Lab Notes

I would love to recycle down, but is this restricted to sleeping bags, or can we put Pillows, Duvets & cushions in this? I am sure we could fill a lot of containers going back empty.

I think you missed the point of the empty containers are being shipped to China anyway. I am not saying it is a perfect but it is happening.

http://www.interasset.com/info/coverage/CS_Mar07_p59-61.pdf

The comment about being filled with landfill is incorrect as legislation stopped the UK doing this a year or so ago, although recyclable waste is still shipped.

Are you mad? Ship old down half the way across the earth to save a few geese! The carbon footprint of the boat/fuel is going to be much greater than that of farming more geese. Not to mention the environmental fate of goose down is much more clear than that of the tanker fuel. Lastly down doesn’t last very long, after 5-6 years it’s usually knackered because all the fibres start to break up as they become more brittle.

So no it is most definitely not worth it from an environmental stand point

Want to reduce land fill?  Bury your bio-degradable rubbish or compost it (including your down).

absolutely. down and feather/down mixes should be recycled whenever possible - even if it’s only to put into the cushions in the Alpoffice.

More importantly though, is where you get your down from, and whether it meets decent standards of animal welfare [no live plucking for example]and environmental standards. It’s one of the reasons I’ve put off buying a down bag so far.