The third week in January is usually the time when all my New Years resolutions fall into disrepair. I am feeling quite righteous at the moment then that not only have I kept going with mine this year, but one I made three years ago is still active.
The long standing one is my recycling initiative which was instigated on the behest of my son. Fair shout, its his world I am minding for him, so I should do my bit. The problem I have with this one though is that my local plastic recycling facility has been taken away from me. It used to be in Sainsbury's car park, but they have removed it as there is no market to recycle bags, film and other non-bottle plastic products. As its not easy for me to get to another 'dump' I am afraid the plastic now goes land fill. It needs a new initiative from Hounslow Council to give the Chiswick plastic recycling initiative a kick start.
My other NYRs are old ones revisited really. I have targeted the Chiswick 10K in November again, so have started training for that, I also fancy the Santa Dash in Liverpool, which is a 5k 'sprint', and I quite like the look of the suit. I look good in red!!
Tied into these two is my ambition to drink 2 litres of water a day, trouble is the system has not adjusted yet, so I can't take long journeys on the tube!!!
It will be interesting to see whether I can integrate these lifestyle changes long term like I have with the recycling. Time will tell.
Showing posts with label sainsburys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sainsburys. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Prosha
I am feeling very self righteous today, following a trip to my local Tesco. On this occasion I purchased all my fruit and veg loose and declined the use of the small plastic bags which the supermarkets place close to these items for separation.
The lady at the checkout seemed totally at ease with the approach and weighed and priced each selection as if I was in a street market. It saved me using eight or ten bags which I would have immediately thrown in the plastic recycling box, and herein lies the problem.
Hounslow Council have a plastic recycling facility in the car park of the local Sainsburys in Chiswick. As of 1st November, Sainsburys are going to manage this facility themselves. As a result, only plastic bottles will be able to be disposed of at this site. Packaging and plastic bags, film and food trays will have to go elsewhere or be thrown in with the landfill rubbish. The reason?
Plastic bottles have a resale value in the recycling value chain, plastic film and bags have a much smaller market and are consequently harder to dispose of. Sainsbury, therefore, are maximising their revenue from this new venture at the expense of the local residents and the Council.
I have talked about recycling before here and to their credit Hounslow are looking for an alternative site to place their wider plastics disposal facility, but it does make you wonder, as supermarkets create 90% of the plastic packaging, why they should be allowed to restrict the amount they collect for recycling.
Getting back to Tesco, I quite enjoy shopping in the store in Isleworth (pronounced 'i-sell-worth', rather than Tiger Woods home course with is pronounced 'i-el-worth') .As it serves the nearby Asian community it stocks loads of food from the Indian sub-continent and even food from further East, and it stocks it in bulk. Some great smells come from the curry section to which I am regularly drawn. The Sainsburys in Chiswick, by comparison, is much more Anglo-Saxon and is only just starting to stock selected Polish brands to satisfy the increase in demand from our Eastern European neighbours.
There has always been a close tie with the Poles in West London, particularly in Hammersmith where there is a large Polish cultural centre. Their strong catholic ethos also blends well with the high percentage of Irish residents in the area. I long had a Polish cleaner, well before they became de rigor. She was sourced from a work colleague who seemed to act as a gang boss for them. The girls would come to England for a year or so, doss with friends, and earn enough to go back and pay for their University or other higher education courses. These days my Crescent is more likely to play to the tune of au pairs, and builders, all working at a rate cheaper than their more traditional European competitors. Plus ca change.
The lady at the checkout seemed totally at ease with the approach and weighed and priced each selection as if I was in a street market. It saved me using eight or ten bags which I would have immediately thrown in the plastic recycling box, and herein lies the problem.
Hounslow Council have a plastic recycling facility in the car park of the local Sainsburys in Chiswick. As of 1st November, Sainsburys are going to manage this facility themselves. As a result, only plastic bottles will be able to be disposed of at this site. Packaging and plastic bags, film and food trays will have to go elsewhere or be thrown in with the landfill rubbish. The reason?
Plastic bottles have a resale value in the recycling value chain, plastic film and bags have a much smaller market and are consequently harder to dispose of. Sainsbury, therefore, are maximising their revenue from this new venture at the expense of the local residents and the Council.
I have talked about recycling before here and to their credit Hounslow are looking for an alternative site to place their wider plastics disposal facility, but it does make you wonder, as supermarkets create 90% of the plastic packaging, why they should be allowed to restrict the amount they collect for recycling.
Getting back to Tesco, I quite enjoy shopping in the store in Isleworth (pronounced 'i-sell-worth', rather than Tiger Woods home course with is pronounced 'i-el-worth') .As it serves the nearby Asian community it stocks loads of food from the Indian sub-continent and even food from further East, and it stocks it in bulk. Some great smells come from the curry section to which I am regularly drawn. The Sainsburys in Chiswick, by comparison, is much more Anglo-Saxon and is only just starting to stock selected Polish brands to satisfy the increase in demand from our Eastern European neighbours.
There has always been a close tie with the Poles in West London, particularly in Hammersmith where there is a large Polish cultural centre. Their strong catholic ethos also blends well with the high percentage of Irish residents in the area. I long had a Polish cleaner, well before they became de rigor. She was sourced from a work colleague who seemed to act as a gang boss for them. The girls would come to England for a year or so, doss with friends, and earn enough to go back and pay for their University or other higher education courses. These days my Crescent is more likely to play to the tune of au pairs, and builders, all working at a rate cheaper than their more traditional European competitors. Plus ca change.
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