Help Mary recycle her plastic milk bottle tops locally

Filed in Blog by on January 20, 2010 19 Comments
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Help Mary recycle her plastic milk bottle tops in Bristol

Help Mary recycle her plastic milk bottle tops in Bristol

We’ve covered this topic a lot on My Zero Waste; what to do with those pesky plastic milk bottle tops!

A couple of decades ago many of us collected the, then foil, milk bottle tops, along with our stamps for various Blue Peter appeals.

Over recent years, however, the idea of collecting such things for charity has all but died out.

The other week we told you about recycling plastic milk bottle tops and other plastic lids with HS4B. But for those of you with a lot to recycle, where postal costs might be prohibitive, what can you do?

I’ve had such a query from Mary; she writes:

“My source for delivering milk bottle tops has dried up here in Bristol.  I’ve been collecting them from all my students etc.  Do you know of a source in Bristol I can take them to, don’t want any money or anything for them… such a waste to just chuck them away now. Asked at Scope(for wheelchairs?) they didn’t know anything.  Can’t send them to Swindon either..too much postage and bulky.

I collect a carrier bag full a week and don’t know the weight… one lady previously started in her co op and collected a bin bag full each week but that got difficult to lug about etc!  So we cancelled that.

I only have half a bag at present…. have put the people off a little.
I will await your reply before I tell them to stop collecting, let’s hope there may be somewhere

Please can you advise?”

Does anyone know of a source in the Bristol area that Mary can take her milk bottle tops to? She’s spent so long gathering them, it would be a shame to see them wasted when she could put them to good use.

Please share your thoughts and comments below!

So far you’ve helped Frannie recycle her bio degradable PVC cards, Michelle recycle her paint, and Richard collect some milk bottles for a recycling project, so let’s see if you can help Mary too!

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About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (19)

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  1. Compostwoman says:

    Well the Worcester Scrapstore http://www.wre.uk.com/about-wre/scrap-donations.htm

    takes washed milk bottle tops…so maybe try the Bristol Scrapstore to see if they do, as well?

  2. Jane says:

    Does anybody travel between Bristol and Swindon who would be willing to deliver them to the collecting point for you?

  3. Mrs Green says:

    Thanks for your ideas – Compost woman, the one about the scrapstore is great. I’ve suggested Mary joins Freeconomy (http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/) and asks on there as many members are from Bristol and they are all looking for a more sustainable way to live. Fingers crossed these can be put to good use!

  4. LJayne says:

    Mrs G, the link to the previous article about HS4B doesn’t seem to be working and I missed it originally. I’ve got a carrier bag full of bottle tops at the mo.

  5. Mrs Green says:

    @LJayne: Hi Lesley, here is a live link to the site: http://www.hs4b.org/

  6. Eve says:

    The freeconomy community is a great site and I have told the members on there about Zerowaste.
    “justfortheloveofit ” is the main site which has members in your area up to a 25 mile radius. lots of like-minded people with skills willing to share. It is all free and not about money.
    It is based on the theme of “pay it forward” ( great film )
    Where I live has nearly 200 members now and Bristol has many more and they often have meetings to get together with each other.

  7. Mrs Green says:

    @Eve: Hi Eve, Glad you are enjoying Freeconomy and thank you for sharing about our website – I appreciate that!
    Mark, the guy behind just for the love of it, is a wonderful person and his plans to atually set up a community later in the year are very exciting.
    I love that film too 😉

  8. Jane says:

    Any Bristol options are obviously best but otherwise are there no university students getting a lift/giving lifts to Portsmouth and Southampton?

  9. CompostingCath says:

    Hello

    I work for the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and we could really use a number (a few hundred I think) of bottle tops for a bird migration game – I travel through Bristol occasionally so could pick some up if you could put me in touch with Mary.

    Thanks

  10. Mrs Green says:

    @Jane: Hi Jane, good idea – I’ll ask Mary to look out for this.

    @CompostingCath: Cath, welcome and what a great comment. This could be the solution Mary is looking for. I’ll contact her and let her know. Is it ok to pass on your email address? (I can pick it up from the admin file to save you writing it publicly or you can fill in a contact us form and send it to me)
    http://mzw.wpengine.com/contact-us/

  11. suzi says:

    Hi we were collecting for a charity which has decided to stop, and have been left with 14 bags full of milk bottle tops. I live in Merseyside and so far am having difficulty finding anything outside of the South, and GHS havent replied to me, any help would be greatly appreciated, suzijo8600@aol.com

  12. Mrs Green says:

    Hi Suzi, I’m not sure about locations, but there are two other places you could try: Hs4b
    http://www.hs4b.org/ and Meltdown http://www.meltdowndesign.co.uk/
    Hope one of these is right for you 🙂

  13. Catherine Din says:

    Take your bags of plastic bottle tops for benefitting others to the Post Office counter in the Coop in Straits Parade, Fishponds Bristol BS16.

  14. Mike Mulligan says:

    @CompostingCath
    I do hope I have the right guy! I read that you are looking for plastic
    bottle tops for Wilts Wildlife Trust if you are drop me a line I have a few! you can have
    I live in Bromham so if you are in my area I can drop them off

  15. Caroline says:

    Anyone collecting in Bath? On low income and can’t justify sending them to GHS or other organisations 🙁

  16. Caroline says:

    Me again… just called Tesco customer services 0800 505555 to see if they would be willing to set up a collection point for the milk bottle tops as they do collection for other items (such as plastic bags/drink cartons etc….). The chap I talked to informed me that he would put the suggestion forward and said if there’s more phone calls with the same suggestion, Tesco might be setting it up, long shot but worth a try…

  17. Caroline says:

    @Caroline: only called Tesco following the suggestion made on G.H.S Recycling Ltd website as they “are looking for a national company who we could persuade to receive bags of bottle tops at their stores and bring them to somewhere in our area where we can collect in bulk” http://www.ghsrecyclingltd.co.uk/what-we-do/milk-bottle-tops/
    Tesco is implanted everywhere, big profitable company, lots of people use this supermarket and its’ ethos is not just making money but supporting charitable organisations and also doing their bit to help the environment, in my eyes the perfect candidate.

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