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Responsible people no longer use disposable, one-use 'anything'. I rarely use plastic bags, except for rubbish and I buy a roll of them, mostly. The back seat of the car is strewn with canvas and heavy duty shopping bags. Some plastic items though are a necessity.
Plastic straws. I do not like paper straws or metal 'washable' straws. They sound very unhygenic and I don't want to drink my iced coffee through metal or paper
Paper straws were banned in Greece a few years ago, by order of the EU, and we couldn't even buy them in the supermarket. They were very unpopular and plastic straws have slowly re-appeared.
In Greece coffee, especially the iced kind, is savoured for hours. One glass of coffee lasts through many changes of conversational topics and table companions. Paper straws went nasty and soggy very quickly. Not sustainable
I have a cupboard full of plastic bowls, tupperware, but mainly the cheaper version. They all lose their lids sooner or later. Lids I presume go to the same place single socks disappear to. Into the great unknown, abducted by aliens.
I also have a supply of these handy one-use metal bowls with their cardboard lids, lids which go into the rubbish along with containers. I have them in several sizes and they're very handy for giving away traditional sweets and treats as is the custom here at Easter, Xmas, name days, and local fiestas.
I have a drawer of plastic throw-away cups and plates too, but we rarely use them, prefer China and real glass. We have a dishwasher, the plastic plates remain in the drawer
And my latest 'disposable' acquisition
A cheap watch from one of the Online Chinese Giants
I've got a box of watches, good watches. They all need batteries. The battery is replaced and then the strap breaks and then they need new batteries again. So I decided to buy a cheap plastic watch online. I love it . 4 euros. 3 months later it's still working, keeping good time. I'm going to get them in a few different colours. If it stops working I'll just throw it away and buy another one. A new watch is cheaper than new batteries and I can colour co-ordinate with my outfits.
My wife is a great re-cycler, and worries about plastics, etc. A lot of plastic is both inevitable and good for its purpose. It's not all bad.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of a 4 Euro watch. One could almost buy hundreds and sell them on the beach to tourists for 8 Euros.
There's a tariff now going on chinese goods sold in Greece. The next one could be 5 euros ☹️
DeleteI reuse my plastic straws. I have a long skinny brush that I clean them with.
ReplyDeleteYes a paper straw in a frappe would be a disaster
When I have an overseas holiday, not that I have that many, I buy a cheap watch from Kmart. They’re only nine dollars. So if it gets lost or stolen I don’t care.
I rarely use straws but do not fancy metal or paper - the texture would be unpleasant.
ReplyDeleteWhile we do work hard to minimize waste and to chose things that can be recycled when we can't avoid packaging etc., it's really difficult to avoid the throw away/non-repairable nature of so many consumer goods these days. The flip side is Mr B took an inherited watch for servicing and was told it would cost $2300 to serviceš± How many perfectly good disposable watches could you buy for that?
ReplyDelete