Plastic and glass
Posted 11-20-2008 at 03:55 AM by EnglishPaul
I love my country, but there are some things that are out and out daft.
In my childhood, fizzypop used to be sold in glass 2l bottles that carried a redemption value when taken back to the shop. They were then reused.
We also had a milkman, who delivered to almost everybody, and milk was delivered in glass bottles that you had to rinse and return (although no financial incentive was given)
Now recycling of glass is to crush it up and make it into new glass. That can't be cheaper than reusing surely? All reusable fizzypop bottles have now been succeeded by plastic. Most milkmen are now only a memory.
And yet, though the drinks world has moved to environmentally unfriendly plastic; most alcohol is still sold in glass bottles. These are non-returnable.
But the worse thing, is that people drinking in the street often smash their bottles, and I have had to watch my toddler learn to walk on paths where if she fell she would not get a graze, but embedded glass.
Talk about getting things 100% wrong.
In my childhood, fizzypop used to be sold in glass 2l bottles that carried a redemption value when taken back to the shop. They were then reused.
We also had a milkman, who delivered to almost everybody, and milk was delivered in glass bottles that you had to rinse and return (although no financial incentive was given)
Now recycling of glass is to crush it up and make it into new glass. That can't be cheaper than reusing surely? All reusable fizzypop bottles have now been succeeded by plastic. Most milkmen are now only a memory.
And yet, though the drinks world has moved to environmentally unfriendly plastic; most alcohol is still sold in glass bottles. These are non-returnable.
But the worse thing, is that people drinking in the street often smash their bottles, and I have had to watch my toddler learn to walk on paths where if she fell she would not get a graze, but embedded glass.
Talk about getting things 100% wrong.
Total Comments 1
Comments
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I totally agree. I have been trying to minimize my use of plastic, but it seems all cereals now come with plastic liners in the box? Grape-nuts used to just have the cardboard box without a liner.
Also, I like yogurt a lot, and I could buy it in the 30 oz. containers, but then I think I would get tired of the one flavor and not finish it, so I end up using a lot of smaller 6-oz containers.
Sometimes I think I could start a successful business being a milkman and reusing the bottles, providing milk from hormone-free cattle, but I think I would have to work for nearly nothing. I think wages went further in the old days.Posted 12-07-2008 at 11:42 AM by Karate_Kid
