| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Stacey |
Getting rid of polystyreneWe get all the out of date fruit from the local fruit shop every saturday to fed to the pigs. Lately they'e been sending it out in polystyrene boxes about 24in x 24 in. We now have about 30 of these boxes and no clue as to how to dispose of them properly and responsibly. I suspect that the shop is giving them to us so they don't have to deal with them themselves. They've got Cornwall Brocolli Co on the outside of them so we can't even pass them on to someone to be re-used.What to do? |
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| Jonnyboy |
There are firms that recycle this kind of stuff, have you tried good old yellow pages | ||||||
| Bugs |
In those quantities could you use them for insulation either for animal housing or to protect stored vegetables outside? | ||||||
| Mrs Fiddlesticks |
can you make holes in the bottom and make in to seed/plant trays? Or I've used polystrene broken up in to bits as crocks in the bottom of plant containers.
I've also used the disc shaped bits of polystrene tied on posts on the plot as bird scarers. |
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| ele |
I tried that once, cos I saw it on a garden programme but it was a bit of a disaster when I wanted to compost the spent potting compost, I spent ages picking out little bits of polystyrene which had disintegrated into the compost over the season  how did you get around this problem?
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| Jonnyboy |
it burns well. 
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| sean |
Goes up a bit quickly though. I find it's best to mix it with old tyres for a really satisfactory fire. |
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| cab |
You can make something very like napalm out of it...
But it would be MUCH better to find someone who can recycle it properly. The snag is that as expanded polystyrene is more air than anything else it can be difficult to get anyone to take it. |
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| Nick |
You need to contact Expanded Polystyrene Recycling, an International body dedicated to the removal of EPS from your neighbourhood!
And, actually, I appear not to be joking. http://www.epsrecycling.org/pages/recycle1.html |
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| Lozzie |
Can you use them to make hay-box cookers out of? | ||||||
| dougal |
I thought "napalm B" did contain polystyrene... But expanded polystyrene doesn't contain *air*. It may not use CFCs any more as the foaming agent, but I don't think its air... However, cab's real point is that the very low density of the stuff is a recycling problem. There's an awful lot of volume to shift, to deal with a tiny weight (and value) of material. I tend to keep some for those occasions I need protective packaging material... Use in flowerpots. As crocks, being light, they may make the pot "top heavy". Crumbled for "soil lightening" its hardly attractive, so some sort of "mulch" is a good thing. Reuse (ie pass it on) is favourite! I note that a lot of expanded polystyrene is used in the fish trade. What the heck do they do with it once its 'fishy'? |
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| 2steps |
my OH used to work for a company that recycle those boxes. I've chopped them up before and used as packaging for parcels. I have a homemade incubator made from the type thats used to transport fish - loads of fish factories round here 
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| cab |
Wouldn't surprise me.
pedant
It may not start as air, but it's certainly air eventually. Check out the solubility for oxygen and nitrogen in polystyrene, and think on how thin the matrix of polystyrene is. It's air soon enough.
That's precisely the problem. Polystyrene isn't worth much. Lots of air held together with a polystyrene mesh is worth even less. Stupid material, really. |
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| dougal |
Praise !
Because there is *so* little weight of plastic there, I'm starting to think that disposal by burning might actually be a preferable solution rather than transport to a 'disposal or recycling' facility... As to it being a 'stupid material' - the problem is that its cheap and very protective. Its also a good thermal insulator (important for the fish). So its often a 'sensible' economic choice. It'll get much more expensive as the oil price rises, so one might hope to see less of it in future... |
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| marigold |
My dear old Dad collected polystyrene to add to his loft insulation - he was obsessed with insulation having grown up in a very poor and cold household  . When my brother and I cleared his house after his death we pondered the problem of getting rid of it (probably a good skip-ful in volume, if not more) and eventually decided to leave it for the new owners of the house .
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| cab |
Oh, it's absolutely a good material to use from an economic perspective. It's insane from an environmental one, though
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| dougal |
No dispute whatever on that, cab. | ||||||
| Jonnyboy |
Hand in the air, I've burnt polystyrene recently. As part of the insane amount of packaging provided with new kitchen appliances (but they are A rated)
Oh, and they are frankly bugger all use at protection, as proved by the smashed dishwasher I returned. |
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| tahir |
Re: Getting rid of polystyrene
Grow mushrooms? They're excellent to grow mushrooms in, there are plenty of places to buy spawn from. |
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| ele |
I had one of those (a smashed dishwasher) it looked fine when I got it delivered, stuck it on, it started leaking, engineer came saw it had a huge great crack through it! I hope people don't get into burning polystyrene in their gardens... it's not going to be very good air pollution wise
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| Stacey |
Some good ideas here, thanks. I'll look at them properly when I get back from the holloween disco I have to take the kids to. Pity me please 
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| dougal |
Expanded polystyrene doesn't guarantee protection... but neither is it useless... Many "white goods" are put in a frame of polystyrene perhaps an inch thick. That serves to space the items in storage, protect the corners, and maybe felp to protect the external finish from scratches - but I'd agree that it would take much more to protect a 30kg dishwasher, let alone a 100kg washer/dryer, if it were dropped off the back of a lorry. Blame the clowns that played football with it, not the packaging. Or what thickness of polystyrene do you think should be used? And left for you to dispose of environmentally sensitively? Or have you an alternative that is proof against a "sufficiently talented fool"? I was actually thinking more of fragile, light and high value electronic items - from laptops to dvd recorders - where quite small amounts of shaped polystyrene *inside* a recyclable cardboard box, seems to provide remarkable protection from the worst that delivery services can offer. |