This Takes the Biscuit

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 20:11

Unbelievable but true. This morning a Turkish Cypriot asked the grocer for a carton of bottled water. So far so good until he explained the reason: His child had to collect 10 plastic bottles in a campaign for a cleaner environment and take them to his teacher. So the dad was helping his son with his homework!!!

ismet

airy____fairy


Joined: 14/06/2008
Posts: 813

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 20:17

and now I have heard it all ismet ! that is awful!!! keep cyprus tidy - LOL

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 20:18

Ah, now I know why I saw two young lads collecting plastic bottles from the roadside at Çatalköy the other day.... I thought, blimey the message has got through at last... hope they don't forget their homework!



Ismet the irony of his dad not understanding that buying small bottles of water adds to the problem is such an awful shame... :(

MUSIN M


Joined: 26/06/2008
Posts: 1352

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 20:22

what a donut ,typical cypriot way of doing things .





musin







long live the kktc

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 20:29

Imagine all these children each with ten empty plastic bottles. What are they going to do with them?

brother



Joined: 29/01/2010
Posts: 446

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 21:10

We seriously need some education going on here - no, I don't mean just the children!

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 21:11

I agree - you can't blame the children.

IbrahimAbi


Joined: 24/10/2010
Posts: 245

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 21:20

I think that there is a serious campaign going on heer to educate the students into cleaning up their environment, let's not be too quick to criticise what we don't understand.



yes the man in the shop was going off half-cocked but the project is still a valid one. if it encourages students to collect waste bottles and hand them in we should not be so cynical

gooligan


Joined: 30/01/2007
Posts: 1591

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 21:21

Are you sure he was Cypriot Ismet?

In Esentepe the jokes round the coffee shops always refer to people from Northern Turkey when telling jokes,my favourite one was Ahmet asking Hussein what he thought about the recent price rises in petrol,Hussein says "It doesn't affect me,I always buy 10 lira's worth. )

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 22:16

Gooligan,

That was 20 years ago. Now I always buy 60 TL worth of petrol, so it does not affect me either

ismet

PS: It was definitely a Turkish Cypriot.

birdman



Joined: 20/09/2010
Posts: 690

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 22:20

So if I buy 30 TL worth am I getting it at half price?

Blackbird



Joined: 11/08/2009
Posts: 1432

Message Posted:
01/03/2011 22:44

Just paid £130.90 a litre over here.........think I'll join you guys.......half price..........

rosylee


Joined: 22/07/2010
Posts: 158

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 00:08

i go to a cafe where they were saving plastic bottles to get a computer for the school.I saw children at the week end collecting only clean bottles with tops on.wish it WAS an anti -litter campain.fingers crossed it could be a bit of both.

Blackbird



Joined: 11/08/2009
Posts: 1432

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 00:12

Yes rosylee, it would be nice if it were the start of something good...

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 00:14

I get saddend every night with the bottles I should throw out. Now we take them south side to be recycled. Every supermarket there has bottle banks x

Blackbird



Joined: 11/08/2009
Posts: 1432

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 00:20

Nice one Lilli, an example to us all...

Jeannie


Joined: 04/08/2009
Posts: 3283

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 02:08

Blackbird - I know petrol has gone up in the UK, but do you think you may have put your decimal point in the wrong position?

MsGarnet


Joined: 04/01/2009
Posts: 989

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 02:10

Whilst I understand folks buying bottled water in TRNC - in other places, such as here in England, I will NEVER understand it - the rules and regs for bottled water are minimal compared to the water we get from our taps - so why would you buy water that has come down a mountain, through the carcases of dead sheep and flora and fauna rotting away, let alone all the other detritus that nature and animals cause - after all - reverse the spelling of Evian and you get my drift!!!!!!!!!!

Jeannie


Joined: 04/08/2009
Posts: 3283

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 02:17

I would never buy bottled water in the UK, or anywhere else where tap water is deemed safe. Neither would I buy bottled water in a restaurant in UK; I always ask for tap water. Sometimes I get some rather old fashioned looks from the waiting staff, but there you go. I am waiting for a restaurant to charge me for it, although I supposed they would be entitled to do so for using their glass, washing up staff, etc. It hasn't happened yet



It amazes me, the "fashion" for walking around during the summer months with a bottle of overpriced water clutched in your hand.

scoobydoo


Joined: 10/11/2008
Posts: 2434

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 07:16

Msg 5:



Imagine all these children each with ten empty plastic bottles. What are they going to do with them?



Blue Peter springs to mind!

lovinit


Joined: 20/06/2008
Posts: 745

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 08:27

message 20



Throw them on the roadside when school is over..........



Behind a police car the other day they threw out water bottle on bypass.................

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 08:57

Naive indeed,



Each litre of Evian takes 3 litres of water to produce plus the oil resources used to make the single-use bottles and then it's shipped around the globe in ships and transporters of one kind or another making it's footprint approximate to a 2 cubic metres of water and most of the destinations are water-rich countries like the USA... totally bonkers.

waddo


Joined: 29/11/2008
Posts: 1966

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 09:23

And never forget that bottled water - having taken millions of years to filter through dead sheep (as put by another post) now has to have a Use By date!!!!



I still buy it here because if you have ever seen the water pipe system that feeds your house you would as well - a bit different in the UK, normally it is fairly safe to drink - unless of course it is still coming through the old lead pipe systems that abound in older houses. Take your choice I suppose but lead poisioning is a slow and painful way to die!

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 09:49

msg21" Throw them on the roadside when school is out"



Or fill the town with pieces of "Environmentally friendly" Turtle "sculptures"....... Beggars belief..........

mollycorbin


Joined: 12/03/2010
Posts: 390

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 10:00

Lucky for some of these posters who were fortunate to be born into a western "advanced" society where they were educated early on about various issues that plague our planet.

For maximum results and effect, the next generation is targeted and taught about recycling, pollution, animal welfare etc. This is what you are witnessing. The schools are working in conjunction with Coke Cola in an effort to teach the student body about plastic recycling. The schools have bins for plastic bags and plastic bottles. I cannot tell you anymore about the project. I only know about it because my son came home with a pamphlet about it but it was in Turkish language only and I have not sought out further information. Hopefully the child will one day be able to teach his Dad the error he made yesterday morning. Come on guys let's remember it's baby steps first.

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 10:06

msg25.. Unfortunately, the only thing that "PLAGUES OUR PLANET" is "US"....

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 10:29

No wonder schools struggle to teach the 3 Rs if they spend time teaching such things as recycling, polution, animal welfare, and how to put on a condom etc. I cannot remember any of those lessons when I was at school but I can remember getting a clip around the earhole from my parents if I dared to litter, disrespect humans or animals, or get caught behind the bike shed with Sweaty Betty.

Vidal


Joined: 14/05/2009
Posts: 867

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 10:52

I think many of us love it here because it reminds us of the way things were maybe 20 or even 40 years ago before 'elf n safety' and all the other PC stuff bogged us down.

20 years ago here, just about everything was burnable. Foreigners being here has contributed to all the plastic and non disposables being on the Island and as it arrived there was no infrastructure to get rid of it.

Maybe now they are just learning that if you drop a plastic bottle of some kind, it will sit there for just about forever.

If they are just beginning to teach the kids about this then that's great isn't it?

We cant pick and choose which aspects about life here catches up and which doesn't.

Come on guys..give 'em a chance.

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 11:05

Vidal, a lot less people are injured and killed in the work place thanks to 'elf 'n' safety... it's mostly not PC stuff but making employers take their responsibilities seriously as well as everybody's due of care to others....



A lot of the plastic that litters the beaches is coming from Syria I'm sorry to say. They dump it at sea and it floats here.

brother



Joined: 29/01/2010
Posts: 446

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 13:48

I'm wondering why the recycling loop cannot be completed by the government organising it to be shipped (via the mainland) for revenue into the recycling market. At least there is the incentive to earn money - even if currently there is little understanding of the overall benefit in recycling.



This reminds me of a related issue on the environment (sewage treatment) but I will start a new thread to keep this one on topic.

flightholiday


Joined: 19/07/2007
Posts: 3217

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 15:57

Jean Msg 19 - English law (that goes way back) is that you cannot refuse anyone a glass of water at your door (or in the pub etc) BUT you can charge them 5 pence for the service.

If you get your 5p or not is another thing.

Still far better than plastic water that costs far more than achohol.

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
02/03/2011 21:01

msg29 Groucho, does that include hundreds of efes bottles broken on the rocks,dozens of Lemar bags, and where do all the Hypodermic needles come from,the ones with Turkish writing on them....Along with the Marshals paint buckets come Bait buckets left way above the tide line?? Syria, come on now !

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 00:06

We do beach inspections each month for the Turtle project and I'm finding Syrian waste quite often. I know this because I checked the manufacturers of some of the plastic bottles and found them to be Syrian. I can understand that some waste is coming from locals leaving it I know because we collect rubbish by the bag-full on walks and have done for years. But the stuff I'm finding is not stuff you'd take to the beach for any normal seaside activity like picnics, fishing etc. It's normal household waste that appears to be being dumped at sea and as far as I know, the authorities here don't do that.

The Syrians also dump medical waste at sea too. The syringes I see have no writing on them and the bottles have Arabic script and English not Turkish.

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 00:11

well what about the tyres we find in the sea. Just go on the bypass and see the rubbish. THey could employ a rubbish collecter all year around

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 00:31

I know it's an education thing and I know lots of locals do not bother to take their rubbish to bins. Some of the TC's we talk to are disturbed by the behaviour of litter bugs in their midst too.



When last I was in the UK I'm sorry to report that rubbish seemed to be quite a problem there too.

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 00:40

I can always remember a great TC customer of ours asking me never to stock Evisu water. I asked him Why. He told me that most bottled waters here go through reverse osmosis. Now its san pellegrino or evian or perrier x

annie


Joined: 30/05/2007
Posts: 208

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 09:01

The reason the plastic bottles were being collected by Catalkoy school children is a charitable one.

A wheelchair is needed for a young boy I presume it is much the same as my children many years ago collecting drinks cans. Someone must be buying these bottles to recyle.



I wonder if it would reduce the rubbish here if like the old days in UK you got a few pennies for your old bottles etc. You could make a good few pennies on a Monday after picnics and help clean up at the same time.

annie


Joined: 30/05/2007
Posts: 208

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 09:14

Although buying bottles of water was not quite what the teacher had in mind, A vast majority probably did as my young neighbour knock on doors for them and picked them up from the roadside (Although that should may be not encouraged with children so young) I hope the initiative behind the cause is applauded as were better to start tackling rubbish problem, than with the young.

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 10:03

Annie the real shame is that here and in most countries single-use water bottles prevail. The days of the use and return for wash and refill without it being completely re-processed seem to be long gone... except in Denmark where virtually all bottles carry a deposit and all supermarkets send them back for re-filling.

annie


Joined: 30/05/2007
Posts: 208

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 10:18

Yes it is a shame, my Turkish neighbour thinks I am very bad for refilling my own water bottles from water cooler for outings and will become ill if I continue. I know nothing about complete re processing, I assume it requires very expensive equipment.

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 10:55

Not as ill as you would be by re-filling from the Tap................

annie


Joined: 30/05/2007
Posts: 208

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 11:08

True very true .... Im not that keen on saving money...

Bit of subject but she is also very unhappy that I dont rinse washing up after using washing up liquid. I never have although I know many people do. My Dad insisted on it although Mum never bothered when he wasnt looking...

Tangerineman


Joined: 08/03/2010
Posts: 318

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 11:16

The problem will never change unless the govt starts placing bottle banks up and down the main roads for people to use

Its all about slowly educating people over a number of years It wont happen overnight

I'm no ' greenie ' but I do feel guilty about not re-cycling when in TRNC and thats really based on having it drummed into us at home over the last 10-15 years that you must re-cycle

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 11:26

There are large green "wheely" bins up and down the main roads, surrounded by plastic bottles,etc.....Not looking good is it?

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 11:37

The cost benefit analysis for re-cycling in the TRNC would probably never show a break-even curve, let alone a profit... unfortunately the population is probably too small tood spread out and the processing infrastructure too expensive to ever turn a profit...

Should they do it? Yes... but only for ecological reasons.

Can they afford to do it? No, they have too many problems with finances as it is.

shrimp


Joined: 01/09/2010
Posts: 939

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 11:58

Our freinds from USA came to visit, and were amazed at the rubbish dotted along the motorways, they wanted to know what our prisoners did during the day, apparantly over there the prisoners clear up the rubbish on a daily basis ........we told them ours play snooker, read, watch tv.....etc.........

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 15:48

Shrimp,

the cost of keeping an eye on these prisoners may cost more than the work expected of them. Of course it may be economical if you have a policy of shoot to kill if they attempt to escape. This may be the case in USA.

ismet

shrimp


Joined: 01/09/2010
Posts: 939

Message Posted:
03/03/2011 18:12

chain gang springs to mind...............