Saving the planet - NOT!

[Blue in Munich]

On the 1st anniversary of joining the new company, as is the tradition, I brought in some goodies from the M & S at the BP station to share with colleagues. At the till, I was asked if I want a plastic bag for 5p, and I declined. I then paid for the 4 items and received a till receipt that was 15, yes 15 inches long. 3 3/4 inches per item. Can someone explain what the point of cutting down on plastic bags is whilst we continue to waste other resources in this manner? I understand that the plastic bag is probably more destructive long term but it just struck me as utterly ridiculous to be saving the planet on the plastic bag front whilst wasting such a ludicrous amount of paper.

:rant:

 

[Imurg]

Just being pedantic here but the Planet doesn't need saving.
The Planet will be just fine....

It's US that are in trouble.....

 

[DappaDonDave]

I think you've swung and missed.

Paper is biodegradable, put it in landfill or in recycling and it will be recycled or degrade naturally pretty swiftly. Plastic bags however hang around for ages and ages and ages and ages and ages...

Plus I'm sure the retailer has a legal requirement to give you a receipt, once everyone is paying via paypal your issue with receipts is likely to be solved.

 

[palindromicbob]

I do think the only obligation a retailer should have is to offer a receipt at the point of sale and the consumer have the option to decline or accept it. At least for card based transactions anyway because the card statement will act as proof of purchase should there be any issues with the product.

 

[Foxholer]

On the 1st anniversary of joining the new company, as is the tradition, I brought in some goodies from the M & S at the BP station to share with colleagues. At the till, I was asked if I want a plastic bag for 5p, and I declined. I then paid for the 4 items and received a till receipt that was 15, yes 15 inches long. 3 3/4 inches per item. Can someone explain what the point of cutting down on plastic bags is whilst we continue to waste other resources in this manner? I understand that the plastic bag is probably more destructive long term but it just struck me as utterly ridiculous to be saving the planet on the plastic bag front whilst wasting such a ludicrous amount of paper.

:rant:

Bit iffy even considering the planet in a BP, or any other petrol supplier!

There is now bio-degradable plastic btw, though it's still not 'green' to produce.

And I'm with Imurg; it's mankind that will suffer - from our own abuse of the planet.

And would you have accepted the plastic bag if it was free?

 

[Blue in Munich]

I think you've swung and missed.

Paper is biodegradable, put it in landfill or in recycling and it will be recycled or degrade naturally pretty swiftly. Plastic bags however hang around for ages and ages and ages and ages and ages...

Plus I'm sure the retailer has a legal requirement to give you a receipt, once everyone is paying via paypal your issue with receipts is likely to be solved.

As Foxholer says, plastic bags are also now biodegradable, and paper still requires use of energy sources to recycle it, probably emitting more pollutants in the process. Legal requirement or not, why so big for 4 items?

I might not have hit the fairway, but I didn't swing and miss.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Bit iffy even considering the planet in a BP, or any other petrol supplier!

There is now bio-degradable plastic btw, though it's still not 'green' to produce.

And I'm with Imurg; it's mankind that will suffer - from our own abuse of the planet.

And would you have accepted the plastic bag if it was free?

I take your point re the BP but I've got to get to work somehow and I can't afford to keep a car AND pay for a train to work on Local Government wages.

Yes, Imurg was probably spot on.

And I would have taken it, at cost or free, if I had needed it, but I didn't.

 

[toyboy54]

As someone who works for a packaging co.a few factsaper costs a fortune to process/make/transport/take up a lot of space in storage AND when put into landfill give off methane gas(hothouse gas and damaging to the atmosphere)!!!
Bio-degradable film is relatively cheap to produce/is usually made from recycled film/does not tke YEARS and YEARS to degrade/does not give off harmful gases in landfill and breaks down into a compost type material or water.
A lot of misconceptions are out there about what is good and what is not!!

Sermon over

Reverend Jimbo

 

[Foxholer]

As someone who works for a packaging co.a few factsaper costs a fortune to process/make/transport/take up a lot of space in storage AND when put into landfill give off methane gas(hothouse gas and damaging to the atmosphere)!!!
Bio-degradable film is relatively cheap to produce/is usually made from recycled film/does not tke YEARS and YEARS to degrade/does not give off harmful gases in landfill and breaks down into a compost type material or water.
A lot of misconceptions are out there about what is good and what is not!!

Sermon over

Reverend Jimbo

Given that Bio-degradable anything turns into CO2 and very probably Methane amongst some other things, I think there's some hype being spread in the packaging industry too. Utilising the Methane produced - to produce energy rather than just letting it escape - is/will be an important of properly managed landfill.

Agree that paper is expensive in many respects - use of CO2 absorbing trees as much as anything.

Though much of the BD Film is made from corn. If that continues, there's likely to be increased demand for corn, sufficient to have an effect (hundreds of millions of tonnes) on the food production.

BD Film will get cheaper to produce though, as it's in the early stages of development.

Still going to need paper for a number of key tasks though!