Do you need another plastic bag?

(Courtesy of Change 4 Chalfont’s web site, www.change4chalfont.org.uk)

The plastic bag is the most ubiquitous example of disposable plastic. We see it handed out with abandon by some shops, our cupboards are full of them, and we can’t avoid seeing them scattered throughout the urban landscape and the countryside blowing gently in the wind.

10 million plastic bags are used in the UK every day, with an average user life of ….20 minutes. Worldwide, we use 1 million per minute.

This has loads of implications; firstly, what a waste of the materials that go to make these bags. Secondly, the manufacturing process is fuelled by oil – and we don’t have a whole huge amount left, so maybe we should be more careful with it. Finally, plastic bags are often disposed of carelessly, and even when they are thrown away properly, they take a long time to break down, and when they do, they don’t biodegrade – they photodegrade, which basically mean that they break down into very small particles which get absolutely everywhere. So however carefully you get rid of your plastic bags, and unless you recycle them, then chances are that they will get into the eco-system and pollute it hugely. The water that we drink contains tiny shards of plastic; it is in our crop fields and in the sea. Inevitably, we consume it.

This all begs the question – when we throw something away – where is ‘away’? It doesn’t cease to exist, it just moves to where we can’t see it. Except in the case of plastic bags, of course, which we usually can.

We know that many of us now use our own non-disposable bags when shopping, but this is just a reminder to think again before accepting another plastic bag!

Have a look at this mockumentary…( made in USA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw

Some eco friendly tips in the kitchen

From Maggi Davison

Saving Water – when you wash fruit and vegetables throw the washing water on the garden, not down the sink. (NB this doesn’t work if you live in a flat !)

Saving Energy 1.– when you cook rice, put the rice in a pan with a drop of oil, add the measured amount of boiling water, bring back to the boil, stir once, turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave until the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Saving Energy 2. – when you cook pasta, bring a pan of water to the boil, add the pasta, with a drop of oil if desired, bring back to the boil, turn off the heat , cover the pan and leave until the pasta is cooked and then drain.

Thrifty use of packaging - Cut open the plastic envelopes that magazines and journals come in and use the ‘bag’ for putting odds and ends in. ( I don’t like to suggest you put your sandwiches in these in case it is the wrong sort of plastic and we kill everyone off!)

• reuse envelopes whenever possible
• recycle plastic bags, or ideally use your own shopping bag.

Image courtesy of Suat Emin/FreeDigitalphots.net

Wind power without the turbine! Solar power without the panels!

Now that the weather is getting warmer and the days longer, try using free solar and wind energy to dry your washing rather than using your energy hungry tumble drier. You don’t need a big garden – even pegging your washing on a clothes horse outside will do the job. It is estimated that UK tumble driers emit 5 million tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year. Your washing will smell so fresh, and you will save somewhere between £100 and £300 per year.

Worried about the vagaries of the British climate? You can buy a cover for any rotary drier that means you don’t have to worry about whether it will rain while you’re out, and even allows you to dry your washing outside more or less all the year round. Costing from around £40 the Rotaire Dryline will typically pay for itself in unused energy within 6-8 months.