Tag Archives: Bioplastics

CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…August 15th-21st 2021…7th Avenue, Music, Environmental A-Z, Dragon Eye Fruit and Banana Ketchup.…

Music, Environmental A-Z, Banana Ketchup, Health and Dragon Eye Fruit…

Welcome to this week’s edition of my weekly roundup of posts…Especially for you just in case you missed a few posts during this last week…Time is marching on…

We are 3 weeks into August already…some August trivia…

August 21, 1911

Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting is stolen from the Louvre in Paris. Pablo Picasso was implicated in the theft but was eventually exonerated. The thief turned out to be Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia who stole the painting by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and then walking out with the painting hidden under his coat. The theft was not discovered until the following day. Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed Leonardo’s painting should have been returned to an Italian museum. After having kept the Mona Lisa in his apartment for two years, Peruggia was caught when he attempted to sell it to the director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Peruggia served six months in prison for the crime and was hailed for his patriotism in Italy.

August 1940 Winston Churchill makes a speech “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”…Personally(politics) aside without Winston Churchill at the helm, I don’t believe we would have won the war…

1970 ‘Spill The Wine’ by Eric Burdon & War hit number 3 on the charts.

I can’t believe Eric Burdon is now 80 years old…

Enough about what’s to come in August let’s have a look at last week…

Plastic is always in the news…It now seems many people think Bioplastics are the way forward…me…I am always the sceptic and I just think it’s about time everyone stopped pussyfooting about and the production of single-use plastic and the like should be banned…Banned within the year that would make manufacturers sit up, take notice and act…end of…per se…

Only a minority of these plastics are home compostable, so, the label “compostable” most often means industrially compostable. That coffee cup with a Seedling logo you’re drinking from won’t decompose very quickly, if at all, on your home compost heap, but will break down inside the right kind of industrial equipment.

Plastic…The latest News…Week 3…Bioplastics are they really the way forward?

The environmental A-Z…So far the letter N has been the scariest post I have written…Noise Pollution, Noxious Gases, Non-renewable sources and Nuclear Waste…

The Environmental A-Z…the letter N…Nuclear Waste…

How do you follow that? Well, that’s easy enough you just click the link below and follow the journey of the “Chicken Sandwich” that you just ate…

Take some wholemeal bread, grass-fed butter, a few slices of chicken from a sustainably raised free-range chook, a touch of homemade mayo add some salad leaves and take a bite…

Smorgasbord Health Column 2021 – The digestive system, the Immune System and a Chicken Sandwich by Sally Cronin

Time to join me in my kitchen…I always have too many overripe bananas and this recipe uses some of them up a treat…Banana Ketchup…what a revelation that was it truly is lovely ketchup and quick and easy to make.

In my Kitchen cooking from scratch…Banana Ketchup

Tropical Friday…Longan Fruit…

A lovely fruit that has a very slight citrus taste very grape-like in taste and texture…

Tropical Friday… Longan Fruit…Dragon’s Eye…

Saturday Snippets… 

The day where I indulge my whimsey…this week my chosen word was seventh(7th)…Thank you for the added suggestions go out to Bernadette with #7 on the periodic table is Nitrogen…and Clive came up with another tune and very lovely it was to listen to #recommended…Seventh Avenue, by Roseanne Cash…well worth a, listen…Thank you to you both…

Saturday Snippets 21st August 2021…Seventh(7th)

Thank you to everyone who sent me messages on WP, FB and e-mail it helped me through yesterday…Laurens operation was a success it just took longer than we expected and she suffered a few panic attacks as she came out of the anaesthesia her sister was on hand though to sit with her and took her home complete with drip after she had a lesson on how to change it…Bloody Covid…It was a difficult day for me being so far away… your messages did really help…Thank you xx

Thank you very much for dropping in this week and for your likes, comments(which) I look forward to and for your shares it is all very much appreciated…I hope to see you tomorrow for week 4 of my updated Plastics posts…Have a great Sunday xx

Plastic…The latest News…Week 3…Bioplastics are they really the way forward?

Plastic Free July, was so successful that I decided that I will carry on from Plastic Free July and repost some updated previous posts on plastic from 2019…the reason being sometimes I feel we are going round in circles and promises are made and not kept…

I just want to revisit those initiatives praise those who are and have been as good as their word and taken their ideas forward and made a difference…

It is good to talk the talk but you have to walk the walk…

As you know because I tell you…haha…  I am constantly really heartened by the initiatives which I am discovering that are happening from all around the world…Your comments are also a revelation when I hear from you guys what is going on in your neck of the woods… all good stuff…How you are reducing your carbon footprints and coming up with ideas to cut waste and protect the environment.

Politicians THE WORLD OVER make promises to the electorate…That is us... we need to become Climate Voters…Not because we are told to BUT because we have checked and are sure that who we give our vote to …HAS and WILL continue to make a difference and to honour their election promises…

The time has come for us to make our voice heard…Our beautiful natural wonders are being decimated, polluted we can stop this with our carefully, researched and considered vote… Politicians who endorse and allow what we consider to be environmentally wrong…we have the vote and can VOTE THEM OUT!

Be a climate Voter!

 

green foot prints eco system

 

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Have a look and see what this community in Amsterdam, Holland is doing …

What a fantastic idea…and one which could be adaptable anywhere…Not a plastic bottle in sight…

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Bioplastics…There has been much written and many innovative products like straws made from mango peels which are now a bioplastic product…On the face it even I have thought wow how inventive is that all those mango peels and avocado pits made into something we can use…

That product however still required disposing of correctly…

Let’s look at Coca Cola...we all know who they are and how profitable their products are…

Another Sustainable Innovation they say and want us to believe and continue buying…can you feel the sarcasm?

The world’s first fully recyclable PET plastic bottle made partially from plants…They say!

Planet over profit ..they say!

But what does the small print say?

It’s easy to assume…I hear plant-based and my ears prick up…MADE FROM PLANT-BASED PRODUCTS…Smile…

It all sounds familiar though doesn’t it…Low Fat, Low Sugar, Low Salt, Organic, Fair Trade…I could go on but I am sure by now you got the picture…

Not all bio-based plastics are biodegradable, and not all biodegradable plastics are bio-based. And even biodegradable plastics might not biodegrade in every environment. Sounds confusing? It certainly is…

The answer does not lie in Bioplastics say the experts...experts who did not go to… The Google University or the elite Facebook University…Real experts who know more than me as they have studied and trained for years for their degrees…

Only a minority of these plastics are home compostable, so, the label “compostable” most often means industrially compostable. That coffee cup with a Seedling logo you’re drinking from won’t decompose very quickly, if at all, on your home compost heap, but will break down inside the right kind of industrial equipment.

We need to be more aware… we need to read the small print we also need to home in on words…home compostable…the right kind of industrial equipment…much of our waste can be compostable BUT only if your state, province has the right kind of equipment IF not our carefully sorted waste still goes to landfill or just a garbage mountain.

That my friends unfortunately is the stark reality!… Companies like Coco-Cola need to be producing bottles that can be recycled at home or pay for proper industrial equipment to recycle THEIR bottles.

Failing that …do your health a favour and stop buying soft drinks in non-recyclable bottles…

All we can do is cut our waste in our homes by buying in bulk, making sure we refill bottles where we can, finding alternatives that are just as good…but are more sustainable…I am doing mine one product at a time…

Choosing glass bottles over plastic when we shop as then we can reuse them when we cook from scratch…or make our own carbonated drinks…Let the kids help they will love it…

Most importantly please do not think that what you do in your own home doesn’t count because it does …It really does every little bit no matter how small adds to the bigger picture and that picture is growing and there will soon be enough to fill many galleries BUT we cannot rest on our laurels there is still much to be done and if you think of an initiative join a group make it a group effort if it requires that…

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Two years ago I posted about the Uk’s first local circular economy drive…when Sky Ocean Rescue campaign, a region of the UK had created the country’s first local circular economy.

The UK has re-affirmed its commitment to recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035 as it on  (30 July) 2021 set out its approach to transposing the EU circular economy package (CEP) into domestic law.

The traditional system of getting rid of waste is linear: packaging is made, used and disposed of but the local authority in Cambridgeshire along with a local plastics processor and packaging company have joined together to create a model which is circular.

Waste bin and bags

Image by kalhh on Pixabay

Update 2021

The UK has re-affirmed its commitment to recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035 as it today (30 July) set out its approach to transposing the EU circular economy package (CEP) into domestic law.

It also seems that the local Cambridge authority is forging ahead and going forward which is good to read…

Lego…The name ‘LEGO’ is an abbreviation of the two Danish words “leg godt”, meaning “play well”. The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The company has passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a grandchild of the founder.

My children and my grandchildren have loved Lego and it has been passed down through our family for years and now Lily plays with it building her shops and houses…

Lego has now taken it one step further and listened to the children and their parents and are turning plastic bottles into Lego…

Thank you for reading this post which I believe will point the way to a few changes we can make to really make a difference as I know I am not doing enough and should be doing more and that seems to be backed up by much in this post… what do you think?… Are you doing enough to Save the Planet ???

Just once I would love to pick something up off a supermarket shelf be it labelled healthy or just junk food and know with absolute certainty that it contained no harmful chemicals or preservatives and that the package was fully decomposable…I can but dream…

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx

 

Plastic, Waste and recycling…Latest News…Seaweed and banana skins…

 

Monday...The start of a new week and I have a lot planned…It is nice and sunny today so I was out bright and early to the market which was bustling as usual…I stocked up on my fruit and then it was home and back to work…

An update on last weeks post on Wet wipes …From the lovely Norah who sent me two links ..To say I am at loss for printable words is an understatement if you read the posts it just highlights how big companies get away with what they do when the law backs them…I understand totally Norah’s frustration…I also understand that in the bigger picture it isn’t just the wet wipes we flush, It is the cotton buds, the makeup which contains microplastics, it is the cooking oil and so much more but they also all contribute to the fatbergs and to the killing of sea life …My take on this they all need to be called to task and we need to be more mindful…It is not going to take just one persons effort it is going to take an all-out effort from us all…

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-28/consumer-watchdog-loses-flushable-wipes-case/11261688

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-01/do-not-put-flushable-wipes-down-the-loo-analysis/11268350

Understandably the Water Companies are disappointed with the ruling as they have to deal with the result of wet wipes being flushed not the manufacturers…

The Water companies Slogan...The industry slogan is that only the “three Ps” — pee, poo, and (toilet) paper — should be flushed down the toilet.

What can we do? Stop buying them …Make your own..details in last weeks post…

Do you think that children should be taught how to grow food as part of their schooling?…  I do as in this day of apartment blocks and flats or even living in a shared house many places don’t have a garden or even a balcony or small yard to grow anything and I do think that to ensure kids get an all-round education that they should be taught to grow food… In this ever-changing and in some places violent world our kids may need to be ready and prepared.

Boy with watering can

It certainly cannot do any harm to be included in a school curriculum. Ask your school what their plans are..See if you can help…

Image by Phichit Wongsunthi from Pixabay

Nothing is thought to grow on desolate dry, barren land…Sundrop farms have changed all that…Using seawater and solar energy they are now successfully providing Coles with tomatoes…It has been a few years in the making but finally, they are providing tomatoes to Coles and have other farms at the planning stage…

When I am doing my research I am always amazed at the talent and ingenuity of people especially young people they have this thirst and energy to find solutions to the countries plastic problems…They are thinking outside of the box and some of there ideas are awesome like this young man from Indonesia who knowing his country have one of the worlds biggest plastic problems…He did something about his idea…

Global Warming …The warnings continue…

Deforestation is a major cause of Climate change and far more needs to be done and quicker we need to plant more trees…We need to be looking at ways we can support planting more trees…Like the search provider, I use Ecosia…Who plant a tree for every search I do…

Intensive Farming…Cattle release methane gas, however, fertilizers produce nitrous oxide emissions…We need to be looking at natural ways to fertilise or get rid of pests in our gardens..U-tube is a good place to start…This fertiliser uses banana peels…

Many inventions and ideas are the results of many years work, disappointments and may never come to fruition while others after all that work are good to go but also many ideas come about by accident or by a sudden brain wave…Take matches…John Walker a pharmacist by trade was experimenting and trying to find a combustible paste for guns by mixing chemicals together..One day he scraped his mixing stick on his hearth which erupted into a flame and the first match was born…The year was 1896.

There are many other examples like the first x-ray and penicillin both came about by accident rather than design… So what I am saying is brainstorm with some friends or family, your kids or grandkids…Experiment see what you come up with that is how great and profitable ideas are born…

That’s all for today…We need to think about recycling, reusing and the plastic we use as well as the food we waste…It is too important not to…Buy local think about your carbon footprint and importantly your foods carbon footprint we all have a role to play…

Thank you so much for reading this post and if it made you think THEN please share and or comment on how you deal with plastic and recycling what do you think is the way forward xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx

Plastic Part 12…Recycling…

It has been one of those weeks when everywhere I turn I see plastic on the news, documentary’s, coming out of overflowing bins it just seems to be shouting at me this week…Haha can’t get me I am still here… there were the workmen in Serbia who were taking the plastic which was causing a blockage in the river from one side of the bridge and just dumping it on the opposite side…Now I don’t know if that is the current practice there or if they were just being thoughtless and lazy either way I was just gobsmacked…

green foot prints eco system

What plans do Serbia’s government have? Serbia’s government plans to join the EU’s single-use plastic products ban, environment minister Goran Trivan said.

“By the end of this year( 2019), we will adopt very decisive measures in this direction,” Trivan said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug…

A smart approach is needed towards the disposable plastic products ban as many economic interests will be concerned, Trivan said.

Let’s hope some urgency creeps in, shall we?

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Janet from the blog Tidalscribe told me about Boots the Chemist and how they are now wrapping the prescriptions in plastic wrap and have done away with the paper bags, of course, the locals are understandably upset about this and have signed a petition.

When I dug a little deeper it seems that last August, Boots signed up to the UK Plastics Pact, a voluntary pledge by the retail industry to cut single-use plastic packaging. Wrap, the body that leads the campaign, said on Friday it was “engaging with Boots on this and other topics in relation to their contribution”. Apparently, there are many disgruntled customers I hope they walk and find somewhere else to get their prescriptions and anything else they need to buy …Although if people are ill or infirm that is not always possible is it? The government should make these pacts arbitrary and not voluntary…

Boots should be ashamed of themselves however it does seem that many companies both home and abroad sign these voluntary agreements and then do what the hell they like…

Governments need to grow a pair and set out their stall once and for all, stop voluntary agreements and make them obligatory.

Industry Announcements:

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Break Free From Plastic urged Southeast Asian governments to strictly enforce waste import bans.
Worn Again Technologies, a U.K. company commercializing a chemical recycling process for recovering polyester and cellulose from textiles, announced that the following companies have joined its Pioneer Members’ program: ASICS Europe, Dhana, Dibella, Directex, H&M, Himes, Kering and Sympatex.

 

Many Asian countries who were taking in waste from other countries have now banned this practice which I think is good every country should be responsible for its own waste not be shipping it out and the money saved from the shipping costs could be put towards their own recycling costs…

Malaysia has kicked back...and is sending contaminated waste back to the countries of origin…

It seems that Uk supermarkets led by Sainsbury’s are leading the way…Sainsbury’s

has become the first UK supermarket to remove the plastic from its loose fruit, vegetables and bakery items.

By September, paper bags will be available to customers for loose bakery items. Customers buying loose fruit and vegetables will either be able to bring their own bags or buy a reusable bag made from recycled materials.

I think that is really great news and hope that other supermarkets quickly follow… So if you are a Sainsbury’s shopper then you need to get behind your store, get your bags ready and support them through any teething problems…as I remember customers complaining when McDonald’s changed their straws.

If we seriously want to eliminate plastic waste as much as we can then we need to be proactive and support any incentives and projects it may not be easy to start with but hey life isn’t easy and we need to rid the world of all this plastic…

Hopefully, this little video will help you to know what symbol to look for and what is done with this plastic when it is correctly recycled.

Thank you so much for reading this post and if it made you smile please share and or comment on how you deal with plastic xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you are all having a great week xx

Plastic…Part 10…A recycled Football Pitch…

Good morning…My head is swimming…When is a bag not a bag??? I am beginning to think I will never know…

coloured plastic bags blowing in the wind

A question and statement from Ellen Hawley set us both thinking ??? I am beginning to think that it is all in the production and that there are exceptions to a very broad ruling…I hope this link helps my only concern is that the statement.

“A bioplastic carrier bag also looks exactly like a traditional carrier bag. ” Means I will never truly know what I am using…

Produces the comment from me… Help! …and remember…

stressed is only desserts backwards

Photo credit: oatsy40 on VisualHunt.com / CC BY

The sheer volume of plastic waste is now coming to light and scientists have found 414 million pieces of plastic waste on Australia’s Cocos Islands which has made scientists reassess the amount of plastic pollution that may already be in the world.

Much of this was found below ground which gives scientists grounds to think the scale of plastic may be incorrect and be far more…

Now for the good news as there are many projects underway or already in practice to address this…ProAmPac has announced four new sustainable product groups…

Of course, it means that to start with we as consumers may need to do our research for companies whose packaging is compostable and recyclable with our yard waste or food and doesn’t need specialist recycling. But…we want to do our bit as well, don’t we?…

Shampoo…Of course, we can make our own using recycled containers and bottles but with our busy lives and resources, we don’t always have the time or the inclination…

Herbal Essences and TerraCycle create the brands first ever beach plastic bottle

 

Budweiser, an official sponsor of the 2018 FIFA World Cup…and sponsor of so many sporting events…

 

Budweiser Creates Unique Football Pitch From Recycled Plastic Cups…How fantastic is that? It does seem that many of the sporting giants are getting behind the plastic problem and yes it will create more publicity for them but I don’t care if it lessens the amount of plastic in our oceans which killing the marine life then so be it…

Unilever North America…Accelerates their action on their plastic packaging target…

Another sporting giant…Adidas has unlocked a circular future with a running shoe made to be remade…

The old and new adidas trainers

Photo credit: r0bm867 on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC

I think a circular economy is a way forward and many companies are signing with Loop who are rethinking recycling. Producing great looking containers which they will refill.

Going on holiday? Many countries now are banning plastic at the point of entry…The Airport…It is also said that Africa is leading the world in plastic bag bans.

Countries, states, large cities and small towns all around the world have banned disposable plastic shopping bags to protect the environment. In Canada, the town of Leaf Rapids, Manitoba banned plastic bags in 2007. Other North American cities include San Francisco (also 2007), Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland and Mexico City. The states of Hawaii and North Carolina have banned plastic bags, and states in Australia and India have done the same. Countries that have banned disposable plastic bags include Italy, China, Bangladesh, many countries in Africa including Rwanda, Kenya, the Congo, and South Africa and the list is growing…all positive…

Just one more thing I have been reading quite a lot on the whales which are washing up dead on various beaches around the world and it seems that as whales hoover up as they go around they are ingesting microplastic which is either in the water or the fish they are eating so just to recap please think about what you are buying as regards Cosmetics as much of this ends up in the waterways and eventually the sea…

Thank you for reading and please if you liked this share to your friends we must get the word out that the march of the plastic must be stopped and soon xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx

Plastic…Part 9…Biodegradable and Compostable bags?

Welcome to this weeks post on plastic…It is week 9 already and so much info on plastic it is unreal…

coloured plastic bags blowing in the wind

Photo credit: European Parliament on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-ND

I am trying really hard to dispense with plastic in the home and I have gone a good way forward to doing that but some things cause for radical changes for example ” The freezer” I freeze fruit, some meat and if I make extra of a dish then I freeze in portions …Therein lies the problem for me…

Do I use biodegradable bags or compostable bags?

How can we be sure biodegradable bags are really eco-friendly? Are they the same as degradable plastic bags?

There are independent certification schemes you can look out for that give you peace of mind about the claims being made. But it means that you must do your research…

We will start with your kitchen bin…

Of course, the most eco-friendly answer is don’t line your bin…Which means that you must separate all your compostables,. recyclables and general waste…Of course, if you recycle and compost as much as you can you will find that you will have less waste.

If you must line your bin then check you are using a certified biodegradable or certified compostable bag instead of traditional plastic bags ( no more) using any plastic bags which you bring your shopping home in unless they are certified or those labelled degradable.

So you have checked your bags out and lined your bin…That’s alright then …Isn’t it? No!

Why? Because if you are filling those bags with general/household waste then once it gets to the landfill site the bag will break down or not according to what rubbish is inside the bag so all your efforts checking that your bags are certified will have gone to waste…If you are using biodegradable and compostable bags to contain general waste or household rubbish, be mindful of the fact that once it is all sent to landfill, the bag will behave like the rubbish it is containing. In a landfill site, biodegradable and compostable bags will break down a lot more slowly than they would in your home composting system, and they will break down without oxygen, producing methane, a greenhouse gas much more dangerous than carbon dioxide.

Biodegradable plastic bags…

Quite simply, something is biodegradable when living things, for example, fungi or bacteria, can break it down. Biodegradable bags are made from natural plant-based materials like corn and wheat starch rather than petroleum. However, when it comes to this kind of plastic, there are certain conditions required for the bag to begin to break down and biodegrade.

Firstly, temperatures need to reach 50 degrees Celsius. Secondly, the bag needs to be exposed to UV light. In an oceanic environment, this is highly unlikely to happen. Plus, as I have stated above if biodegradable bags are sent to landfill, they break down without oxygen to produce methane, a greenhouse gas far more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Degradable plastic bags…

Degradable items, unlike Biodegradable bags, are not broken down by living organisms so cannot be classed as biodegradable or compostable. Instead, the bags contain chemical additives used in the production of the plastic which allows the bag to break down quicker than a standard plastic bag usually would.

Which means bags advertised as degradable’ are definitely not beneficial, and can even be worse for the environment! Degradable bags that disintegrate just become tinier and tinier pieces of microplastic quicker, which as we know poses serious threats to marine life.

Microplastics enter the food chain lower down, getting eaten by smaller species and then continuing to make their way up the food chain as these smaller species are consumed. A situation which is highlighted very frequently in the news most recently the victims being gray whales.

Compostable plastic bags…

The word ‘compostable’ is incredibly misleading for the average consumer. You’d think a bag labelled as compostable would mean you could throw it in your backyard compost alongside your fruit and veggie scraps, right? Wrong. Compostable bags biodegrade, but only under certain conditions.

Compostable bags need to be composted in a specific composting facility, Compostable bags are generally made from plant material that returns to base organic components when processed by these facilities, but the problem lies in the fact there are thus far only 150 of these facilities Australia wide.

However, it seems that with the changing of consumer attitudes commercially many countries are struggling as current commercial plants cannot deal with all the different types of plastic …

As a consumer based on this, I am making a concerted effort to avoid as much plastic as I can in my own home,,,

Home Freezing for me one of the hardest to change…Here is a good article about using mason jars as storage in the freezer…Something I haven’t tried yet…Have you?

Dog poo bags? 

dog photo

Photo credit: flowcomm on Visualhunt.com / CC BY

It seems that whatever bag you use not many cities accept them once used due to cross contamination…

I think bags are much like plastic bottles when I reviewed they have a long way to go until recycling is available and effective within a short timescale…

Until then I will do the best I can given the circumstances of disposal available…

Thank you so much for reading this post If you have any thoughts please add a comment I always respond xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx