Post by: Cherry_Ripe on November 01, 2007, 01:25:27 pm
Britons throw away a third of the food they buy - and a campaign is being launched to make people more aware of how much they are wasting.
The Government-backed Waste & Resources Action Programme said bins across the UK were being filled with food - at great cost to consumers and the environment.
It found 33% of all the food bought in the UK is thrown away untouched - the same as ditching every third bag of groceries.
This equates to 8bn of squandered produce, and as a result 6.7 million tonnes of food waste is dumped into landfill sites every year.
This rots away - producing 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Preventing the build-up of this level of CO2 would be the same as taking one in five cars off the road.
Who are these people who throw so much away? It's eat or be eaten in my house
Post by: on November 01, 2007, 06:16:19 pm
We get that and a recycle bin uplift every other week. We also have a vegetable compost bin and in 3 years have NEVER had a problem with over flowing waste/smell or rats.
Go figure.
Post by: oldspice on November 01, 2007, 06:37:06 pm
Post by: smurfboy on November 01, 2007, 07:41:06 pm
Post by: Logger on November 01, 2007, 10:51:00 pm
The problem of waste is largely the fault of manufacturers in my opinion, who unnecessarily overpackage the vast majority of goods leaving Joe Bloggs with vast amounts of rubbish to try and dispose of.
As for food waste...do people really throw away that much??? Nothing lasts 5 minutes in our house
Post by: oldspice on November 02, 2007, 06:46:19 am
It's much harder for people in flats and complexes to recycle because they have less control over their bins. The thugs round here set light to wheely bins outside flats and puch them against the building.
Post by: Logger on November 02, 2007, 07:02:44 pm
Quote from: oldspice
Most manufacturers' packaging can be recycled, but I agree that packaging could be reduced.It's much harder for people in flats and complexes to recycle because they have less control over their bins. The thugs round here set light to wheely bins outside flats and puch them against the building.
I think the fact that many people just aren't bothered about recycling means that the companies overpackaging the products in the first place should be taking more responsibility.
It's shocking that many people still aren't provided with recycling boxes.
Post by: loulou on November 02, 2007, 09:59:22 pm
So if anyone needs cardboard boxes i'm the person you need.
Post by: oldspice on November 03, 2007, 10:13:10 am
What really bothers me with people in this city is that many of them refuse to sort their rubbish because they say 'it's the council's job'. They fill their bins, moan about not having a weekly collection - then blame the council when rubbish gets dumped all over the place. They moan that it's the council's fault for not collecting the rubbish weekly and say it's causing flytipping.
Now, to me, it's everyone's duty to take responsibility for the rubbish they generate. I believe we have a moral duty to recycle wherever possible and if our rubbish bins are getting full, we should ask ourselves why.
Neighbours of ours put newspaper in the rubbish bin. That's just not necessary. You can place it in the recycle bin, you can compost it, you can use it to clean windows, you can use it as insulation material, you can give it to local primamry schools to use in their art and craft classes - the list is endless!
Post by: on November 03, 2007, 11:51:58 am
Quote from: oldspice
What really bothers me with people ... is that many of them refuse to sort their rubbish because they say 'it's the council's job'. They fill their bins, moan about not having a weekly collection - then blame the council when rubbish gets dumped all over the place. They moan that it's the council's fault for not collecting the rubbish weekly and say it's causing flytipping.Now, to me, it's everyone's dutyto take responsibility for the rubbish they generate. I believe we have a moral duty to recycle wherever possible and if our rubbish bins are getting full, we should ask ourselveswhy.
- Title: Throwing food away
Post by: chocadmin on November 03, 2007, 02:47:07 pmRound our way it's weekly rubbish collection (just to keep the moaners in the local paper quiet) and alternate week recycling (paper/card/plastic and green waste) collection.
Surprised no-one's mentioned the potential lunacy from this new thing that councils can pilot charging (or refunding) for the amount of waste/recycling we produce - nice idea impossibly hard to implement.- Title: Throwing food away
Post by: on November 03, 2007, 06:29:09 pm- You'll regret that statement when they meter your bin!
- Title: Throwing food away
Post by: smurfboy on November 03, 2007, 08:58:25 pm- Title: Throwing food away
Post by: oldspice on November 04, 2007, 08:51:36 am- Yes, but that shows the corrupt nature of lazy people rather than the flaw in the council's thinking.
- Title: Throwing food away
Post by: Cherry_Ripe on November 05, 2007, 08:35:58 am- If they start weighing peoples' bins then surely people will dump their waste elsewhere? I'd certainly be tempted to chuck it in my bin at work.
- Title: Throwing food away
Post by: smurfboy on November 05, 2007, 01:49:20 pm
But couldn't it be argued that by not recognising how many lazy people are out there, the council's thinking IS flawed?
- Title: Throwing food away
Post by: oldspice on November 05, 2007, 07:08:33 pm- Yes, I can't argue with that. I guess the answer is to educate people into being responsible for the rubbish they generate. We have to do something.
- Title: Re: Throwing food away
Post by: wjp666 on May 05, 2012, 06:53:53 pm- no thanks, i live in 2012 where animal cruelty is actually frowned upon in the uk.