As the title says, how do you do your bit to reduce waste/help save the planet etc? Plus, in what ways would you like to encourage others? Plus, what extra measures would you happily take if given some incentive?

For my part, I recycle paper and glass in the recycle bins at Tesco. I re-use some carrier bags, I use cereal boxes as packaging for mailing CDs and I collect all my aluminium cans on behalf of Camp Bling.

swindon where i live forces you to recycle or a fine..

1. I gave up driving a car about 10 years ago.

2. I have a green electricity tariff, this isn't particularly green unless you go for one where the company retires some of its ROCs (Renewable Obligation Certificates). There are about 3 or 4 smaller companies that do this, the big ones don't.

3. I cycle and bought a cycle cargo trailer this year, so i can pull heavier loads on my cycle (useful for DIY stuff).

5. I never fly and I holiday in the UK.

6. I only go for jobs that i can get to without a car.

7. I try and buy local food and avoid buying food that comes outside of Europe. Ideally my limit is France and Spain, sometimes maybe Italy. But i get UK produce for the basics such as potatoes etc.

I drive a "green car".I shop in markets for fruit and veg,butchers for meat therefore very little packaging.I recycle cans,bottles,newspapers and our council supply a wheelie bin for garden rubbish.I switch off electric appliances when not in use,dont have the heating on unless its really cold.I have double glazing,wall insulation and loft insulation.I also buy stuff in charity shops.

i recycled my old prospecouses .



(and now i have to go to college)

i grow some of my own food.

I recycle what I can, including the glass my local council doesn't collect, I use energy saving everything and switch off anything not in use, I'm vegan, never owned a car, walk anywhere I can get to in 45 mins, public trans everywhere else.
For the larger picture I try to educate where I can. (Note educate, not force. I would rather spend my time giving 10 maybes enough information to make changes than argue with a skeptic that we both know won't change). Let people know you don't have to live like a caveman. 30,000,000 people making changes will have a greater effect than 10 people living like cavemen because it seems too hard...

quote:

Originally posted by JD44:
I drive a "green car".

Is there such a thing, lol? (quote marks duly noted )

I try and do all of the above, plus have recently bought a composter.

This basically means on the waste front, the only material I regularly need to worry about is plastic packaging that the council refuses to take - cellophane, yoghurt pots, Tetrapaks, ready meal trays etc.

quote:

Originally posted by vxpert:

quote:

Originally posted by JD44:
I drive a "green car".

Is there such a thing, lol? (quote marks duly noted )

I try and do all of the above, plus have recently bought a composter.

This basically means on the waste front, the only material I regularly need to worry about is plastic packaging that the council refuses to take - cellophane, yoghurt pots, Tetrapaks, ready meal trays etc.

I was thinking about these people that complain about smell and rats when they are reduced to fortnightly collections. Then start campaigning against it.

And i can only assume that they chuck out a lot of waste food.

UK households do waste a lot of food.

All these measures are well and good, but I can't help thinking that we need something bigger scale to make much difference.

Any suggestions?

quote:

I use energy saving everything

How do you dispose of your energy-saving lightbulbs when they run out?

what are light bulbs made of ? is it glass ?

quote:

Originally posted by robo_mak:
what are light bulbs made of ? is it glass ?

Incandescent bulbs - glass, metal, ceramics, plastic.

CFLs - glass, metal, electronic components, phosphor, plastic, mercury vapour.

The problem is the mercury. Fluorescent tubes require correct disposal, and energy-saving bulbs are the same.

Mercury is extremely contaminating - which is why you are not allowed to take thermometers onto airplanes - if they break, the whole plane has to be scrapped, because the mercury will render any aluminium it touches brittle and useless.

I am not green at all. I dont recycle anything but i would use energy saving lightbulbs

quote:

Originally posted by Toolz:
I am not green at all.

Well, 'being green' is a bit outdated.
Recycling, saving energy is becoming a fundamental part of our lives. It always used to be, we have lost are way in recent times and forget about our environment.

quote:

Originally posted by Toolz:
I dont recycle anything

Why?

Well i dont recycle because i dont think its my responsibility. We are paying so much for products but they send us them in to much packaging and should stop.

We pay the government to take care of things like this and they should take it on at an industrial level rather than expecting each individual to.

They need to start forcing companys into using special packaging designed for easy recycling. I mean like having every different product in the same packages only with different labels that would be stackable when empty. I think you would only need about 5 different types of package to do this. We can have specialise bins that will sort out the rubbish for us if they know what to expect too.

quote:

Originally posted by Toolz:
Well i dont recycle because i dont think its my responsibility. We are paying so much for products but they send us them in to much packaging and should stop.

Well we are responsible for everything we do.
We buy the products, we work for companies that make and sell them, so we are responsible as well.
Products today are generally cheap because they are often designed for a relatively short life and not to be maintained. This has to change.
On the issue of food and packaging. People in the UK waste a lot of food, much more then in the past. So we have to reduce food waste, we don't benefit from unconsumed food and it also consumes energy to produce it, which again is a waste.
As far as packaging goes, you can refuse to use free carrier bags and select items that use less packaging, also complain to the supermarket or other shop.

quote:

Originally posted by Toolz:
We pay the government to take care of things like this and they should take it on at an industrial level rather than expecting each individual to.

Government, businesses, shops and individuals have to work together. You also have a responsibility.

quote:

Originally posted by Toolz:
They need to start forcing companys into using special packaging designed for easy recycling. I mean like having every different product in the same packages only with different labels that would be stackable when empty. I think you would only need about 5 different types of package to do this. We can have specialise bins that will sort out the rubbish for us if they know what to expect too.

I agree totally (probably the only thing that i agree with you on so far!). But we also have to take responsibility, by taking actions ourself.
Complain to companies that use excessive packaging, make your views heard etc.
But unfortunately there will always be a need for us as individuals to recycle and be responsible, even if we do pay someone else to do some of the work.

I see it this way.. the more we do the less the government has to do and the less they make businesses do. I dont think we should have any responsibility because as consumers we pay for others to provide the best service. But we dont have the power to change anything that they do.

Government does have this power and they are supposed to act on our behalf. I think the government has decided to put the responsibility on us individuals because there will always be plenty of people who will not do anything to recycle to blame for the governments failures.

quote:

Originally posted by Toolz:
I see it this way.. the more we do the less the government has to do and the less they make businesses do. I dont think we should have any responsibility because as consumers we pay for others to provide the best service. But we dont have the power to change anything that they do.

Government does have this power and they are supposed to act on our behalf. I think the government has decided to put the responsibility on us individuals because there will always be plenty of people who will not do anything to recycle to blame for the governments failures.

It sounds like you don't want to take responsibility, the reason why we have so many problems is because people do not take responsibility, they blame every problem on anything other than themselves.


People point the finger at the government because that takes the pressure off of them.
People point the finger at the earth for climate change because it takes the pressure of of them.
People don't believe carbon is a problem because that would imply they need to change.
People blame China and India because it takes the pressure off of themselves to change.
People blame the sun for climate change because again, it takes the pressure of of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Toolz:
I dont think we should have any responsibility because as consumers we pay for others to provide the best service. But we dont have the power to change anything that they do.

Don't you think that is a defeatist attitude?
You are a person not a consumer, you can buy produce where ever you choose, you can choose not to do something or choose to do it.

I recycle all I can papers glass garden waste etc anything I can recycle I will, I could probably do more but I am not sure what to be honest.

JUST RANG LIVERPOOL COUNCIL [Graham]
FOR A LIST OF ALL THE THINGS U CAN RECYCLE
PH=Liverpool Direct = 2333~001

###
What you CAN ✔ PUT IN a BLUE bin / PURPLE BOX
###
GENERAL RULE
~REMOVE ALL PLASTIC / CELLOTAPE
HARD COVERS/spines off boxes +CATALOGUES
+ALL plastic windows from envelopes
and Recycle ALL BOTTLES of any kind which are made from plastic
DO NOT CRUSH CANS
Rinse TINS/Jars
###
you CAN RECYCLE
ALL GLASS AND PLASTIC BOTTLES AND JARS ( NOT their METAL LIDS]

ABSOLUTELY =ANY FOOD TINS +LIDS
Including =ALL PET FOOD TINS + LIDS

ANY====PLASTIC BOTTLES + caps
CAT MILK Bottles +caps
ALL Washing up liquid bottles/ Bleach /cleaning bottles+their lids + spray Nozzles
ALL Shampoo / conditioner ~Bath + COSMETICS bottles+ Their PLASTIC caps

ALL DRINK CANS + RING PULLS

ALL PAPER~ [ NOT SHREDDED paper]
ALL soft backed PHONE BOOK directories
ALL Newspapers AND Magazines
ALL Wrapping paper Xmas / Birthday ( remove all sellotape)

ALL CATALOGUES
~BUT RIP OFF ALL OUTER HARD COVERS /+ stiff BACKS
ALL ENVELOPES [ remove plastic windows ]

ALL CARDBOARD
food n cereal boxes (PLZ FLATTEN)[ NO PIZZA BOXES ]
Corrugated cardboard
Cardboard egg cartons
ANY =SIZED = BROWN + WHITE BOXES + Cartons=[ plz Flatten ]
ALL CARDBOARD~PACKING BOXES [ from any purchase]
[remove Cellophane + plastic]
Loo + kitchen roll Liners
CIGGY PACKS ~REMOVE ALL CELLOPHANE / TIN FOIL
SOFT BACKED BOOKS [ remove hard covers ]

####
What you =CANNOT=/put in your PURPLE BOX /blue bin
####

NONE OF THESE THINGS

Textiles~Fabrics (Please USE local recycling bank)

Take-Away or PIZZA BOXES [ as contaminated by food ]
plastic cutlery
food or liquids
Metal objects
Windowed envelopes
TETRA Packs (milk / juice CARTONS As =waxed )
Plastic CLING Film
bubble wrap
Hard Backed catalogues [BUT CAN IF YOU REMOVE ALL OUTER COVERS]
Polystyrene [ USE THIS in plant pots 4 drainage ]
Plastic bags
Yoghurt pots
Foil yoghurt pot lid
tin foil trays' foil
Mirrors
plastic wrappings~ie hand/ baby wipes
light bulbs
veg~supermarket containers
JIFFY PADDED POSTAL BAGS
NO AEROSOLS

hope this INFO helps
contact your local Councils
to check as ~ some areas have slight variationson what they accept in the PURPLE BOX
or equivalent wheely bin