Recycled and better
All too often recycled products are less attractive versions of their all-new equivalents. At best, in the case of toilet roll, the product is just as good.
However this weekend I discovered Eco Wool, a loft/floor insulation product made out of 86% recycled plastic bottles. Conventional loft insulation is glass fibre, and very unpleasant to work with. It sprays fibres all over the place, necessitating masks, and causes massive itching on any skin it happens to touch, so gloves, masks and all-over clothing is needed.
This is not the case with Eco Wool - it’s like a huge roll of cotton wool! While it does generate fibres and I would recommend wearing a breathing mask, it’s a vast improvement over the conventional fibre product. In particular you just tear it with you hands, avoiding the usual problems of cutting something fibrous. It also seems to be somewhat more rigid than glass fibre filler, making it easier for fill a ceiling which was what I was doing.
Full marks to the makers and to B&Q for stocking it.
Incidentally, this insulation represents an amazing degree of standardization. My house was built in 1870, yet this very much 21st Century product is exactly the right size to fit between the joists.
