Good for recycling, or gimick?

Discussion on living for a better and more responsible future
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Mo
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Good for recycling, or gimick?

Post by Mo »

I have just been invited to collect my biscuit wrappers and send them to this company, who will pay postage and donate to charity.
I've seen people asking for Baby-wipes packages on Freecycle IAO a charity.

Can sending such things by post to be made into something else really be environmentally friendly, or are they just making them into some unneccessary junk which they can charge more for because its 'green'.

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saint-spoon
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Re: Good for recycling, or gimick?

Post by saint-spoon »

I am wondering about how much energy it takes to collect the raw materials and turn them into another product, I am not completely convinced that it is a good thing however if it reduces the amount of landfill then it can't be all bad. I am thinking that someone is making a big profit out of this, obviously there is money going to charity but I suspect that the environment is not the prime motive for this enterprise. Like yourself Mo I am also wondering about how practical the products actually are, a pencil case made from old toothpaste tubes, a bag made out of old petfood packaging; are they really recycling or just turning rubbish from one form into another?
I have seen the recycled park benches around quite a lot and they seem to be quite a good idea, easily cleaned and weather resistant. An interesting concept anyway.
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LittleBrownFrog
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Re: Good for recycling, or gimick?

Post by LittleBrownFrog »

I think we would all do better to concentrate on the 'reduce' aspect rather than the 'reusing' and 'recycling'.
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Re: Good for recycling, or gimick?

Post by 4 french hens »

Does anybody have one of those coarse fleeces made from an acrylic like material? They are very warm jackets and were the fashion a few years ago.

Bet you didn't know they are in fact made from recycled PET (drinks) bottles!

An excellent way of recycling I reckon.

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Bollybarb
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Re: Good for recycling, or gimick?

Post by Bollybarb »

I have sent my coffee bags away, you can collect points and buy things back like pencil cases )t'

I could do with an odd sock appeal, i've just had a cull on the odd socks in the basket and ones with holes, and have a pile sat in front of me!
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HappyBob
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Re: Good for recycling, or gimick?

Post by HappyBob »

LittleBrownFrog wrote:I think we would all do better to concentrate on the 'reduce' aspect rather than the 'reusing' and 'recycling'.


Also agree LBF, that reducing our waste seems the more practical solution.
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julie62
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Re: Good for recycling, or gimick?

Post by julie62 »

Slightly off topic but this reminded me of something from years back.

When I was younger my mum and dad ran a pub and one of the customers collected empty cigarette packets for a charity to help a girl have a heart operation. We collected bin bags full and he used to take them away with many thanks. A few months later there was an item in the national press about how people all over the country had been collecting empty cigarette packets for charity and that the charity didn't actually exist .. that it was an urban myth ... I often wondered where on earth all the cigarette packets ended up!!!
Julie

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