Is recycling worthwhile?

[french frank]

Freecycle doen't always work well. We have on occasion failed to give items away on Freecycle, but then had a queue of people wanting to pay modest (but useful) amounts for the same items on Gumtree

I know people who use Gumtree (in their case because they would never give away something for which they could get money). I've found freecycle very good (a couple of no shows, but usually with a queue forming). I'd have thought if you have people willing to pay money for something, you'd find people who'd have it for nothing. But it's all based on personal experience.

Kicking myself that I had an invitation from the Coop to Have My Say about the store. Forgot to add, "And please can you stop using black plastic packaging!."

[Dave2002]

I'd have thought if you have people willing to pay money for something, you'd find people who'd have it for nothing.

We have had the opposite experience on a few occasions, and have become very slightly richer than we intended as a result. We try Gumtree first if we think things have a value, and then Freecycle. Sometimes it works the other way round. You can't always predict what people will do.

[oddoneout]

We have had the opposite experience on a few occasions, and have become very slightly richer than we intended as a result. We try Gumtree first if we think things have a value, and then Freecycle. Sometimes it works the other way round. You can't always predict what people will do.

I wonder if the rise of online selling platforms has changed the way people view free stuff?
I started using Freecycle(as it then was) more than 15 years ago and it worked OK for me for the next 5 years or so. There was then a gap of a few years, and when I tried again not only had the set-up changed with the move to Freegle which I found unhelpful and long-winded, but the response was not good. I got the impression that if worthwhile items were offered for free then there was a perception something was wrong with them(whatever you put in the post) whereas if you were charging then they were assumed OK(and open to redress if not?). I'm just glad that when I had most need of clearing out things quickly Freecycle worked.

[oddoneout]

I know people who use Gumtree (in their case because they would never give away something for which they could get money). I've found freecycle very good (a couple of no shows, but usually with a queue forming). I'd have thought if you have people willing to pay money for something, you'd find people who'd have it for nothing. But it's all based on personal experience.

Kicking myself that I had an invitation from the Coop to Have My Say about the store. Forgot to add, "And please can you stop using black plastic packaging!."

You could email them? I'm sure that they don't have a close season on customers' views!

[Dave2002]

I'm just glad that when I had most need of clearing out things quickly Freecycle worked.

It also depends where you live I think. It's what I call the car boot sale phenomenon. We tried a car boot sale once, years ago, and it was surprising to see how many other stalls/tables had the same/similar stuff to what we were trying to offload. There were also the dealers who arrived early and were only really interested in taking the best stuff at knock down prices, leaving one with nothing very attractive left to sell.

If you live in an affluent area you can pick up good stuff on Freecycle, or perhaps Gumtree, but trying to get rid of it can be a lot harder.

[Serial_Apologist]

We tried a car boot sale once, years ago, and it was surprising to see how many other stalls/tables had the same/similar stuff to what we were trying to offload.

Reminds me in another context of a few years ago, when a friend from Toronto came to stay for a week, bringing her teenage daughter. On Day 2 the very enterprising latter, aged 17 - who incidentally had never visited the UK, let alone London - took the train up to Victoria, spent the day surfing the West End retail outlets, and upon being asked by her mum on return about the quality of the clothes she had found on offer, stated with utter contempt that it was all just the same stuff to be found in the stores back home!

[Dave2002]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45232167

[Lat-Literal]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45232167

160,000 responses might, as they say, be a record for an HMT consultation but it isn't a record in terms of government consultations. One aviation consultation led to over 500,000 responses - I was there - and policy then was not shaped by the majority of responses but rather delayed. Conveniently, they don't say how many of the 160,000 were in favour of higher taxes. Whatever, in numbers terms it is a drop in the ocean. And while it is useful to taxers to jump on the Attenborough bandwagon, it is also useful for them to turn a blind eye to common sense elsewhere.

Sense that says that foil is no more biodegradable than many plastics. Sense that says that paper comes from trees and that no trees equals no planet, wet or dry. Mind you, their hope is no doubt that when vapes are introduced for offices "and buses" - what a quaint example the latter is - everyone including policy makers if they can get out of their executive jets and cars will be vaping dope as is the way in California and chilled out. In every way, governance is becoming a gateway to everyone feeling that they are doing right while doing exactly the opposite. The ice caps may be melting but, hey, we rarely use a plastic bag. The murder rate is dramatically up but, hey, a lot of people have been very successfully prosecuted for driving at 21 mph etc etc etc.

I am now vehemently anti all recycling initiatives - the reversal of a lifetime position in just over a fortnight.

It is only policy makers themselves who could have "achieved" something so dramatic.

Iteration:

Much as packaged chicken comes from something called a chicken - it has a head and legs and a lot of other things which might surprise - see Wikipedia - paper comes from something called a tree. A tree - it is a green thing with something called a trunk - takes many decades to grow. There are too few trees even at this moment for the sustainability of the planet.

[teamsaint]

Its a crazy world Lat, where people want to do the right thing, do what they are told is the right thing, and then it turns out to be the wrong thing, and finally , if they are unlucky, get called out for their “ crimes” against the new right thing.

[french frank]

Sense that says that foil is no more biodegradable than many plastics.

Could you explain that? Who says foil is biodegradable? It's 100% recyclable and is a valuable resource - as long as it's clean.

Sense that says that paper comes from trees

Ultimately. But also from recycled paper.

I am now vehemently anti all recycling initiatives - the reversal of a lifetime position in just over a fortnight.

It is only policy makers themselves who could have "achieved" something so dramatic.

They may have had that effect on you, but who knows what other factors are involved in your case? Still, if it let's you off a chore … Sorry, I can't be sympathetic to your point of view.

[Lat-Literal]

Could you explain that? Who says foil is biodegradable? It's 100% recyclable and is a valuable resource - as long as it's clean.



Ultimately. But also from recycled paper.





They may have had that effect on you, but who knows what other factors are involved in your case? Still, if it let's you off a chore … Sorry, I can't be sympathetic to your point of view.

Well, the latter point is, I regret, utterly irrational. I have three wheelie bins that are 60cm by 60cm at the wheels plus one wheelie bin that is slightly smaller and one front path that is 56cm wide and about 240cm long. If you can tell me how I am supposed to wheel them given that the bins are wider and get to the two at the back without learning circus skills, I will be grateful. I am going to private message you with my address so that you can lok at the frontage on Google Streetmap - you might, then, appreciate the real impossibilities better.

Actually, it is here: the path, not that you can see it, runs below the kitchen window and the gate is to the side.

(Photo was here - people have had more than enough time to respond)

[Beef Oven!]

Well, the latter point is, I regret, utterly irrational. I have three wheelie bins that are 60cm by 60cm at the wheels plus one wheelie bin that is slightly smaller and one front path that is 56cm wide and about 240cm long. If you can tell me how I am supposed to wheel them given that the bins are wider and get to the two at the back without learning circus skills, I will be grateful. I am going to private message you with my address so that you can lok at the frontage on Google Streetmap - you might, then, appreciate the real impossibilities better.

Actually, it is here: the path, not that you can see it runs below the kitchen window.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/3+Ambercroft+Way,+Coulsdon+CR5+1HT/@51.3050845,-0.1123216,3a,75y,226.67h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sLgsrKwFj5kH3wKu8YB69cQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DLgsrKwFj5kH3wKu8YB69cQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D392%26h%3D106%26yaw%3D226.6671%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x4875fc34cb3814e5:0x75712e4b6f5045ae!8m2!3d51.3049801!4d-0.1124498

(You wouldn't believe it is worth nearly £300,00 but it is - that's the nature of the area I live in; and I'm just about to pay the last £50,00 in one go, probably just before I drop dead)

30k is quite cheap, I'd say. Nought wrong with that. Good that you only owe 5k

[Lat-Literal]

30k is quite cheap, I'd say. Nought wrong with that. Good that you only owe 5k

Thank you - I appreciate it.

It is two bedrooms - not one - and surprisingly sizeable.

The views opposite are woodland - and stunning for Greater London - until they are concreted over.

It is kinda neat or was - counter-intuitively I did have a girlfriend in 2005 for four months who had her own mansion and called it "my little holiday home" - she was about right on that.

[Beef Oven!]

Thank you - I appreciate it.

It is two bedrooms - not one - and surprisingly sizeable.

The views opposite are woodland - and stunning for Greater London - until they are concreted over.

It is kinda neat or was - counter-intuitively I did have a girlfriend in 2005 for four months who had her own mansion and called it "my little holiday home" - she was about right on that.

I am, actually, about to be mortgage free. In the next month. It is a very, very odd life.

[teamsaint]

Lat, You could throw stuff in that skip down Keston Avenue......

Very good news about the mortgage free status.