Single use plastic and model railways

[Nick C]

Unfortunately a lot of the people who buy high-end coffee are not only wealthy enough to not notice the 25p surcharge, but also too selfish to care.

 

As an example, one of my colleagues regularly buys a coffee on her way to work, and switched to using a reusable mug. The second time she did so, the barista looked at it and said "thank you, you've actually washed it" - apparently many of their customers don't do it themselves, and expect the barista to wash it for them...

[Neil]

Tea and coffee to go, the origin of the disposable but hard to recycle plastic/card composite mug, is perhaps the problem. It's a symptom of a world that runs at a pace that's too fast, work that's not geared up for tea breaks, people in a hurry; I'd respectfully suggest that if anyone is regularly grabbing food and drink on the go then perhaps their lifestyle isn't as healthy as it could be.

 

Back to the direct implications for our hobby it may be significant or perhaps a coincidence that this week I received a parcel from Gaugemaster, the couplings (Bachmann) and adaptor plates (Parkside) were in plastic bags with header cards but the parcel itself had scrunched brown paper as the packing medium rather than the usual bubble wrap. Top eco-marks to Gaugemaster.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Neil

[CKPR]

It's a bit of an affection on my part, but when I'm building an etched kit or scratch-building in metal, I try to avoid using plastic to represent wood unless it's necessary for insulation. Hence, my engines have wooden footplates, etched rolling stock has wooden floors. It's not exactly going to solve our plastic and oil addictions but it is rather satisfying.

Edited January 19, 2018 by CKPR

[Butler Henderson]

Tilligs 86112 point motors reuse a big chuck of the plastic packaging as a cover for the motor. Still leaves some oddments to "recycle" although I have my doubts on whether such occurs given a news report a few weeks back from a recycling plant where the processing constantly halted due to too small plastic bits and trays getting stuck in the machinery and simply being chucked. Obviously the recycling equipment needs further development. It also clarified why my local authority will not take black plastic food trays - apparently the machinery cannot determine what type of plastic it is when its black in colour.

[Hesperus]

I hate the waste associated with plastic water bottles,  my dad was a water engineer so I grew up with the opinion that tap water was better (I'm not from London).

 

My current job involves a lot of driving and generally being away from home and the office.  I try to take water with me but sometimes forget or run out so find myself buying some.  Likewise tea is often always needed and I don't always have time to 'eat in' and use a china cup.

 

Reuseable water bottles and coffee cups should be the answer here but I have found all the ones I have used to be terrible quality.  The cups are solid plastic so use between a hundred and a thousand times as much plastic as the disposable ones but certainly won't last that much longer.  The reuseable water bottles use probably 50 times as much plastic as the ones you buy full of water and only last a few months before they start leaking.  This would be a small saving on plastic if it wasn't for the fact that most of the disposable bottles are capable of lasting this long if you are careful with them.  I've never worn one out as most are thrown away by tidy minded colleagues when spotted sitting somewhere empty.

 

This thread/post has spurred me into replacing my Thermos flask,  this time I will try and find one that will last for more than 6 months.

 

I don't create much waste through modelling as I tend to either buy things secondhand or make them from rubbish.  At the moment I'm not causing any as I'm not finding the time or mojo to do anything.

[Reorte]

Reuseable water bottles and coffee cups should be the answer here but I have found all the ones I have used to be terrible quality.  The cups are solid plastic so use between a hundred and a thousand times as much plastic as the disposable ones but certainly won't last that much longer.  The reuseable water bottles use probably 50 times as much plastic as the ones you buy full of water and only last a few months before they start leaking.  This would be a small saving on plastic if it wasn't for the fact that most of the disposable bottles are capable of lasting this long if you are careful with them.  I've never worn one out as most are thrown away by tidy minded colleagues when spotted sitting somewhere empty.

My standard water bottle for going out walking is a fizzy drinks bottle. Works most of the time (there was one time I slipped and the bottle caught a rock, putting a small hole in the bottom).