Reducing plastic

[Suelle Profile Website]

Living in a flat not part of an estate with communal facilities I get a black bag collection, for landfill and a green bag collection for mixed recycling and that's my lot

However, living in the city there are collection sites for film, batteries and small electrical appliance within easy walking distance

I still don't understand why there are no proper textile recycling facilities, if you ask
Q Where can I recycle textiles, mainly for ragging?
A You can donate clothing....

Does nobody ever listen to a question before they reply on autopilot? I'm not sure recycling a useless answer is very helpful

It's worth asking any charity shop if they'll take rags.

At least two local to me do - Cancer Research UK being one of them. Most charity shops need to get rid of clothing not fit for sale, once it's been sorted, so have regular collections from 'rag' dealers, who presumably sell on for shredding and re-use. I take a bag in, clearly labelled as rags, and it's just thrown on top of a huge pile in the corner of the store room - they don't even need to look at it.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Pre Covid there were lock-ups in our local supermarket car parks who would give you £4 for a bag of rags (I never did it but suspect they must have been very large bags). Our tip also has a rags skip.

[miss mouse Profile]

Pre Covid there were lock-ups in our local supermarket car parks who would give you £4 for a bag of rags (I never did it but suspect they must have been very large bags). Our tip also has a rags skip.

Which depends on driving again.

[Pampy Profile]

The local BHF shop will collect anything - including rags - from your home.

[miss mouse Profile]

The local BHF shop will collect anything - including rags - from your home.

Driving no doubt. A lot needs to be sorted out, I am not getting at anyone, I am cross about the way this has been ignored for decades.

[Suelle Profile Website]

The local BHF shop will collect anything - including rags - from your home.

Driving no doubt. A lot needs to be sorted out, I am not getting at anyone, I am cross about the way this has been ignored for decades.

Difficult to do most things without some driving, by somebody, being involved. One van, a driver and his mate, is better than a dozen car journeys to the local tip.

StokeySue, and I, are concerned about not being able to recycle the maximum amount because neither of us drive. I'm storing stuff in the garage, but I'll eventually have to give in, when I've got enough, and either hire a skip, or a recycling company who come with a van.

How would you suggest recycling be done without any driving being involved, short of horse and cart, and all the problems horses on the streets bring? Even then, it would only solve the first stage of recycling - from house to recycling centre - and only for relatively small amounts.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Sooner or later all the recycling is going to be put on a lorry and shifted to where it is processed, the problem in terms of fuel use is taking domestic recycling to s more or less local hub by car, and of course the need to actually have access to a vehicle, which shouldn't be assumed by those creating the infrastructure

And it's patchy - my point about about Dog's Trust was that there may be one place near Patsy, but there is literally nothing similar near here, we have discussed on local FB page, it seems to be a bit of an internet myth that most animal charities will take unwanted household textiles, but we haven't found one anywhere near here, not just me looking but a load of neighbours too

The local BHF shop will collect anything - including rags - from your home.

I thought out local hub had stopped collecting anything but furniture, and according to the BHF's smart new website they don't collect anything but furniture and electrical appliances and they want saleable items at their drop off points (I could get rags to Holloway on the bus)
https://www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-go ... rity-shops

The more I look at it, the more I think 2 years of incessant decluttering has completely filled the system with a lot of these things, and nobody currently has warehouse space

[miss mouse Profile]

Replying to Suelle;

I said it is appalling how this has been ignored for so long, 'by local and central gvt' was implied, and clearly stated that I was not getting at anyone.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Just thinking out loud. I seem to remember that textiles for recycling went to big warehouses employing people for not much money - or were sent overseas to be dealt with. The effects of Covid (and sometimes Brexit) have been very real in such places and I wonder if the chain has been broken/reduced temporarily or even permanently. This might explain why a lot of charities and collection points no longer want items which are not good enough to reuse and why it seems harder than ever to get rid of textiles apart from putting out for landfill. It could just be that the going rate is so low that it's hardly worth it.

Our local authority will collect up to three large items from a rather odd list which includes rugs and mattresses if you pay £33.60. They will take clothing and wearable shoes in the recycling and at the clothing bank at the tip. I have looked at this several times in the past and truly believe you are expected to cut anything else up and send it to landfill .

[Suelle Profile Website]

Replying to Suelle;

I said it is appalling how this has been ignored for so long, 'by local and central gvt' was implied, and clearly stated that I was not getting at anyone.

Sorry - it sounded as if you were implying that more could be done without any driving, by anyone, being necessary. I just wondered how!

[miss mouse Profile]

Just thinking out loud. I seem to remember that textiles for recycling went to big warehouses employing people for not much money - or were sent overseas to be dealt with.

Africa is no longer pleased with our cast offs which disrupted the local market anyway as has been much reported over the years and now are of much lesser quality I heard on a radio prog.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I know several of you will have already read this article. Whilst not exactly new news, I think everyone needs a regular reminder of 'behind the scenes' goings on. These people have closed high street stores but the cost, both financially and environmentally is still very high. I found myself particularly shocked at the quote, 'Al Gerrie, the chief executive of ZigZag Global, says: “Fast fashion has about a six-week life cycle .... " .


https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/ ... pping-boom

[smitch Profile]

I made a decision a couple of years ago to avoid fast fashion and only purchase ethically made clothes. They are more expensive but the quality is better as is the fit. I’ve found I don’t need to return items as the sizing is much more consistent compared to places who use lots of different factories around the world. I’m horrified at the global garment industry, the environmental impact and the slave wages paid to workers, not to mention the appalling conditions in factories. Some of that is here in the UK too, several retailers have been exposed as using factories paying below minimum wage.

I guess it helps I’m not particularly interested in fashion and know what suits me. Some of my younger peers at uni buy multiple cheap outfits for a night out then return or discard what they don’t want.

Sorry I’ll get off my soapbox now!

[scullion Profile]

Sorry I’ll get off my soapbox now!

no need!
most of my clothes are either second hand or home made - other than some rather lovely 'bam' leggings i have bought (new) recently.
i find the blazé attitude that many have towards 'cheap' fashion clothing horrifying on a sustainability level - and then i think of the wages earned by women in poverty who would have no job otherwise and am torn.
i would feel a little better if the fabrics were more sustainable/natural.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

then i think of the wages earned by women in poverty who would have no job otherwise and am torn.

. That worries me too. It seems obvious to go for Fair Trade/ethical set ups but I also wonder about those who haven't (yet) had an opportunity to join such a setup. TBH, the number of new clothes I buy (and I try to buy ethically where I can) won't make much dent in the figures. I suppose the more people ask for ethical the more it will become the norm but goodness knows how long that will take. Unless there is a bigger stigma attached to gross consumerism I can't see big changes on the horizon - and I can't see that happening while politicians benefit so well from consumers .

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The other thing, which might be trivial in one sense, but can be a way in to appealing to the Instagram generation, is that fast fashion just doesn't look as good as more refined stuff, I notice that the junior nurses at the clinics who are probably fairly average young shoppers often comment on how nice my Woolovers knitwear is, so obviously they can see the quality

[Earthmaiden Profile]

The flaw there is that the good stuff is expected to be worn many times and to last some time. The cheap stuff is almost throwaway. I suspect that a good many younger people want quantity over quality for that reason. That said, I worked with a girl who socialised in Mayfair circles and wore very expensive designer dresses, handbags and shoes when not at work. She'd buy them on EBay, wear them a couple of times then sell them on for almost the same price so she was rarely seen in the same thing twice but only the initial outlay was really costly. The market for good used clothing is growing with some shops (not charity) doing a good trade. With less tat, that market might grow even more and lose what stigma it has in some circles. That said, lessons in garment care and simple repairs need to make a comeback with it - these days people will throw away something because a button has come off . It is all doable.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

There used to be a couple of well-known places that specialised in secondhanded designer stuff, and I have seen a couple of items about actors hiring red carpet frocks - and making sure people know that's what they do, they don't blow £££ on a dress then leave it at the back of a wardrobe.

[liketocook Profile]

In a neighbouring town there's a "dress exchange" shop that specialises in "mother of the bride" and similar occasion wear. Lots of my friends have used it for various events where a posh outfit (or part of one) is needed. They buy outfits that folk have bought worn once, sell them on and then you sell them back to them. How much you get depends but their exchange rate is pretty good and they allow minor alterations to be made as long it's by one of a number of local companies/individuals. My friend uses them all the time for regimental events her and her hubby attend and she always looks fab.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Really good (and short) BBC More or Less podcast this week on ocean plastics

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bfy1l7