General Chat

I am going off on one, so don't say I have not warned you all. Ha ha.
Last weekend, the OH picked up a couple of pots of trifle, whilst we were shopping. And very nice they were too. When the pots were empty, I thought they were too good and a nice shape to throw away.
So, I decided to wash them out, and re-use them for similar. What a flippin job. They washed out okey, but it is the labels, or should I say, the adhesive used to stick the labels on. Having soaked and re-soaked them in red hot water, I have removed the adhesive with nail varnish remover pads.
Why should we have to go to all this trouble. I for one think that if labels were more easily removable, many people would re-use plastic containers, thus saving on land-fill.
I think before the government, and the greeny people moan about land fill, they should take this up with the manufacturers of this adhesive.
Right, rant over. Well, for now it is.
Have a good day everyone
Julia in Derbyshire

Hello Julia,

Manufacturers rarely have concerns about what happens to their product containers/wrappers once they are off their retailers' shelves. Some do have a committment to reduce their packaging and advocate use afterwards for all sorts of strange things, they are few and far between.

Youngest visits land fill sites in her capacity as an Environment Agency officer and what goes in would horrify most of us as once something is in a black bag it becomes the environment's problem.

As you say the effort required in trying to re-use containers would deter most, so it's more to be buried.

Sue xx

Julia,

"Sticky Stuff Remover" is excellent for the difficult bits of glue left - I have both liquid in a bottle and the spray version. I have used it in the past on glass and plastic. You can buy it at most supermarkets.

Elisabeth

we have just had clear plastic bags delivered to put plastic in lol, to be recycled,

so now we have black boxes for tins, n glass
blue bag for paper,
green bags for garden rubbish
and clear bags for plastics,


id rather have wheelie bins than drag all them out every week, stupid council, xxx

We are just about to start our new recycling regime. One week landfill, green wheelie bin, and brown garden bin, other week recycling of bottles/jars, cans, newspapers, magazines junk mail, yellow pages, shredding, plastic bottles, card and cardboard. Every week food waste bin (food waste caddy to keep in kitchen, small lockable bin for putting out.

If you are interested in recycling, and where you could poste about labels Julia have a look at this site.

My Zero Waste [email protected]

julia
our plastic bags for recycling plastics have just arrived

I try to use as many as possible by cutting them up and using them in the base of plant pots,just as good as crocks.**M**.

We have had the green wheelie bins for years. This is for all household rubbish. Now we have an orange box for bottles (always full ha,ha,) and a yellow one for tins, which is never used in this household. These are kept outdoors, in a heavy duty plastic chest, where we keep a few gardening tools, and supplied by us. We also have a blue bag, kept indoors, for papers, which takes up much needed space in the cubby hole. The wheelie bin is collected one week, and the boxes and bag the next.
It was really the re use of plastic pots, or shall I say, the removal or the labels on the pots, that got me riled. I still think they could successfully be re-used. Now thanks to Elizabeth and her suggestion of Sticky Stuff Remover, which I will look for tomorrow in M*****sons, I may have an answer to this particular vexation.
Thank you all for your contributions to the thread.
Julia in Derbyshire

Our council are pretty good.... we have the once fortnightly *household rubbish* collection, and once fortnightly orange bin *garden rubbish, leaves and cardboard* then we have the green box for plastic, tins and bottles, plus a blue lidded box for papers and circulars, magazines etc. and these are collected weekly. The food bins are slowly being handed out, but not in our area yet.

However, at home, I have my wormery (two now, just got a new one) two compost heaps I use mainly for leaves, as we have so many, and I have just bought a Bokashi system, which seems to be working well already.... and into that you put all the organic waste that doesn't go into the wormery or compost, and includes meat, fat, fish skin and bones, ditto chicken bones. I have very very little that actually goes into the household rubbish this year, so shouldn't have a problem with maggots if it is hot.

Julia, my biggest gripe with labels is when they put them onto the lens of sunglasses, or onto bags, shoes etc where they spoil the finish.... I do have sticky stuff remover, but it just isn't suitable for some materials, it is oilbased and stains fabric and leather etc...

Anyway, why should I have to buy something just so I can remove a label on a newly purchased item?

I tried putting spreadable butter tubs into the dishwasher to wash, so I could reuse them..... what a mess!! lol

Love

Daff xxxxx

ps.... the Bokashi stuff is excellent compost, as well, it would seem!! Very powerful! xxxxx

We have a large recycling centre at our T****s. One that you feed bottles, plastic bottles and cans into and it churns and sorts, it is excellent. It also takes butter containers and some meat, fish and grape trays but not yoghurt pots.

Looking at the zero waste web site I see that Ledbury can put yoghurt pots out with their plastic.

re-cycling out here seems to be a way of life, plastic bottles get re-used as plant pots, bird scarers, wind thingies ..(direction finders), ornaments, some one here makes flower ornaments to string up out of different coloured bottles.

Plastic carrier bags they crotchet into just about anything and it is amazing what they make.

Unwanted appliances BBQ's, poles from tents, tents even, etc, anything that people are not taking home or no longer want but work get put by the bins and you can be assured they don't stay long enough for the bin men.
Today I have seen a matteress, kitchen units, cycle helmet, rocking chair, 3 bbq's and a tent bag with nothing wrong don't split taped on it.

Our bins are glass, plastic, cardboard and rubbish.