How many people use re-cycling in their lives? What are you doing to stop Global warming and save the planet? Do you separate paper, glass, cardboard, clothing? At the moment, I am using lower power electric light bulbs in every room in my house, saving 80% of electricity, turn lights off when not in use, leave central heating off when I can, pull TV plug out at night or when I go out, instead of leaving the standby switch on.

Re-use all kinds of bags, paper, plastic, use a compost bin, try not to waste anything, using landfill sites to dump millions of tons of rubbish each year is not sustainable and will lead to the destruction of our way of life as we know it, Who cares !!!

Me!

I recylce as much as much of what I cannot reuse as possible, I have a 700cc car which I share with my wife and which we only use when public transport or walking is not viable. My house is lit by low energy bulbs and our gas central heating is not on a timer, we turn it on when we need it on.

I use biodegradable soap, deoderant and shaving cream from lush so that I don't stink or look like a hedgerow and vegtable hair wax to make my hair spikey.

The electricty consupmtion by CRTs is an interesting issue though. There is an argument that states that turning CRTs (like TVs and old-style computer monitors) on and off everyday can reduce their working life by up to 30% while the environmental impact of making new CRTs is perhaps worse than their consumption of electricity during the extra time they work if they aren't turned on and off. It makes a bit of sense if you think about the amount and varieties of plastic, glass and metal that are used in their manufacture. I'm still waiting to be convinced by either argument on this one...

not greatly. I recycle the usual but haven't got a car to recycle plastics/bottles etc.

Interesting fact. It takes more energy to recycle a product than to make it from scratch.(or at least it did)

If the council gave us more help by providing local recycling centres and advertised them I'm sure a lot more people would be greener.

I recycle as much as i can, but i do find it a pain, it would help if the council gave us more recycle bins/collections etc: not everyone has a car and its difficult sometimes to get to the large clothes banks, bottle banks, there should be more of these banks.:thumbsup: Why do some of us only have the black and blue bins? and some folk get plastic collections etc:??

I don't want anymore bins, my drive is full!

We are dead green, we do as much as is humanly possible without knitting our own lentil flapjacks for the winter. In fact, I have made a job of it, being an ethical consultant. I help people who want to go green, and are ready to start to make the changes they need to make to have less of an impact on the planet. It's amazing when people realise how easy it can be, how much cheaper it often is and how many nasty corporations are out there. You do find that there are limits to which people are prepared to go, some are happy to just recycle, as every little counts, and it's better than not recycling, and others want to fully immerse themselves in it, via boycotts, cotton nappies, the whole gamut.

I make an effort. Recycle paper & glass stuff, have recently started recycling a lot more plastic bottle (although cans always seem to get chucked out for some reason). I did hear on the radio that there is are arguments against recycling, given the amount of energy involved in transporting stuff for recycling, sorting it and actually recycling it, but what the hell, I do it anyway.

One thing I don't do but really should is compost. Especially now we have an allotment, it would make sense, but I've had that council leaflet about the cheap compost bins sitting on my side for over a year now and still done nothing.

Probably the biggest step we took was when we had some re-wiring done. We replaced a load of lights, including two 12-bulb chandeliers, which used 60-watt candle bulbs. Now all of the lights in our house use energy-saving bulbs, with the exception of one remaining chandelier in the hallway which I try to keep switched off as much as possible.

I also try to use both sides of paper, or give it to the kids as scrap, and to print using draft mode when practical. Old printer cartridges go into the recycling bin at the kids' school. I'd like to find somewhere to take old Brita water cartridges though.

Household cleaning products I increasingly buy Ecover stuff, which thankfully seems to work a lot better than it used to when it first went on sale.

But my increased computer use (and the increasing power of my computers) is another area where I'm probably getting less green. I used to have just one PC, which was on when I was using it. Now I have a server on all the time, another PC which is on most of the time, and also various laptops, kid's PC, etc etc etc.

I think of myself as fairly 'average' as far as recycling goes.

We have a blue paper bin, and put all our paper waste in that.

We have three compost bins at the side of the house and they are all nearly full, we also use the green garden waste bin.

I put all our bottles into some plastic containers in the garage and then go to the bottle bank every so often (usually when the containers are overflowing.

I think people should be able to select, from a list provided by the council, the type of recycling bin they would use. I'm fortunate in that i've got plenty of space for them but other people haven't.

Our blue and green bins are always full by the time they are emptied. My clothes go to charity shops or collections.

We have some of our light bulbs energy saving. Try to turn off lights etc and standby buttons on such things as the washing machine and tv.

We have also planted a couple of trees in our garden and quite a bit of hedging as I believe trees etc help the environment?

There's probably a lot more that I could do, but not sure what. I do worry about the environment and global warming and I think it is a vitaly important issue that will not be addressed by Governments until it is far too late.

I am a believer in 'if everyone does a little, it will make a big difference' rather than thinking, well what difference does my little effort make.

I do try to make an effort. I refuse to own a car, because I think they make people incredibly lazy and they start to use them for journies that you can just as easily walk or take public transport. I’m sure half the people on the road are making journies that are not that necessary. Pretty much everyone I work with lives on a frequent bus route into town, but they all choose to drive instead (and then spend all day moaning about the cost of parking!) even though they don’t need their cars for work.

I have low energy light bulbs in my flat, and only switch the heating on if I am still cold after putting a jumper on. I also make an effort to turn the TV and other appliances off at the socket, rather than leaving at standby.

What I don’t do much of is recycling. I live on a street that only has flats, so all we have a big communal bins. Unlike individual houses who are given their blue bins etc, there are no facilities at all for recycling. I think this is a real missed opportunity because there’s plenty of space for proper bottle/paper banks etc, and I’m sure most people on the street would use them. There are also no recycling facilities within walking distance (not while carrying huge amounts of paper and bottles), so if you are environmentally conscious enough NOT own a car then you can’t recycle!

The biggest thing i do is not own a car! I cycle everywhere (or get the train). I think it would be good if more people did this.
Its often quicker, cheaper and keeps you fit!

I:
recycle everything I can ,
Turn off lights/heating when not necessary,
Have insulated my house,
Try to buy food with less packaging in the first place,
Buy from environmentally conscious companies where possible,
Buy food produced in the UK.

But by no means do I have a holier than thou attitude. I'm sure theres a lot more that I could do. There seems to be a bit of a strange attitude towards the environment here. I remember when I was in germany and I saw a p**sed young guy who finished his beer and then WALKED to a recycling bank to bin it. Here he'd have thrown it in someones garden then gone and taken a leak in a nature reserve.

Originally posted by DanSumption


I also try to use both sides of paper.


Isnt that a bit unhygenic ;)

We use Enerygy saving bulbs, recycle as much card/paper etc as we can cram into those tiny little bins, but thats about it, we are not the most energy concious lot in the world (Having a house full of computers perminantly on isnt one of out best points)

Joel

I recycle cars, because its my job
I also recycle as much of my waste as possible, which has got a lot easier to do since recycling bins were place at our local shops

Jan2002

Originally posted by robbie


Interesting fact. It takes more energy to recycle a product than to make it from scratch.(or at least it did)



This is not true: quoted from this website (http://data1.recycle-more.co.uk/recycle3/nav/buildpage.asp?SectionID=504&color=purple&TopSectionID=504):

1. making one aluminium drink can from raw materials uses the same amount of energy that it takes to recycle 20

2. 18,000 tonnes of [plastic] bottles recycled in the UK in 2002 saved approximately 18 million kWh of energy

It is PROFITABLE to recycle metal which is why the scrap metal industry exists. As for paper its a good source of raw materials so means you don't have to chop so many trees down and damage habitats etc.

More important than recycling we need to REDUCE the amount of packaging we use in the first place.

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE (PUT IN LANDFILL SITE) in that order.

I think the "more energy to recycle" argument depends on other factors. If you drive a couple of miles out of your way every week to recycle half-a-dozen bottles then it probably does take more energy. If you're sensible, e.g. take a big load of stuff to recycle whenever you visit the supermarket, you're almost certainly doing the right thing.

Originally posted by DanSumption
I think the "more energy to recycle" argument depends on other factors. If you drive a couple of miles out of your way every week to recycle half-a-dozen bottles then it probably does take more energy. If you're sensible, e.g. take a big load of stuff to recycle whenever you visit the supermarket, you're almost certainly doing the right thing.

Indeed so. Tho most large supermarkets have recycling centres so shopping trips can be combined with recycling trips. Magic!

The other option is that the council collects it all but this would probably put our council tax up.

Originally posted by tim_rutter
The other option is that the council collects it all but this would probably put our council tax up.

Not necessarily. I lived in Cambridge for a few years up until about a year ago, and the council there ran a kerbside recycling scheme. Each house was given a black plastic box (much smaller than the bins given out in Sheffield) which could be used for putting pretty much everything in – paper, bottles, cans, plastic. Then the kerbside collection team would come round and sort everything into the different compartments of their truck.

They also provided thick paper sacks for ‘green’ waste, which you could also put cardboard into, and because the sacks were recylced and biodegradable the whole thing could be thrown in for composting.

Council tax down there was not significantly higher than it is here. The only reason I can imagine that this kind of scheme would not be practical in Sheffield is because it is so much bigger than Cambridge.

A friend of mine actually set up a commercial recycling scheme in Brighton where he would collect a box of recyclables from peoples' doorstep every week. He's done very well out of it, and is now a nationally recognised expert on recycling matters (http://www.eunomia.co.uk/aboutus/joe.htm).

*doh* pressed button too soon ;)

Recycle -
paper - council collection
glass - at supermarket
plastics (bottles/food containers etc) - supermarket

Pollution/energy -
Dont drive - partly cost, partly cos i dont need to, but like the
feeling I not causing damage - get annoyed seeing so many
big car commuters with only 1 person in.

Turn off plugs whenever not using - computers/TV/Videa etc all
use power when in their 'off' state.

Buy recycled goods in preference at shops.
Buy environmentally less damaging products when given the
choice (eg Ecover mentioned by someone.)

There is a company that will help you to "go Green" to put it basically, called Pachamama. I think that the owner is even a member of the forum. I will find out if anyone is interested.

yes please bonny

*ahem*

sorry don't understand the *ahem*

Originally posted by lizzmobile
We are dead green, we do as much as is humanly possible without knitting our own lentil flapjacks for the winter. In fact, I have made a job of it, being an ethical consultant. I help people who want to go green, and are ready to start to make the changes they need to make to have less of an impact on the planet. It's amazing when people realise how easy it can be, how much cheaper it often is and how many nasty corporations are out there. You do find that there are limits to which people are prepared to go, some are happy to just recycle, as every little counts, and it's better than not recycling, and others want to fully immerse themselves in it, via boycotts, cotton nappies, the whole gamut.

Oops, should have guessed there would be a response on this thread.

This is the lady from Pachamama. PM her for details.