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AIBU?

I reckon recycling is a complete waste of time. There's more plastic in those wheely bins than in a lifetime of plastic bags

101 replies

moondog · 09/04/2013 14:39

I'm convinced it's nothing more than a right on gesture.
I've a good mind to say sod it and not bloody bother (and I'm a woman who spent a total of three years washing shitty nappies in an effort to be right on).

OP posts:
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fuzzypicklehead · 09/04/2013 15:05

I run an upcycling project, so I'm obviously going to say YABU. There's a limited amount of space to put all the crap we produce, so anything that can be prevented from going to the landfill will help.

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Feminine · 09/04/2013 15:07

YANBU at all.

I am sick to the back teeth with trash. I'm sick of it all over my flipping kitchen, I'm sick of farting about with it in the garden.

I'm done!

if I was convinced/had proof they actually did something constructive with all my cans and shit, then maybe I'd think differently!

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waikikamookau · 09/04/2013 15:08

I recycle, and am proud to do so.
I have done for sooo long.
I am doing good Smile

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StephaniePowers · 09/04/2013 15:09

I think the jury's out tbh
Buying stuff on a whim and visiting the tip a lot is obviously bad.
I wouldn't dump stuff down a siding or into the sea.

I can't get exercised about shoving my carrier bags in the bin. I just can't. I've heard all the eco rhetoric and then I think about how big business can do whatever the fuck it likes in terms of wrapping fake food in three layers of something unnatural, and I just think - fuck this.

I'm thinking of binning my large collection of glass bottles (bottle bank is ages away). I'm not even feeling the guilt.

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waikikamookau · 09/04/2013 15:09

when I lived on an estate mine was the only house that actually used the blue box 10 years ago, for newspapers. my oiky neighbours probably didn't read newspapers.

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specialsubject · 09/04/2013 15:12

so use less? It's not really that hard to reuse your carrier bags and keep them in the car if that's how you go shopping. It's not hard to buy fruit and veg loose.

it's not hard to stop buying over packaged stuff. If you don't buy ready meals that is much of the battle. If you don't buy overpackaged stuff you are one more person telling 'big business' what works.

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Feminine · 09/04/2013 15:13

I re-use bags, or take my own.

That is alright.

I hate cans and other bits everywhere.

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waikikamookau · 09/04/2013 15:15

oh is it carrier bag recycling you are asking about op?

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StephaniePowers · 09/04/2013 15:15

I've been doing that for years.
Big business couldn't give a stuff and it isn't just ready meals. There are potentially three layers of packaging on a box of muesli.
I cannot emphasise enough the lack of correlation between my buying more unprocessed foods and packing becoming more complicated Grin I am irrelevant to that process as are most consumers.

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maddening · 09/04/2013 15:15

I think recycling is fab and necessary.

I do think there should be more done to reduce packaging and all packaging should be recyclable and where possible made from recycled materials - eg twinnings foil for their teabags is made from recycled paper.

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sarahtigh · 09/04/2013 15:21

the full message is REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

they are very good at pedalling recycling at school and everything but the first two hardly get a mention and in the end doing the first two but not the last would be a lot better for the planet than just doing the recycling obviously doing all three would be better still



it is far far more enviromentally friendly t keep your mobile phone until it breaks and/ or buy a new battery than get the latest model too many people recycle all year then go to maldives it would be better for planet to stay home and not recycle a single thing,

I do not mind people going to Maldives just hate the smug celeb recycling mantra when their carbon footprint is about thousand times bigger than average

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StephaniePowers · 09/04/2013 15:22

I wonder if it's an age thing. I used to feel proud of it.
Now I just think 'oh you bastards' as I peel off the non-recyclable cellophane, open the box, find the kitchen scissors, cut into the non-recyclable plastic bag which is doing the actual job of actually holding the food.
But hey, that box can take up room in my kitchen until I can be arsed to recycle it. Yay.

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WilsonFrickett · 09/04/2013 15:38

I do it, because our bins only get emptied fortnightly and I couldn't not. But I'm not convinced our council is taking my lovingly sorted recycling and actually doing anything with it.

And everything is over-packaged.

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MusicalEndorphins · 09/04/2013 15:55

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE
Be aware of what you buy. Avoid packaging when possible.
Plastic, glass and tin can be re used.
Every little bit does help.
At least you know you are doing your best.

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fuzzypicklehead · 09/04/2013 17:05

Time permitting, I make some amazing, beautiful stuff out of things that would ordinarily go in the bin. Then I flog it to other people. But the sheer volume of packaging is overwhelming sometimes, and it's hard to find the spare minutes needed to weave carrier bags into beach mats.

I support recycling but I agree that isn't always easy. Or pretty.

I do really struggle not to boak when changing my food waste bin.

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TomArchersSausage · 09/04/2013 17:12

I saw a programme where it showed our carefully recycled rubbish was being sold abroad and dumped on a vast tip.

So yes I'm inclined to agree with moondog.

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Iwouldratherbemuckingout · 09/04/2013 17:17

Simple choice, recycling or landfill. Go for landfill, watch your council tax go through the roof. Or given council tax increases are capped, even worse cuts in essential services such as care for vulnerable adults. Yes, recycling is a faff, but landfill costs big time and we are running out of room in some areas of the country.

Now who wants a nice new landfill site nearby?

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WilsonFrickett · 09/04/2013 17:18

Yep. We recycle food waste but apparently the council doesn't know what to do with it, so just sends it to landfill... sigh.

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NayFindus · 09/04/2013 17:22

YANBU. The supermarkets I've worked in produce more recyclable waste in an afternoon than I could recycle in a year. None of theirs is being recycled, well it wasn't in the places I've worked.

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floatyflo · 09/04/2013 17:26

Ergh. Have a Biscuit.

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Feminine · 09/04/2013 17:31

floaty is that Biscuit for the food bin? Wink

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StealthPolarBear · 09/04/2013 17:34

Oh how depressing

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StealthPolarBear · 09/04/2013 17:36

I am trying to recycle after years of not bothering. Was I right first time?

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AKissIsNotAContract · 09/04/2013 17:38

A few years ago I read an article about how our recycling was actually being sent to landfill in other countries. I still put stuff into the recycling bin but do wonder how much of it gets recycled.

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StealthPolarBear · 09/04/2013 17:39

Oh and special subject, you mention buying loose fruit rather than pre packaged. I have tried to buy fruit and veg from a green grocers and from the market in the city centre. Each time I have gone away with bruised, mushy apples, dry celery, mushy tomatoes etc. the stuff I buy from tesco is always much nicer. I hate that, but I eat a lot of salad, and last week I had to force myself to use up the market stuff - and threw lots of it out. Am I just unlucky?

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