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Post by librarylady on Mar 17, 2019 3:05:29 GMT
I do hope things improve. All that material does not need to be in the landfills.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Mar 17, 2019 3:34:25 GMT
It is a mess. People have been taught for years to separate, but than we went to comingelled. Now separate but all kinds of different ways with only one dumpster for recycle and one dumpster for garbage. Not going so well these days for this complex!
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Post by tracyarts on Mar 17, 2019 10:37:14 GMT
There's a "recycling program" in my town. At the local waste transfer station, residents can bring pre-sorted and clean items and leave them in the proper dumpsters.
But they usually end up getting trucked to a landfill anyway.
The employees do a brief visual inspection of each dumpster and if there's anything there that doesn't belong, the whole lot goes to a landfill. No man hours available in the city budget to have an employee climb in and pick out misplaced items and trash.
Apparently us townsfolk are too careless or stupid to consistently follow directions, because a lot of loads get rejected on that basis.
And then even if we do succeed in following simple directions, and all the recycling dumpsters are in order, the company contracted to pick it up only comes to get it on a certain schedule. If the dumpsters are full and starting to overflow before then, off it all goes to a landfill, to keep from making a mess at the transfer station.
The recycling program is a joke. Enough people wanted one that the city decided to create one, but they only put the least amount of effort into it as possible. It's them paying lip service to the idea, and still getting to boast about it.
Really, it's best to not generate as much waste to begin with here. When I found out what a shitshow the recycling program was here, I was so disappointed.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Mar 17, 2019 11:25:07 GMT
Recycling as we've known it has been a public relations move for decades.
The idea of recycling eases the conscious, without taking into account the carbon footprint it takes to either deliver your personal recyclables to a center, or for recycling trucks to drive around collecting. Then shipping it to China for so many years. And the actual process of recycling, which also uses energy, and emits pollutants.
Not to mention the fact that so many recyclables are just burned or dumped in landfills.
There is just too much product to begin with.
We need to make less, consume less, package less.
But true change will not come from individuals doing their part. It needs to be government mandated that corporations have to follow a guideline to lessen their impact on our earth.
But as long as corporations have lobbyists greasing the palms of law makers, our earth wellbeing will never come first.
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RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,703
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Mar 17, 2019 11:37:07 GMT
That is heart-breaking. Our first step needs to be to reduce our purchases of single-use plastic. If we stop buying all this plastic exported from China in the first place, then China wouldn't have to recycle our leavings. I'm not saying that plastic goods aren't also made in other countries - of course they are - but much of the rubbish, throw-away, McDonald's/cracker-toy plastic does come from China. That's what we should be stopping.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Mar 17, 2019 13:19:50 GMT
My face lotion comes in a bottle that is packaged in a box. Why? The makeup remover comes in a bottle, no box.
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RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,703
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Mar 17, 2019 13:36:33 GMT
My face lotion comes in a bottle that is packaged in a box. Why? The makeup remover comes in a bottle, no box. Ideally we ought to be able to take our own old bottles to the shop and fill them up from a big container. No excess packaging. Our village grocer has started selling dry goods (cereals, grains, flour, nuts and seeds) by weight. You bring your own containers. I like that.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Mar 17, 2019 13:46:47 GMT
lisacharlotte RedSquirrelUK Nearly every thing is overpackaged. It's frustrating. And it makes me frustrated with myself because I still buy things. Some things I can justify because they're necessities. But then I feel guilt because I scrapbook, and do buy things for that. It's my one hobby, so on one hand, it keeps me sane. On the other hand, packaging. Ugh.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 28, 2024 13:25:16 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 13:52:09 GMT
When I was a kid, I remember lugging empty pop bottles back to the store w/my mom - about a mile away. If we could do it then, w/o a car, we can do it now. I hate the thought of all the single-use waste in my every day life. We try to recycle, but I know a lot of recycling still gets land-filled. It's time for governments to step in w/those hated regulations and MAKE manufacturers pay for their waste streams.
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Post by Lindarina on Mar 17, 2019 14:05:42 GMT
Buy less stuff!
Buy quality items and repair when you can. Choose items with none or minimal packaging. Donate or repurpose when possible.
This planet is in dire need of help, people. ❤️
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katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,376
Jun 25, 2014 23:25:39 GMT
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Post by katybee on Mar 17, 2019 14:39:07 GMT
I bought some toys—Little Woodeez figurines—for my classroom last week. I swear to God, there were 18 layers of plastic holding all those tiny toys in place. I’d manage to get one layer of hard plastic off to release the dolls. And the then another layer off to release the furniture. And another layer off to release the little dishes...and so on and so on and so on... You would have thunk they were precious jewels the way they were protected. It was RIDICULOUS.
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Post by jloubier on Mar 17, 2019 15:12:15 GMT
We need to make less, consume less, package less. This 100%. I am consciously making an effort to limit my use of single use plastic. I've started shopping at a bulk food store and bring my own containers. I refuse any kind of plastic bag at the cash register. I refuse to buy things like bananas that come in a plastic bag. Why? I buy unpacked bar soap for my body and for my hair. I buy second hand clothes. I think twice before buying anything. We all have to start somewhere. Bit by bit I'm doing my part, and try to convince others to do the same.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Mar 17, 2019 16:59:44 GMT
x2mom makes a very good point about stuff donated to a thrift store often being trashed. I have worked at a large, internationally known thrift store in the past decade. So much goes straight into a dumpster. If you donate in the off hours when there isn't an employee to receive your items, people will dig through your donation, most likely scattering it around. Or a feral cat will piss on it. Or it will rain on it. All of this is scraped up with a shovel and goes straight to trash. If you donate clothes or shoes with noticeable wear, holes, or stains, it's trashed or put in a bin to be sold to third world countries to be "recycled." Except most of it is not made of recyclable materials, and will become their trash. Household and nonclothing items are trashed if they smell, are excessively dirty, or are just deemed unsellable. Your grandma's beat up pillows are nasty and being tossed. Also, if it's chipped, faded, stained, please just toss it yourself. If you donate out of season, it will most likely be tossed. It cost money to sort and store what amounts to garbage. ALSo, even if it was good enough to get on the sales floor, if it doesn't sell within a set amount of time, it will be ragged, and tossed away. Donate only things in top shape. If you wouldn't buy it at a regular retail store, don't donate it to thrift.
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mallie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,253
Jul 3, 2014 18:13:13 GMT
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Post by mallie on Mar 17, 2019 18:33:59 GMT
We live in a large city with recycling bins and recycling pick up every other week.
My dh had to visit the recycling center for his job and talk with officials there. Come to find out, the recycling center is dead.
City officials are having people still "do recycling" to "keep them in the habit."
So everyone thinks they are recycling and it is going to the landfill.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Mar 17, 2019 18:38:38 GMT
I am sick of the packaging I cannot get open. I had to buy a special tool for opening hard plastic. Really? Is all that necessary? I buy my pain reliever from Costco. It used to come in a bottle and now they sell it in a plastic and cardboard package I need my magic tool to open it with. The brand name itel is still in the bottle. I wanted generic. If I can’t get the pack open it’s too much packaging!!!!
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on Mar 17, 2019 18:45:03 GMT
Our community stopped taking glass. It’s now back to plastics and paper.
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georgiapea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,846
Jun 27, 2014 18:02:10 GMT
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Post by georgiapea on Mar 17, 2019 19:34:15 GMT
My town used to have 2-trucks on garbage day. One took our trash, the other came along later and took the paper, plastic, glass tub and the cardboard. Now the garbage truck throws the recyc's and cardboard in with our bagged trash.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Mar 17, 2019 19:51:40 GMT
Our community stopped taking glass. It’s now back to plastics and paper. Are you in Houston? They did the same thing here a couple of years ago. You can cart them to the recycling center yourself, but most people don't.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Mar 17, 2019 19:57:34 GMT
Our city is still collecting recycling, but is burning it.
But if you don't put it out, the city will fine you for not recycling!
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Post by librarylady on Mar 17, 2019 20:14:22 GMT
My face lotion comes in a bottle that is packaged in a box. Why? The makeup remover comes in a bottle, no box. I THINK the reason is that little boxes are easier to package and ship to the retailer. This is a guess, I don't really know.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Mar 17, 2019 21:27:43 GMT
We separate compostable food scraps and garden clippings. We throw away regular garbage and we have recycling another day. We spend a lot of time separating that shit. Glass needs to be separated from plastic and paper and cardboard. Only a certain sized box can be used and we have 2 sizes. We get left nasty notes if we use the wrong size box. All cardboard has to be tied securely. Newspaper and magazines go in another bag. If this is just going to the landfill I will be pissed. We spend a lot of time following the rules and if they are just burning it all I will be right pissed.
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johnnysmom
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,682
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Mar 17, 2019 21:44:37 GMT
Our city is still collecting recycling, but is burning it. Same here, our recycling is being sent to Detroit to be used for power in the auto manufacturing facilities. Not perfect but at least being used for something, better than being tossed in a landfill.
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