" Plastic Free" homes

[Leofric]

I bet old-style timber guttering lasts as long as quite a lot of plastic.

Do you find much timber guttering about nowadays

 

[bernardgreen]

Wooden water pipes in the USA SOURCE

 

[geraldthehamster]

Do you find much timber guttering about nowadays

Obviously not, but I could take you to some well-maintained examples that are over 100 years old.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

“We particularly want to remove the plastic from the kitchens and the bathrooms, because even though a house can last for a hundred years or more, the average kitchen and bathroom is changed every few years and we are keen to avoid generating plastic waste. This trans-European project will enable us to work with our European partners to identify plastic free building products. We haven’t yet got a plastic free solution to the electrics for instance, but we will be challenging people in the building products manufacturing industry to help us find solutions.”

"While houses can last for centuries or more, the average kitchen or bathroom is changed every few years, generating plastic waste that is hard to recycle."

My bathroom fittings were installed 40 years ago and still in use now, my kitchen I fitted 35 years ago, almost no plastic and it is still in use today. Solid oak units apart from the worktops.

 

[tony1851]

Don't know what the environmental impact is of using aluminium, copper, and salt glazed stoneware as alternatives, seems to me that anything that is manufactured has some environmental impact

Aluminium smelters are certainly high-energy users.

 

[tony1851]

Obviously not, but I could take you to some well-maintained examples that are over 100 years old.

Isn't a lot of timber guttering lined with lead?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Isn't a lot of timber guttering lined with lead?

Lead or alloy.

 

[JP_]

Recycled plastic joists are for decking; I don't think they are particularly structural.

Would that be different from suspended floor in a smallish room? Looking at cost, I'll probably stick with wood though!