I just don't buy the costs argument, certainly not the idea that garden centres would have to close if not for plastic posts Garden centres existed and made profits before plastic was invented
Lets say that not using plastic costs 10% Garden centres would have to pass this on of course. During my time all sorts of other price rises have been passed on and a decent plant now costs £10, would we pay 11? Yes we would - everything goes up in price all the time, we are used to it. If taxes went up 10% companies would pass this on, if transportation costs went up they would pass this on.
Companies try to cut costs and increase prices, it's their raison d'etre. This calculation takes no heed of the environment and is often detrimental to it. In other words the costs to wildlife are NOT part of their calculations. So, fiscal arguments are only part of the issue. We have other laws to prevent companies polluting, we have banned lead piping, lead in pencils, the EU banned 1328 chemicals from cosmetics alone, 1000 toxic ingredients, a whole legion of weedkillers such as paraquat, creosote, dichlorprop, dikegulac, resmethrin, tar acids and triforine. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?PID=820
Did they inconvenience the gardener? Of course! Did they hit the profit margins of Garden centres? Of course - temporarily. Did this mean the chemistry industry retooling? Yes of course. 73% of atlantic fish have ingested microplastics - we eat these fish. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180216110513.htm
Oestrogen and its related molecules are extremely powerful endocrinal agents. They effect our growth and physiological appearance, our sexuality, even our sense of ourselves as male or female. What wil we do when levels of oestrogen like chemicals in our water reach a peak where all life forms including ourselves begin to mutate?
There ARE viable alternatives, including paper, clay, wood and coir. Yes they have some effect on the environment but not as much as plastic (IMO) . We can develop organic methods, just like we developed organic gardening.
In the light of such evidence, I repeat plastic lant pots (and a lot more plastics) needs to be banned.
It's a step we MUST take
Z
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wild edgesThe north west of south east WalesPosts: 7,512
I spent a long time looking into zero waste lifestyles and trying to reduce the amount of plastic I use and all I found that was you either need to be really rich with infinite free time or there's no way you can get anywhere close. There's plenty you can do but our lives now are so geared towards convenience and waste that it's very hard for the minority to bring about any real change. I really think that as oil demand drops due to electric cars and improved recycling rates etc that plastic use will continue to increase as the oil industry tries to keep it's demand up.
A great library has something in it to offend everybody.
At the moment I think that as gardeners, the best we can do is make sure we think about that plastic pot that a desirable new plant comes in and not just throw it in the bin.
I do buy new plants, but usually one of each type and then propagate, if i can. I grow a lot from seeds and cuttings, which means that the pots that I already have get multiple reuses. They don't get thrown out unless broken beyond usability, and it's probably about 15 or 20 years since I bought any new empty plastic pots, although I do buy the small cardboard ones occasionally. What does get binned is the mesh "teabags" that some bedding plants come in - I can't reuse those and if not removed they last longer than the plants.
Showing my age.....no GCs in this area when I started gardening. Plants were bought from nurseries, greengrocers or by post. All bare root and wrapped in damp newspaper. Sadly most small nurseries have now closed.
I think it is also important to remember, that without plastics, modern life would not exist. Plastics have been enormously beneficial and will continue to be so.
He calls her the chocolate girl Cause he thinks she melts when he touches her She knows she's the chocolate girl Cause she's broken up and swallowed And wrapped in bits of silver
I think it is also important to remember, that without plastics, modern life would not exist. Plastics have been enormously beneficial and will continue to be so.
@ZeroZero1, I am sorry but comments like that will only antagonise about half the human race, and are therefore guaranteed to ensure lack of support. You and I and our children would not be alive without plastics.
He calls her the chocolate girl Cause he thinks she melts when he touches her She knows she's the chocolate girl Cause she's broken up and swallowed And wrapped in bits of silver
You/we all need to take personal responsibility - limit our use of plastics to those which are essential and/or recyclable or have already been recycled. Reject the use of single use plastics in shops and in our homes and workplaces. Lobby local councils to get their sorting and recycling systems up to date.
Stop talking about it and start doing it. Don't expect others to do it for you.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
You/we all need to take personal responsibility - limit our use of plastics to those which are essential and/or recyclable or have already been recycled. Reject the use of single use plastics in shops and in our homes and workplaces. Lobby local councils to get their sorting and recycling systems up to date.
Stop talking about it and start doing it. Don't expect others to do it for you.
Although i do agree with you Obelixx, this is very hard, near impossible to achieve (though we should try). Manufacturers love to place the responsibility with the consumer, this is why we have the fuss about reusing plastic carrier bags and plastic cups. Of course this matters, but it's a form of displacement of blame. but the real issue is the profligate use of plastic by the manufacturers by design - where easy alternatives would suffice.
Posts
Garden centres existed and made profits before plastic was invented
Lets say that not using plastic costs 10% Garden centres would have to pass this on of course. During my time all sorts of other price rises have been passed on and a decent plant now costs £10, would we pay 11? Yes we would - everything goes up in price all the time, we are used to it. If taxes went up 10% companies would pass this on, if transportation costs went up they would pass this on.
Companies try to cut costs and increase prices, it's their raison d'etre. This calculation takes no heed of the environment and is often detrimental to it. In other words the costs to wildlife are NOT part of their calculations. So, fiscal arguments are only part of the issue.
We have other laws to prevent companies polluting, we have banned lead piping, lead in pencils, the EU banned 1328 chemicals from cosmetics alone, 1000 toxic ingredients, a whole legion of weedkillers such as paraquat, creosote, dichlorprop, dikegulac, resmethrin, tar acids and triforine. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?PID=820
Did they inconvenience the gardener? Of course! Did they hit the profit margins of Garden centres? Of course - temporarily. Did this mean the chemistry industry retooling? Yes of course.
73% of atlantic fish have ingested microplastics - we eat these fish. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180216110513.htm
Microplastics are already entering our food chain, sea salt, mussels, honey, chicken, bottled water, even beer. The idea that we can isolate ourselves from this pollution is a dream. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/you-re-eating-microplastics-in-ways-you-don-t-even-realise
Bisphenol (leeched from plastics), is a primary mimicker of oestrogen. It is found in 90% of children's bodies (male and female). It is linked to prostrate cancer, obesity (through insulin production), early puberty, infertility and many more conditions
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5351661/Chemicals-plastic-90-teenage-bodies.html
Male fish in UK rivers are mutating to female (hermaphrodite). This is linked to plastics:
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/environment-fish-changing-sex-gender-chemicals-pollution-rivers-water-charles-tyler-fisheries-a7821086.html
Oestrogen and its related molecules are extremely powerful endocrinal agents. They effect our growth and physiological appearance, our sexuality, even our sense of ourselves as male or female. What wil we do when levels of oestrogen like chemicals in our water reach a peak where all life forms including ourselves begin to mutate?
There ARE viable alternatives, including paper, clay, wood and coir. Yes they have some effect on the environment but not as much as plastic (IMO) . We can develop organic methods, just like we developed organic gardening.
In the light of such evidence, I repeat plastic lant pots (and a lot more plastics) needs to be banned.
It's a step we MUST take
Z
Sadly most small nurseries have now closed.
Plastics have been enormously beneficial and will continue to be so.
Cause he thinks she melts when he touches her
She knows she's the chocolate girl
Cause she's broken up and swallowed
And wrapped in bits of silver
You and I and our children would not be alive without plastics.
Cause he thinks she melts when he touches her
She knows she's the chocolate girl
Cause she's broken up and swallowed
And wrapped in bits of silver
Stop talking about it and start doing it. Don't expect others to do it for you.
but the real issue is the profligate use of plastic by the manufacturers by design - where easy alternatives would suffice.