We’ve had an email from Iona:

The deli counter at Sainsburys insists on wrapping every item in its own yards of plastic wrap including multiple plastic sheets and then the plastic bag. Can they be recycled with carrier bags?

Plastic bags are usually made from polyethylene – which can be high-density (HDPE – resin code 2) or low-density (LDPE – resin code 4). I’m not certain – so please correct me if I’m wrong – but I believe the plastic bags from food counters are LDPE. LDPE is collected for recycling in many areas but you might want to check with your local council to see if you can add it to your doorstep recycling, or if you’re using a carrier bag drop at a supermarket, see if there is any information on the box about that sort of thing.

Before thinking about reuses and recycling ideas though, try to reduce if you can. Ask them to use a single sheet if they must use one at all or swap to non-deli items with more recyclable packaging – although that’s easier said than done because so many refrigerator items from supermarkets come in hard to recycle plastic. (Our little independent butcher in Leeds used as much plastic as any supermarket counter I’ve ever seen too.) I know some people (Mrs Green from My Zero Waste for example) take reusable tubs for the deli people to use instead – I suspect stores’ policies will vary on whether or not they let people do this but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Has anyone any advice on getting the fresh food counter people to cut back on the amount of plastic or use tubs you’ve brought from home?

And are there any reuse ideas for plastic sheets etc?

• Make wipe-clean bibs out of old plastic bags
• As part of Dollar Store Crafts‘ Stashbusting April, Heather has put together a great collection of reusing and upcycling links
• A number of recycling professionals are standing the upcoming UK General Election – supporting green issues and the green economy
• While it’s not as reusable as glass, this alternative milk bottle packaging is an interesting idea – a plastic bag in a supportive cardboard case.

With autumn slowly moving into winter, here’s some seasonal links from around the web:

• Here’s a great easy, trick for optimising compost from the fallen leaves – mow the leaves on the lawn along with the grass – the shredded leaves and grass clippings are a great greens/browns mix
• Speaking of carbon & nitrogen mixing, Throwback at Trapper Creek has written an ace article about making the most of homegrown fertilisers, specifically animal poop.
• A lot of us are thinking of planting garlic at the moment but Tomato Lady over at Little House in the Suburbs has been making paper out of the waste from last year’s braid.
• This, admittedly, uses more new resources than old – the only recycled bit is the bag – but this is a great how-to for giving a handbag solar power capability – perfect for mobile phone charging.
• And, if you’ve got a sec, vote for good friend of Recycle This’ Alison Bailey Smith’s Electra sculpture in the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce Green Art competition – Alison makes all sorts of awesome stuff out of reclaimed wire, often from old television sets. UPDATE: ooh! I completely didn’t see that another RT buddy Ann Ellis is also in the competition! Vote for her too!

• dancingfarmer over at Not Dabbling In Normal pulled together a comprehensive list of ways to make starter pots for seedlings out of newspaper – different methods to suit different uses. (The dancing one has also written a great article on how we often kid ourselves about how much time our “convenient” lifestyles save us and also how what at first seems overwhelmingly difficult and time-consuming, can quickly become internalised and easy peasy.)
• Crafty Nest featured a cute tote bag tutorial last week – made using old tank tops/vest tops. Two different methods are used, drawing on the style of two different tops.
• It’s a few weeks ago now but Kate over at Living the Frugal Life wrote a great article about alternatives for feeding chickens – using what the land provides rather than just using always store bought food.
• Dollar Store Crafts linked to this fab necklace made from pennies – I like the idea of making a holiday memories one with very low value (so not worth changing) coins from a trip.
• And Junk Jewelry‘s Jane has added to her list of other junk jewellers – her list now totals 53 – lots of ideas for reusing and recycling lots of things to make fun and interesting jewellery.

There is a lot of chatter in the US and the UK at the moment about putting a “tax” on plastic carrier bags to stop shops giving them out willy-nilly.

There is already a charge in place in Ireland and I read something the other day that explained while the amount of carrier bags given out by shops has dropped dramatically, the number of bin liners and garbage bags sold has increased because so many people used to reuse the carriers in the bin. That makes it feel like less of a victory – and it’s not exactly a huge victory to start with.

The thought of buying something to use to aid throwing stuff away seems really counter-intuitive to my brain but without using bin liners or the like, we’re constantly having to scrub out our kitchen bin with pretty harsh chemicals – we’re not big wasters, we compost as much as we can and most packaging we get is recyclable, so usually the only things that end up in there are pretty yacky.

So is there a line between disposable plastic bags and endless bleachy scrubbing? I thought about newspapers – a sheet as a throwaway liner would probably be fine for all but the wettest stuff – but since we don’t buy them either, that’s not an option really – what is?