Scavenging...

[Arch]

So true, my wife won't eat anything past its date even if it is clearly fine. :8:

Yeah, that bugs me, I'll eat it as long as it ain't mouldy, or smells bad. There's some houmous in my fridge, about 2 weeks past its date, I'll check it later with a sniff...

I gather most dates are made over cautious on purpose. Meat is another thing - stuff like beef OUGHT to allowed to mature, supermarkets charge more for 21 day hung beef etc, so what's a day extra here or there going to matter...? And if it's badly cooked, or badly stored, it could still be dodgy, well within the date...

 

[domtyler]

Yeah, that bugs me, I'll eat it as long as it ain't mouldy, or smells bad. There's some houmous in my fridge, about 2 weeks past its date, I'll check it later with a sniff...

I gather most dates are made over cautious on purpose. Meat is another thing - stuff like beef OUGHT to allowed to mature, supermarkets charge more for 21 day hung beef etc, so what's a day extra here or there going to matter...? And if it's badly cooked, or badly stored, it could still be dodgy, well within the date...

We are always arguing over this, if you can see with your own eyes, smell with your own nose that the food is fine, why would anyone trust a major supermarkets automated labelling system to be more accurate? Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.....:8:

 

[domtyler]

I own a 1986 Land Rover 90. The only original parts left are the engine and the chassis. The rest has come off all kinds of other scrapped and crashed Land Rovers. I am pleased with my latest addition, a £300 gearbox off a drowned water company Defender - it came full of an oil/water emulsion but it's now giving great service, nice and quiet as it's the latest spec. Is this the ultimate in recycling?

Nice. There is some guy who has built up a whole manufacturing plant around used Land Rover parts, can't remember the details though.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Got a fridge for work not so long back, had to collect it from someone who was moving, and it's not the coldest thing in the world (probably due to the way it was transported not totally upright)... but it's perfectly fine for keeping our yoghurts/drinks cool in the office.

The prev owner was going to tip it as they wanted a new one in their new house.

 

[User482]

Surely vegetables, unless they are rotten and going green are salvageable to use in soups and stews. Too much good food is wasted and thrown away. These days the scourge is sell by and display by dates. After these dates much of the produce is perfectly eatable. Many other products are also reuseable. It just takes a bit of imagination to see the future uses of them.

As I keep pointing out to people - how do they tell if food is off, if they've bought it from the butcher or greengrocer? Sell by dates just make people hard of thinking.

 

[Speicher]

This is slightly away from the opening post, but does not deserve its own thread. I have been doing a major tidy up recently and have been surprised how many plastic bags have been tucked away in a corner for possible future use.

Some charity shops take them. They are trying to cut costs by not having new ones printed etc. I was trying to find out thru the local Freecycle "cafe" (where ideas etc are exchanged or info asked for), which ones in a local town would take them.

Not an unreasonable request I would have thought, but oh dear oh dear, what a can of worms I have unwittedly opened. Apparently a few people want to make that particular town "carrier bag free", and I was deluged by not very polite responses to my request, and that is a ******* understatement.

In a nutshell they think all current existing carrier bags should be recycled, now, into, as they say, "more environmentally-friendly" ones. However, the date for that town becoming plastic bag free, is ---- 1st July. Plenty of time I would have thought to re-use "mine".
I, and just one other person, think that the existing ones should be re-used until no longer usable, and then recycled into new types of bags.
This takes into account the energy needed to make the "new" ones.

Does anyone know enough about this to make a constructive suggestion.
After the very rude response I got from the Freecycle Cafe, I am ignoring any further comments on that "forum" on that subject.

This may seem a pifflingly small question, but it seems some people have very strong opinions on it. I, however, would like to know the "science" behind this, without people getting very cross for no real reason.

One of main contributors on the above forum on the above subject, goes by the surname of "Bagshaw" I kid you not,. She is, I hasten to add, one of the polite ones.

 

[domtyler]

This is slightly away from the opening post, but does not deserve its own thread. I have been doing a major tidy up recently and have been surprised how many plastic bags have been tucked away in a corner for possible future use.

...


One of main contributors on the above forum on the above subject, goes by the surname of "Bagshaw" I kid you not,. She is, I hasten to add, one of the polite ones.

Sounds like you have had a close encounter with the Eco-Nazis

Things were far simpler when recycling was something that you could do to 'help' matters and it was left up to us to decide how and when we would do it. It is now imposed on us with severe penalties for non-compliance which only breeds resentment and chips away at the will to do it.

 

[User482]

Could you not use them as bin liners? Obviously the best solution is not to use the carriers in the first place (get reusable bags for shopping), but seeing as you already have them, at least you could put them to another use before they are disposed.

 

[Arch]

It's got to be better to get maximum use from something before you send it to be melted down and recycled, surely. BTW, I sometimes cut them up into strips to tie to strings on the allotment and flap and rustle to scare the birds off newly sown seeds.

I've got myself trained to take shopping bags when I go to the supermarket, and I was quite pleased with myself, until I went shopping with Mum over Christmas. She's so organised, she reuses the little flimsey bags for fruit and veg by just bunging them back in her shopping bag....

Mind you, she begged a few of my store of old carrier bags, now that she never gets new ones, she's run out of bin bags!

 

[Speicher]

These days I always carry a spare bag or two with me, instead of getting new ones. The one that have been acumulated are from over the years, and there was always the intention to take them to a Charity Shop, but never got round to it.

I think I shall try and use them up by gradually sorting stuff out, and encouraging my mother to do the same especially with books, and taking some to a very large Charity Shop in Worcester that also sells large items and would be pleased to receive them, and they will be re-used once, and then hopefully recycled.

I needed to get some paint brush cleaner today, and noticed they also sold "paint brush restorer". Is it worth buying this to revive paint old brushes? I am usually very good a cleaning brushes after painting, but some are in need of a lot of attention. I tend to buy good brushes and look after them, rather than cheap brushes ( which lose their hairs everywhere, but I sometimes don't notice until the paint has dried )
Can anyone offer some advice on this, thank you.

 

[Speicher]

I went into a small clothes shop today, and noticed lots of very nice coathangers in a large bag outside. So I asked if they were giving them away. No, the assistant said, they were destined for landfill.

Long story short, they are not allowed to use them again in the shop because the hangers have not got the Shop's name on them.
The manufacturers of the clothes are supposed to put the name on the hangers, and if they don't, then, for some reason they are scrapped. I suggested that I could find a home for them. The manager was very happy with this. Apparently, one of her staff is in Freecycle, and re-homes a lot that way, so I said could I take them and Freecycle them in another town.

It turned out be above the call of duty, because the bag they were in, decided not to be strong enough to take the weight. I got half way back to my car, and decided to hijack a trolley from a supermarket, in order to complete the journey without leaving a trail of the things. They will be put on freecycle sometime tomorrow. I think there must be at least 70 there.

 

[snorri]

I needed to get some paint brush cleaner today, and noticed they also sold "paint brush restorer". Is it worth buying this to revive paint old brushes? I am usually very good a cleaning brushes after painting, but some are in need of a lot of attention. Can anyone offer some advice on this, thank you.

Well, I'll tell you what I do.
After cleaning the brush with White Spirit put the dirtied white spirit into a container, put a lid on it and allow to settle. After a few days or weeks pour the white spirit into another container for reuse, leaving the paint in the bottom of the first container.
Put a squirt of Fairy Liquid in to an old can and work the liquid through the brush, then add very hot water and continue to work the bristles. Pour away the water and wash again in hot water, then again until all trace of paint and white spirit is gone.
I would not spend money on brush restorer, if the brush has not been thoroughly cleaned immediately after use, it's a lost cause.

As for old carrier bags, re-use and re-use, they should only go for recycling when they are burst and useless.

 

[Speicher]

Thank you Snorri. I also found, by accident, that if you use a plastic knife, picnic sort, you can scrape off some older paint that has solidified. I was not sure if I could use very hot water in case it affected whatever keeps the "hairs" glued into the brush. I will try your method and see if some brushes can be rescued. Thank you.

 

[yenrod]

Being driven back to Leicester on Thursday by Mum, in slowish traffic, I found myself looking at all the litter and stuff that had collected along the verge of the A34, and realised that I was evaluating it for usefulness in the event of complete society breakdown - so plastic sheeting was good for shelter, paper and card could be used for kindling, oddments of wood as fuel, decent lengths of rope or ratchet strap would be really handy, old glass or plastic bottles for storage, etc.... Add that to the fact that I asked for and got for Christmas, Richard Mabey's book "Food for Free", and I think I'm subconsciously preparing for something. I've always been a bit of a skip diver as well... Is it just related to my hoarding tendencies (never throw it away if it might come in handy one day)....?

Yeah Arch the UK is a very depressing society !

 

[cisamcgu]

We are always arguing over this, if you can see with your own eyes, smell with your own nose that the food is fine, why would anyone trust a major supermarkets automated labelling system to be more accurate? Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.....

It is rather sad that people cannot seem to make their own decisions. The supermarkets have to put a date on by law, so they choose one that they can guarentee will be OK. It is a best before date not a this will kill you if you eat it one second after date. The supermarkets don't want people coming back complaining, so they stick on a date that is vastly underestimated. If it isn't furry and doesn't smell bad, then it is probably OK.


Andrew