http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36917174

 

It seems from early indications that the UK govts initiative to force larger retailers to charge for plastic bags (5p - ie GBP0.05) has had amazing results. First surveys seem to show that UK bag consumption will fall by around 7 billion - ie by an order of magnitude - from 7.7 billion to .7 billion. Hopefully this result is borne out by future checks and the trend continues.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36882799

 

We get through 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups a year - this seems ripe for a similar measure.

 

Someone reading (especially if of a certain age) will be thinking beer/pop bottles and the deposits you could collect on them as a good supplement to pocket money - this is unfo a nogo due to European competition law (vide Danish Bottles). And all you Brexiteers before you start - it was the UK govt that forced the case and, to all extents and purposes, stopped beer bottle deposits being legal

Return and wash coffee cups (with some small incentive) sounds a great idea. Or maybe the chains could allow customers to use their own plastic travel mugs?

 

A related thing is the over use of wrapping in shops - this I am sure could be reduced with no health issues.

Return and wash coffee cups (with some small incentive) sounds a great idea. Or maybe the chains could allow customers to use their own plastic travel mugs?

 

A related thing is the over use of wrapping in shops - this I am sure could be reduced with no health issues.

 

I have heard - although not from a peer-reviewed source - that incentives are ok but penalties are better. Sounds mad; but if at the same price point Customers are told that the coffee is £2 but you need to pay 10p extra for a disposable cup then you get a higher use of non-disposables than if you say the coffee is £2.10 but you get 10p off if you use your own non-disposable cup. It is exactly the same financially - but...

 

Starbuck already do plastic cheap reusables (they do expensive metal ones as well) - but I do not like their coffee and I am not sure how other shops will like me using a starbucks cup; will report back.

 

Over-wrapping - Yes entirely agree. Over-packaging for online purchases another

 

Someone reading (especially if of a certain age) will be thinking beer/pop bottles and the deposits you could collect on them as a good supplement to pocket money - this is unfo a nogo due to European competition law (vide Danish Bottles). And all you Brexiteers before you start - it was the UK govt that forced the case and, to all extents and purposes, stopped beer bottle deposits being legal

 

 

Here in the US some states have deposits (largely in the Northeast: New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut, as well as Michigan, Oregon, Iowa, Hawaii. California has a "cash redemption value", which AFAIK is the same thing but the deposit is already included in the purchase price.) Other states have recycling. I'm not sure which is more effective, but I do have the anecdote of seeing lots of my colleagues at work who can't be bothered to separate their bottle & can recycling out of the trash. They might be more inclined to keep those items out of the landfill if they were throwing away a deposit.

 

I'm not sure how much the recycling attitude at the government level is tied in with other environmental attitudes like polluting and global warming. There seems to be a pretty strong correlation here with attitude of having "dominion over the earth" and feeling like we can do whatever we want to it, as opposed to the attitude that we can and do affect the earth, and need to take care of it.

Keurig K-cups are becoming a problem here. So many Americans have fallen in love with what is basically vending machine coffee, because it comes in a system you load like a shotgun, and the coffee brews quickly enough not to strain your attention span while you stare at it.

 

We have so many people in prison, but people who commit K-cup atrocities roam our streets. The guy who invented them doesn't even own one anymore. Anything that will hasten the demise of this product is a plus for planet Earth.

Keurig K-cups are becoming a problem here. So many Americans have fallen in love with what is basically vending machine coffee, because it comes in a system you load like a shotgun, and the coffee brews quickly enough not to strain your attention span while you stare at it.

 

We have so many people in prison, but people who commit K-cup atrocities roam our streets. The guy who invented them doesn't even own one anymore. Anything that will hasten the demise of this product is a plus for planet Earth.

As my grandad used to say: "As long as you put shit in a bag you can sell it." Clearly, the more bags the better.