28 February, 2008
· Filed under Change, Culture, Green · Tagged packaging, recycling, responsibility, supermarket, waitrose, what can i recycle
Recycling is a habit. Unlike climate change (or should it be Climate Change) the need for people to recycle, reduce or reuse what they consume is undeniable. There’s no fuzzy science, no grey areas. Just a mass of filthy holes in the ground all too quickly filled with stinking rubbish. And there are only so many landfills.
So. Successful recycling is about connecting with people, and helping them see that it’s a lot easier than it seems. It’s about forming habits, not forcing behaviour. You need simple processes, support from local authorities, and it needs to be a straightforward habit to learn for people who aren’t kept awake by Radley Lake nightmares. Yet.
Idiotic then, as Ecologist senior reporter Mark Anslow points out in last month’s issue, that recycling plastics is so ruddy confusing. Often you’ll see the logo on plastics, but without the important polymer identifier, and you’re very lucky if the council collection will take it away. It’s all down to sorting – bottles only come in three polymer types and are easy to sort on sight. Most other plastics aren’t that easily recognisable, and so are often not collected.
Then, you’ve got the spectacularly counterproductive “This packaging is recyclable” logos. Which show a tick, clearly suggesting that the plastic is recyclable. Only that’s not quite the case…
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13 February, 2008
· Filed under Culture · Tagged eazy beanzy, heinz madness, I try not to rant but this is too much
I don’t want to get carried away. But there’s something just terrifying about Heinz’s new ‘Eazy Beanzy’ campaign. Not just because the idiotic need to repackage an already over-packaged item is a pure unadulterated illustration of exploitation-tastic consumerism gone mad, but also because I really want to know who the hell can’t deal with a regular can of beans?
In a tin, beans are easily prepared (stick ‘em in a pan, or zap ‘em in a microwave). They’re easily stored for a few days by squeezing the lid back down on the remaining beans. And they’re easily recyclable, as it just takes a quick rinse of the can before it can be thrown straight into the weekly recycling collection. So why (WHY?) do we need a four-pack, plastic-packaged rebranding?
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13 February, 2008
· Filed under Activism, Green · Tagged builders, eco, Green, hippie!, velvet activism
It’s easy to be branded an eco-pain. Before Christmas, I sent out an email to everyone I had ever met at my work, reminding them in as self-conscious a way as possible that TVs, plugs, PCs and whatnot needed turning off before we all left. So I’m used to having “Hippie!” bellowed jokingly (or not so much) at me from across the office.
Which is why I didn’t feel too awkward trying to sort out a problem that, in reality, isn’t a monumental issue. The epic building site outside where I work is ringed with a fence, and the fence is dotted with electric lights. Which are on 24 hours a day, every day, all week. Sure, it’s hardly the end of the world. But it was still worth looking into.
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6 February, 2008
· Filed under Culture, Green, Knowledge · Tagged cafe, Green, pret, pret a manger, recycling
Pret a Manger, the sandwich shop with a conscience, has a plan. Its co-mingled recycling campaign is in the early stages – with trials in 3 shops underway right now – but already sounds promising, providing special bins in-store to collect every bit of rubbish then sort it out for recycling later. I’ve been told that Pret is aiming to get the scheme into 90% of its stores by the summer.
But just how effective can the scheme be? Well, according to commercial director Simon Hargraves, 96% of all of Pret’s packaging can be recycled, hinting that the instore plan ought to be hugely successful. I phoned up Simon and quizzed him on other elements of Pret’s sustainable outlook.
When do you expect the co-mingled scheme will reach Pret stores?
Simon Hargraves: “We’ve carried out several trials over 2 years. While it seems relatively straightforward, customer recycling is actually ground breaking stuff and fraught with challenges. We’re not happy with the design of the bins at present. We’re on our third version so far. Our fourth, and very likely our last, arrives for trial at the end of this month. We expect to roll out to 90% of our shops across the country by end of Summer 2008.”
Does Pret have any predictions for the success of the scheme?
SH: “96% of our packaging can be recycled, and we’ve made the scheme as easy as possible. All packaging goes into one side of the bin and all left over food in the other. There is also a hole for leftover liquids (coffee dregs, emptying cans etc). The trials have shown that customers aren’t all adhering to the simple rules (understandable) and this leads to contamination, which ultimately reduce the amount of waste that will be accepted at the recycling plants.
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