There was a feature on this weeks country file about all the plastic wrap used by farmers round hay bales & silage etc. It used to be re-cycled but a lot was exported to China. Now that route is closed there are only 2 plants in the whole of UK that can treat & re-cycle it, they can't cope with any more so a lot is just being stored in, guess what. More Plastic wrap!!! I agree with previous comments, I re-use pots & trays as much as possible some are 20-30 years old. The only other alternative to peat blocks is to use a soil blocker. Monty Don showed sowing seeds in some a while back but I can remember how well they performed.
This endeavour, which we must all contribute too, will be a difficult one. Caring for what you already have so that you can reuse it is surely the first step. I hope that my massive stock pile of plastic pots will one day be recyclable so I keep them. My biggest plastic purchase is probably compost bags - these I try to use for other things like storing things or as kneeling mats. I think the odd plastic pot is a tiny fraction of the plastic problem compared to industry, big organisations, supermarkets and even your local café.
Reusing plastic pots is FAR better for the environment than the so-called environmentally friendly options. Monty is spreading a bit of a wrong message. Look for good quality plastic pots that can be used dozens of times.
Thought the whole point was that Monty has been encouraging the reuse of plastic pots that we already have (he’s certainly been reusing them on programmes) ... while trying to find a type of plastic pot that can be widely recycled and looking for environmentally sound and viable alternatives to plastic.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
That's my understanding to @Dovefromabove the reuse of the plastic he has as well as other alternatives old toilet rolls, coir and soil blocks as a few examples.
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
To reduce the amount of plastic don't buy plastic pots, tools which contain plastic parts, plastic sheeting, netting, plant ties, labels, anything in plastic bags or bottles, plastic stakes, fleece. There must be sensible alternatives for all of these products after all plastic has only been around for a hundred years or so and people gardened before that. The next challenge will be cutting out the use of cotton clothing as that too has a huge impact on the environment. Before then we should perhaps turn our attention to cutting out the burning of fossil fuel and slashing the use of motor vehicles, air transport and of course the nuclear industry. I can't think of anything else but I'm sure that there must be lots more that we should and could do to save the planet from the human race.
Well we could all go back to Hunter gathering or subsistence farming, & living in mud huts that is after we dig up all the concrete and returning it to it's constituent parts.
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We all have our part to play but manufacturers, councils and government have a lot to answer for.
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
I agree with previous comments, I re-use pots & trays as much as possible some are 20-30 years old. The only other alternative to peat blocks is to use a soil blocker. Monty Don showed sowing seeds in some a while back but I can remember how well they performed.
I think the odd plastic pot is a tiny fraction of the plastic problem compared to industry, big organisations, supermarkets and even your local café.
Plastic frames for clocks, pictures, etc
Plastic casings s for TV, laptops, white goods
Packaging on everything we buy
I reckon there’s a lot more to be saved outside of plant pots.
But maybe I’ll leave the pots behind next time I buy!
A basic life cycle analysis clearly shows this.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog