June 22 2007: Took the plastic mountain to Tesco
Having discovered that Tesco are running their own recycling depot in their car park, I decided this would be a good place to dispose of the by now almost unmanageable plastic mountain.
It seems that, whereas only a year or two ago there were restrictions on what plastic could be recylced, now it appears we can take along whatever we like. This is great news, because being such light items, it's difficult to catch ones plastic bottles let alone look underneath them to see what type of plastic they are.
Plastic is a very versatile thing, and some very enterprising and creative people have started reforming the molten stuff into new items. The wife and I bought some very interesting - and inspiring - items at The Eden Project last time we were down there. What they can make from otherwise unwanted items includes pencils, rulers, a fascinating keyring made from an old printed circuit board (aMAZING what some people can create!), notepads, pencil cases made from recycled tyres and even a recycled rubber mouse mat.
Some of these items are made from old tyres that would quite likely otherwise be dumped or burned to create yet more atmospheric pollution. I came away feeling much more hopeful for us all. The Eden Project shop is at: +recycled">http://www.edenstore.co.uk/stationery-search.asp?types=yes&type=stationery+>+recycled
So anyway, recycling our plastics at Tesco was fun. You put them in a machine which then grabs them one by one when it's ready. More often than not it seemed to close its non-negotiable jaws at precisely the moment I am chucking a bottle in, so the whole process took a while, including of course chasing around the car park as the ultra-light plasticware bounced out of its recycling box and onto the tarmac.
Only problem is, having driven to Tesco's in the first place, did I use more energy getting there than was saved in the recycling? I think the idea is to be shopping there at the time, but we get our groceries delivered. Except of course the stuff I forget to order every week so there' s an opportunity there. Or maybe Tesco won't mind picking my plastics up for me. They always seem to be driving around in vans.
It seems that, whereas only a year or two ago there were restrictions on what plastic could be recylced, now it appears we can take along whatever we like. This is great news, because being such light items, it's difficult to catch ones plastic bottles let alone look underneath them to see what type of plastic they are.
Plastic is a very versatile thing, and some very enterprising and creative people have started reforming the molten stuff into new items. The wife and I bought some very interesting - and inspiring - items at The Eden Project last time we were down there. What they can make from otherwise unwanted items includes pencils, rulers, a fascinating keyring made from an old printed circuit board (aMAZING what some people can create!), notepads, pencil cases made from recycled tyres and even a recycled rubber mouse mat.
Some of these items are made from old tyres that would quite likely otherwise be dumped or burned to create yet more atmospheric pollution. I came away feeling much more hopeful for us all. The Eden Project shop is at: +recycled">http://www.edenstore.co.uk/stationery-search.asp?types=yes&type=stationery+>+recycled
So anyway, recycling our plastics at Tesco was fun. You put them in a machine which then grabs them one by one when it's ready. More often than not it seemed to close its non-negotiable jaws at precisely the moment I am chucking a bottle in, so the whole process took a while, including of course chasing around the car park as the ultra-light plasticware bounced out of its recycling box and onto the tarmac.
Only problem is, having driven to Tesco's in the first place, did I use more energy getting there than was saved in the recycling? I think the idea is to be shopping there at the time, but we get our groceries delivered. Except of course the stuff I forget to order every week so there' s an opportunity there. Or maybe Tesco won't mind picking my plastics up for me. They always seem to be driving around in vans.
posted by Unknown at 9:41 am
1 Comments:
My dad says the monopolizing supermarket have discontinued the recycling service due to over-use. We should check out the adjoining allotments and see how they recycle all their packaging.
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