Agreed. Still scary though.
 
pfffft….have you been spending a great deal of time in Portland?

Because in the rest of the US, disposable coffee cups are used at a staggering rate.

I believe the US now throws away more than 100 million coffee cups a day - which is more than twice as many per person as in the UK.

They do drink a lot of coffee here, mind...…..


My experience is that while you can go green in the majoity of the US - my wife & I do most of our shopping at stores where you can bring your own containers and buy in bulk - it is much, much further from the norm here than back home.
The norm here is going to Target to buy a single item that has seven layers of packaging, and then taking a plastic bag to carry it home in...….
I love going to the US for all of the free carrier bags I get. Keeps me going over here so I don't need to buy any.
Tbf, using a reusable coffee cup/flask instead of disposable cups is sadly still niche but in the US it is the norm. Both reusable cups and taking your tubs (or at least using reusable store ones that you pay a deposit greater than the cost) should be heavily pushed in this country by public authorities and private sector together.
I have a reusable cup at work, and one at home too. Sometimes I get the China tea set out if I'm feeling decadent. And that is just at work :p

I cannot conceive how someone will carry all those reusable tubs on a bus journey home from the shops - or put them in a pram, or take them to work to do the shop on the way back. Or how home delivery services will work well with it. Or how it will work with all the "milks" we have nowadays.

The idea is nice, but like other things, it feels a little half baked and not real world ready yet. We need to think big, but be practical and scaleable so that everyone can do it from a 10 year old kid to a 90 year old man.
 
I love going to the US for all of the free carrier bags I get. Keeps me going over here so I don't need to buy any.

I have a reusable cup at work, and one at home too. Sometimes I get the China tea set out if I'm feeling decadent. And that is just at work :p

I cannot conceive how someone will carry all those reusable tubs on a bus journey home from the shops - or put them in a pram, or take them to work to do the shop on the way back. Or how home delivery services will work well with it. Or how it will work with all the "milks" we have nowadays.

The idea is nice, but like other things, it feels a little half baked and not real world ready yet. We need to think big, but be practical and scaleable so that everyone can do it from a 10 year old kid to a 90 year old man.

I'd assume it would be the same as how people manage to carry their shopping home currently.
 
I'd assume it would be the same as how people manage to carry their shopping home currently.
But... You need to make a decision to take the right sized tub, you need to plan what you are buying, you need to have enough tubs that you can be flexible with not running out of the right size, you have no choice of size as you would today. You have the money to afford to take tubs to the supermarket. Etc, etc.

Some people, for right or wrong, cannot plan their lives in that manner on a day to day basis.
 
But... You need to make a decision to take the right sized tub, you need to plan what you are buying, you need to have enough tubs that you can be flexible with not running out of the right size, you have no choice of size as you would today. You have the money to afford to take tubs to the supermarket. Etc, etc.

Some people, for right or wrong, cannot plan their lives in that manner on a day to day basis.

If people planned their shopping they might save money. People manage to take the right number of shopping bags, it really isn't that difficult to plan the number of tubs/reusable sealable bags etc.

A deposit system for swappable tubs for example wouldn't be expensive for the customer for example.

I never said it would suit everybody, but it could certainly work for the vast majority and would massively cut down on the amount of one use packaging/plastic that is polluting our planet.
 
If people planned their shopping they might save money. People manage to take the right number of shopping bags, it really isn't that difficult to plan the number of tubs/reusable sealable bags etc.

A deposit system for swappable tubs for example wouldn't be expensive for the customer for example.

I never said it would suit everybody, but it could certainly work for the vast majority and would massively cut down on the amount of one use packaging/plastic that is polluting our planet.
You use the big word. If.

Sadly there are a lot of people who bumble from one micro shop to another or can't afford to shop in that manner. Perhaps a long term solution is to work with organisations like Kellogg's to create a sustainable packaging line?
 
You use the big word. If.

Sadly there are a lot of people who bumble from one micro shop to another or can't afford to shop in that manner. Perhaps a long term solution is to work with organisations like Kellogg's to create a sustainable packaging line?

A radical idea but how about doing both. There will be many ways to succeed in this and it will take many different ways to do that.
 
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