polystyrene fish boxes

[PilotWolf]

Interesting. I have not really noticed overflowing bins when I am over there. I happen to go to California quite a lot and will be heading their again in exactly two weeks. I have taken a mental note to have a look at the bins.

From what I have observed in California, the coast is absolutely pristine. Not a sign of any pollution or litter or any pollution. Obviously I have not scoped out every inch of coastline, but I am familiar with all the coastline between San Francisco and San Diego and it's totally immaculate. It could be that they make an effort to clean things up to keep it like that. That wouldn't surprise me as there is always someone cleaning the streets or beaches. I think they are a bit obsessed with what the place looks like. In Long Beach they got Disney to design what looks like an island with palm trees, but it's actually an oil platform or something very similar i.e. ugly.

Trust me at water level, certainly in Long Beach it is appalling - partly due to the crap the LA river brings down. The beaches are cleaned nightly but take a walk on any of the LB ones and you'll see the crap washed up daily.

The bins aren't full - just the consumers are too lazy to use them...

Yep, the oil islands Close to a 'posh' part of town so they were made to look more attractive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THUMS_Islands

If you want a beer or in my case a rum while you're here let me know!

W.

 

[Irish Rover]

Banning or taxing single use plastics works. Anywhere charges have been levied for supermarket bags usage has collapsed.

 

[PilotWolf]

Banning or taxing single use plastics works. Anywhere charges have been levied for supermarket bags usage has collapsed.

Has it though?

We have dozens of the $0.10 bags around the house. Plus the local DIY store still gives away the cheap,and nasty ones which we use to line the trash cans.

W.

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

I understand the immediate value of these boxes to the fishing industry but does anyone understand the longer term affects on fishing from the damage being done to our seas and oceans by these and plastics.

All plastics are an environmental nightmare in the making.
[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/12/worms-fail-to-thrive-in-soil-containing-microplastics-study

 

[Irish Rover]

Has it though?

We have dozens of the $0.10 bags around the house. Plus the local DIY store still gives away the cheap,and nasty ones which we use to line the trash cans.

W.

I wasn't aware diy stores could still give them free in the UK. Batteries still can here in Turkey. Still Google tells me that issue of single use plastic bags in the UK has dropped from 7.5Bn in 2014 to 1.1Bn in 2018/19. That's a collapse in my book and it's still reducing albeit not fast enough.

 

[Irish Rover]

All plastics are an environmental nightmare in the making.
[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/12/worms-fail-to-thrive-in-soil-containing-microplastics-study

Totally agree but the reality is we could hardly live without plastic at this stage - most of our boats are plastic.

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

Banning or taxing single use plastics works. Anywhere charges have been levied for supermarket bags usage has collapsed.

Sadly the sale of single use shopping bags is not the whole story. If the figures for the corresponding increased sales of small bin liners are included, it looks like we still dont "get it".

 

[PilotWolf]

I wasn't aware diy stores could still give them free in the UK. Batteries still can here in Turkey. Still Google tells me that issue of single use plastic bags in the UK has dropped from 7.5Bn in 2014 to 1.1Bn in 2018/19. That's a collapse in my book and it's still reducing albeit not fast enough.

I don't know about the UK - I'm in California.

The reality is they charge you $0.10 for a reusable bag that you never (in my case), remember to reuse.

There is probably 20/30 around the house. There is a company here that recycles them or repurpose them to needy places - we keep meaning to send them all off...

W.

 

[Irish Rover]

Sadly the sale of single use shopping bags is not the whole story. If the figures for the corresponding increased sales of small bin liners are included, it looks like we still dont "get it".

I have no real experience of the situation in the UK or indeed CA but on my reasonably regular visits to Ireland I'm very impressed with the recycling regime. Every house has 3 separate bins for recyclables, biodegradables and other waste such as kitchen waste. Bin liners are only used for the kitchen waste. There are big fines for incorrectly sorted waste. Littering has become more and more socially unacceptable and posting videos on social media of fly tippers has become a national pastime

 

[asteven221]

Trust me at water level, certainly in Long Beach it is appalling - partly due to the crap the LA river brings down. The beaches are cleaned nightly but take a walk on any of the LB ones and you'll see the crap washed up daily.

The bins aren't full - just the consumers are too lazy to use them...

Yep, the oil islands Close to a 'posh' part of town so they were made to look more attractive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THUMS_Islands

If you want a beer or in my case a rum while you're here let me know!

W.

I will take you word for it. Although I have hung about the center of Long Beach looking over to the QM I have not walked about the beach, so I expect you will be right. I only go to the posh bits! :encouragement:

2 weeks (not that I am counting the minutes!!) right now our flight leaves Gatwick!! Great offer of a beer and one that would be nice to take up if practical. Our son lives in Newport and we might might or might not bother with a car so it's a case of seeing what happens. Cheers!

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

I have no real experience of the situation in the UK or indeed CA but on my reasonably regular visits to Ireland I'm very impressed with the recycling regime. Every house has 3 separate bins for recyclables, biodegradables and other waste such as kitchen waste. Bin liners are only used for the kitchen waste. There are big fines for incorrectly sorted waste. Littering has become more and more socially unacceptable and posting videos on social media of fly tippers has become a national pastime

Thank you for that.
One question though, given the profanities that werent bleeped, what the hell was bleeped??

 

[Elessar]

SOME fishermen.......

Hats off to you.
I couldn’t have been so restrained in my reply.

 

[Irish Rover]

Thank you for that.
One question though, given the profanities that werent bleeped, what the hell was bleeped??

https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/1167719897679446016?s=19

 

[Irish Rover]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread. Yesterday was the first day of the commercial fishing season in Turkey and today on a short trip to our usual swimming spot we recovered 6 used fish boxes and around 20 meters of 40mm (I think) floating nylon rope encrusted with barnacles (not easy to haul onto the deck even with good gloves on). It's infuriating and dispiriting to see this type of pollution continuing year after year.

 

[Birdseye]

I have no real experience of the situation in the UK or indeed CA but on my reasonably regular visits to Ireland I'm very impressed with the recycling regime. Every house has 3 separate bins for recyclables, biodegradables and other waste such as kitchen waste. Bin liners are only used for the kitchen waste. There are big fines for incorrectly sorted waste. Littering has become more and more socially unacceptable and posting videos on social media of fly tippers has become a national pastime

Same system in the UK but as everywhere, including Ireland judging by that video, there are sections of society that accept no rules of behaviour. They themselves are socially unacceptable. And of course what you can get away with when you catch an old man is not what you will get away with when you catch a 30 year old from the sink estates.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Just to note that polystyrene isn't recyclable, so landfill is its ultimate destination whatever you do with it beforehand. I hate getting polystyrene packaging, but it is widely used to pack electrical goods. Unfortunately, it is fantastically good insulation and packaging!

 

[fisherman]

It should be banned. It can be shrunk to a solid residue a fraction of the volume with solvents. In the environment it disintegrates to an awful lot of beads.

 

[Another One]

Just to note that polystyrene isn't recyclable, so landfill is its ultimate destination whatever you do with it beforehand. I hate getting polystyrene packaging, but it is widely used to pack electrical goods. Unfortunately, it is fantastically good insulation and packaging!

Correction: polystyrene is recyclable. Having at times in my working life been responsible for producing vacuum formed polystyrene clamshell packs and, more recently, expanded polystyrene insulated packaging, we only used recycled material.

 

[Stemar]

It seems to me that, ultimately, almost anything made from expanded polystyrene is single use and not recyclable*. When we didn't know any better, it was cheap and effective, but now we know what it does when, not if, it gets loose in the environment, there's no excuse any more. Reusable boxes for fish, recyclable at end of life, formed cardboard for packaging, which can be made from the lowest grade recycled card/paper. and if it can't be recycled again, it could be made compostable.

As for glass bottles, a 50p deposit should be enough to make it worth taking them back and, even if half can be reused, surely, it's got to be worth it.

OK, rarely recycled. My local council has a hissy fit if I put it in the recycling bin, but I suspect their recycling policy is run on CATNAP principles (Cheapest Available Technology, Narrowly Avoiding Prosecution) And they aren't even Conservative

 

[BabaYaga]

Just to note that polystyrene isn't recyclable

I believe it is, even though it may not be reused in connection with food stuff.
It can also be used for energy recovery, as fuel in industrial processes.