Plastic Bags!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BAJR Host]

For quite some time now, I have been refusing plastic bags, and doing things like carrying with my hands, or bringing a box/cotton bag...

Now today... the IFA magazine arrived -- in a plastic BAG --- can we have it sent in an envelope please. there are enough plastic bags in the world without adding more... a quarterly sent to around 2500 people... = 10000 plastic bags...

make it stop. Come on IFA (er... oh no... thats me too!)



"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[voice of reason]

There are the biodegradable corn starch 'plastic' bags available also.

However, in fact, why do they need to send out a magazine at all - either post it direct on website or perhaps make it an e-mazine in pdf format for download? I am a member of a number of small organisations which work this way, so surely the monlith of the IFA could make it work? any 'green products' companies also work this way to reduce mailings.

I have to say IFA is very poor on e-communication - can't remember last time I got anything from them which wasn't in hard copy.

Would save considerably on postage also.

To avoid exclusion, those without internet access who opted to could still receive a hard copy - would be interested to know how many/few archaeologists that would actually be though (I mean really without access, not the technophobic refuseniks).

[BAJR Host]

10 days to go before the BAJR Pasthorizon emagazine... cutting edge and no carbon footprint ! )

it's a beauty.... and also available in pdf format...

maybe I can offer this service to the IFA

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[mercenary]

Ah, plastic bags. I try to limit my collection of these B****** things, and appreciate trees decorated with them as much as the next punter. How is a reduction of their use going to affect the impending climate catastrophe? The only way I can imagine it helping is if all fossil fuels were immediately made into plastic bags which were then buried to stop them being burnt and releasing CO2. Then again just leaving fossil fuels in the ground in the first place would achieve the same thing. Likely innit?

Reducing plastic bags is a litter issue NOT a climate change issue, but I suppose it serves the govenment, (among others) to tinker with meaningless policies while doing nothing to mitigate a massive problem.

I'll continue to reduce/reuse/recycle, but I'm not fooling myself about its likely effect.

[Unitof1]

not sure archaeologists should be actively seeking a reduction in litter as it might imply some restrictive practise although it might explain the dark age

[Sith]

My other half and I have been using these beauties instead of supermarket carriers (http://www.onyabags.co.uk/index.php?crn=205) for some time. I like the idea of an all electronic, carbon neutral IFA magazine etc. However, not everyone (particularly many poorly paid archaeologists) have access to the web.


D. Vader
Senior Consultant

Vader Maull & Palpatine
Archaeological Consultants

Don't make me destroy you, Curator

[1man1desk]

Posted by Mercenary:

quote:Reducing plastic bags is a litter issue NOT a climate change issue

Not so - plastic bags are made from oil. It takes energy (= greenhouse gas emissions) to extract and transport the oil, to refine it into the raw materials for plastic bag manufacture, and to make and distribute the bags themselves. There are also waste gasses produced during all of those stages. The bags then decay (albeit very slowly), releasing more gasses.

It also takes energy to make a cotton bag, but you only make it once and re-use it many times. The raw material is pretty close to carbon-neutral.

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[BAJR Host]

add a bit of enviromental... with plastic enterying the foodchain, as well as killing animals - even sea birds!

billions of plastic bags takes oil to make.. and oil to produce.. etc.

However... can we agree that plastic bags are getting out of hand.

interesting though.... the ziplok bag? what to replace with

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[Unitof1]

Maybe we should not bag finds but leave them all on site having taken some note/picture

[BAJR Host]

First... this one!
http://pasthorizons.wordpress.com/2007/1...o-plastic/

then this picture... which is what did it for me... I took the picture of a dead cow



the big blue ball in the middle is made from palstic bags that the animal had eaten... eventually filling its stomach and killing it.

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu