Sick of recycling - should I stop?

skintchick

freeloader wrote:

Who said they're not credible? The stories were 2 years old. That's all. I wouldn't imply anything about Peterborough Today's credibility either....

You did. :rolleyes:

arkonite_babe

Cardew wrote:

We are constantly being told water is a precious resource and we are to save it.

water also costs the consumer money if metered.(I don't think NI has metered water does it?)

Perhaps we should blow dry them as well.

P.S. Don't do dishes - have a machine for that.

I do save water. I don't use a dishwasher

Fair enough point NI doesn't have metered water, but it wouldn't matter if they did, I'd still rinse all my recycling stuff in the dishwater after the dishes are done.
2 litres of water approx to do all my dishes compared to blimey knows how many in a dishwasher. Am I not doing my bit then????? :undecided

Cardew

arkonite_babe wrote:

I do save water. I don't use a dishwasher

Fair enough point NI doesn't have metered water, but it wouldn't matter if they did, I'd still rinse all my recycling stuff in the dishwater after the dishes are done.
2 litres of water approx to do all my dishes compared to blimey knows how many in a dishwasher. Am I not doing my bit then????? :undecided

I thought it was proven that a dishwasher saves water as you do several loads of washing up in the one cycle?

Back to the point - there is absolutely no way I will wash bottles, jars & plastic containers etc before dumping them as rubbish - and thats what they are - garbage!!

arkonite_babe

That's entirely up to you, that's your personal opinion, not the opinion of everyone. I don't have a problem washing the containers for recycling. To me it's no big deal

tiredwithtwins

re the problem with containing all the rubbish for recycling - a friend of mine has one of those brightly coloured plastic childrens toy bins - it fits nicely on the front seat of her smart car!! Its bright enough not to look like an eyesore in the kitchen, plus its clean so doesnt mucky the car seat. luckily she passes a B & Q on the way home from school and just goes when the bin is getting full.

abisnail75

I work in the waste industry and sometimes it isn't economical to recycle certain things in some areas because there aren't recycling facilities nearby. However, what is collected is usually made use of. Here's some info on where it all goes (including the China question)

http://www.recyclenow.com/facts/myths_exploded/index.html

WRAP are an organisation dedicated to working on finding new ways of using collected recyclables and also industrial wastes too. If anyone is interested it's https://www.wrap.org.uk.

An interesting fact (maybe I have no life?) is that they incorporated 250,000 unsold paperback books into the asphalt when building the M6 toll road. Apparently it makes it all stick together better. Recycling as it should be!

Moggles_2

I thought it was proven that a dishwasher saves water as you do several loads of washing up in the one cycle?

Yes. In trials which compared dishwashing techniques across Europe, the dishwashers turned out to save more energy and water than washing by hand, providing you always fill the machine to capacity that is.

During the summer months I get through a glass bottle of organic olive oil every three weeks, making mayonnaise. The empties go in the dishwasher along with the rest of the crocks and come out sparkling, ready for recycling!

Moggles_2

However, what is collected is usually made use of.

Also, we have to take into account the energy disbenefits of replacing the vast quantities of materials which are currently being incinerated or buried.

Central government must legislate to reduce packaging, including plastic carrier bags and councils need to operate borough-wide doorstep collections of all recyclables.

JennyB

abisnail75 - really useful links: thanks. the recyclenow site confirms the whole shipping recycling materials out to china is true but i can't help but think it paints it in a rather optimistic (unrealistic?) light. I like the bit:

"How can you be sure it’s all above board?

The trade is robustly regulated by the Environment Agency."

Aaaah I feel better now! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

liz545

Our council collects glass, cans, plastics and paper from the doorstep once a week. If they didn't I'm not sure I'd be so good at recycling, as I don't have a car, and the nearest recycle bank's a way away. While it's frustrating to have the recycling cluttering up the house, you have to consider the importance of reducing our dependance on landfill. Regardless of the geographical destination of the waste, we have to train ourselves to throw less away. I agree that the onus should be on retailers and manufacturers to reduce packaging, and councils should provide recycling collections, but in order to attain the levels of waste reduction seen elsewhere in Europe we need to persevere with sorting our waste.
In the case of the OP, have you considered bypassing council collections entirely, and selling your recycleables? http://www.alupro.org.uk/cash%20for%20cans.htm have details of 'cash for cans' centres, might be more practical and appealing than donating them to the council!
The habit of shipping waste abroad does make me wonder - surely creating companies in the UK to handle the waste would not only save on shipping etc but would create jobs and reduce the eventual cost of recycled materials?