BCSS - Forum

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:18 am**

Hi all,

It is some time since the BCSS had any of its plastic labels for sale. we are hoping to remedy this.

Andrew Harmsworth in Shetland has been researching the possibilities and has found a company who can produce the labels to the specification of the last ones we offered but a little thicker:

Small T Shaped Labels, white. 35mm wide along the top side, 40mm top to bottom, 20mm tall on the main part.

They will be in packs of 100 and we do need to get a significant number of promises of orders in order to bring the cost of the labels to an acceptable amount and currently the quote is way too expensive.

Please contact me if you are interested and indicate how many labels you might be needing.

Suzanne Mace

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:16 pm**

If this was just a one time thing and Assuming the price wasn’t too high, I’d buy 500-1000.

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:09 pm**

A general question. Shouldnt we as a society discourage use of plastic labels or at least not be responsible for selling them? Is there a BCSS envonmental policy? Im not sure of the exact agument for and against but plastic doesnt last long and is known to cause pollution, wheras metal labels with printed labels can be easily reused for longer. There might be arguments pro and against regarding source of materials, production, transportation etc. Eg plastic labels made in uk may be less damaging to envirinment than metal labels made in far east.
Ive been using metal labels for about 8 years now and they are superior.
I think it would be similar to the peat or plastic pot argument.
If there are viable alternatives the BCSS should promote those.
Be helpful if someones researched this and I bet someone has!
Andy

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:13 pm**

I'll take at least 100, possibly more depending on price.

Andy,
I do use aluminium labels for my permanent labels but they're too big for seed sowing and too expensive to use for plants thay are swaps.

Hopefully if these are thick they can be reused?

Ed

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm**

Andyh wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:09 pm A general question. Shouldnt we as a society discourage use of plastic labels or at least not be responsible for selling them? Is there a BCSS envonmental policy? Im not sure of the exact agument for and against but plastic doesnt last long and is known to cause pollution, wheras metal labels with printed labels can be easily reused for longer. There might be arguments pro and against regarding source of materials, production, transportation etc. Eg plastic labels made in uk may be less damaging to envirinment than metal labels made in far east.
Ive been using metal labels for about 8 years now and they are superior.
I think it would be similar to the peat or plastic pot argument.
If there are viable alternatives the BCSS should promote those.
Be helpful if someones researched this and I bet someone has!
Andy

More than happy to be corrected, but aren’t metal labels prohibitively expensive to be used in large collections?

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2024 8:14 pm**

Andyh wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:09 pm A general question. Shouldnt we as a society discourage use of plastic labels or at least not be responsible for selling them? Is there a BCSS envonmental policy? Im not sure of the exact agument for and against but plastic doesnt last long and is known to cause pollution, wheras metal labels with printed labels can be easily reused for longer. There might be arguments pro and against regarding source of materials, production, transportation etc. Eg plastic labels made in uk may be less damaging to envirinment than metal labels made in far east.
Ive been using metal labels for about 8 years now and they are superior.
I think it would be similar to the peat or plastic pot argument.
If there are viable alternatives the BCSS should promote those.
Be helpful if someones researched this and I bet someone has!
Andy

I think it's important to differentiate between plastic and single-use plastic. In my opinion it's fine to use plastic pots like BEF pots because they'll still be going strong in decades (and even then can be recycled).

Posted: **Thu Mar 28, 2024 10:52 pm**

ianstrutt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:16 pm If this was just a one time thing and Assuming the price wasn’t too high, I’d buy 500-1000.

Similarly to Ian. Thanks.
Maciej

Posted: **Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:54 am**

ianstrutt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:15 pm
More than happy to be corrected, but aren’t metal labels prohibitively expensive to be used in large collections?

I guess it depends on how long the collection is in existence

I used to use plastic labels, and depending on the brand, usually got between 1 year and 4 years use, in general, before they would break up. The trick was to catch them before they broke up and data was lost. For the last 20 years or so I have used aluminium labels, in around 5500 plants. I don't use them for my spares / sales table plants. An expensive outlay but, actually, cheaper in the long run. 20 years on there is no sign of any of the aluminium labels deteriorating, and coupled with the Brother P-touch label printer with labels that don't fade, I've got a solution I'm happy with.

: label.jpg (111.47 KiB) Viewed 928 times

p.s. we are working on completing a BCSS environmental policy and hopefully this will appear on the website soon.

Posted: **Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:24 am**

I agree with Paul - they're cheap over the years you have them and they last. I have snowdrops I labelled with these over 20 years ago still going strong.

If you also keep an eye on Amazon and Google then you often find there are decent deals on buying 200 or more every so often and I tend to buy a big batch then.

I go an extra step to make them inconspicuous by using black letters on clear tape. I put them name on the front and then the source and date I got it on the back.

Posted: **Sat Mar 30, 2024 8:53 pm**

Flimsy plastic and the felt tip is starting to fade (you had to write your own names it only came with the number). But the 378 tells me the label and plant are at least 40 years old by mail from Windyridge 1984 list number 2. Both have served me well for the massive cost of 60 pence

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