reducing household waste

houston

hello, just wanted to vent,

we are a family of 6 and have 4 council recycling bins 2 for domestic and 2 for green, recently we have made a real effort to reduce our household waste, and this week when we put the household waste bin out for collection low and behold we only (just)filled one bin! I get really angry when I see around the street, neighbours with smaller families filling their bins and also leaving bags for collection, it struck me what effect it would have if everyone tried to cut back on waste. biggest annoyance is family across the road with 4 members using 3 household bins AND leaving bags!!:mad:

ok feel better now

cazrobinson

well the gov, is looking at issuing taxes for binning now, trying to limit amount going to landfill.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6685409.stm


i would be careful about putting all bins out that are not full, since your doing your bit soemone might 'help' to fill yours up for you!

LilMissEmmylou

cor blimey, im in a house of 3, we would almost fill our black bin every 2 weeks or more. In fact its been 2 weeks from it was emptied and id say its only 2/3 full at the mo.

i just wish more folk would recycle. At the mo we dont have any bin collections as our rd is done yet (new build area) but we still recycle more than we bin tbh

moonrakerz

I don't have a problem with re-cycling per se. BUT it seems to me to be all the wrong way round.

I don't actually make rubbish (despite what politicians say !), I just try and get rid of the rubbish that is imposed on me, by shops, traders and even the post man.

Why does a roll of Sellotape come in a plastic blister mounted on a sheet of cardboard; why does my Sunday paper come in two plastic bags; why do four (or six) cans of beer (or baked beans) have to be held together by a plastic 'thingy'; why have a plastic hook/label on every bunch of bananas; why do you often have to buy two of something in a blister pack, when you only want one ???

I could go on and on with examples of totally pointless over packaging. What is worse - I have to pay for this junk at the shop, then I have to pay increased council tax to get the stuff taken away.

I must apologise now for my gross stupidity in suggesting that if excess packaging was cut back we would have less rubbish to throw away !!!!!

nickj_2

i agree with moonrakerz , we are only getting rid of stuff that is of no use to us or cannot be recycled , manufacturers should recycle containers - pain cans , make up etc , things such as toothpaste and cereals does not require 2 layers of packaging ,
we should make a stand and leave unwanted packaging at the shop .

Ytaya

One solution, moonrakerz, is to make choices based on packaging where possible. For example, I can't recycle yoghurt pots where I live. So when I buy individual yoghurts, I buy a brand that comes in small glass pots instead. Vote with your wallet

torbrex

Car manufacturers have had heavy restictions imposed on them forcing them to make their vehicles more recycleable when they come to the end of their useful life.
It is time that all manufacturers were made to do the same, all packaging should be made bio-degradable and plastics should be phased out and/or be made in such a way as to be re-usable in some better way rather than landfill.

ailuro2

I agree- we are the same with tetrapak- because we can't get rid of them I buy our OJ in bottles or plastic flagons that are recyclable- every little helps.

I agree with your rant- many families in our street don't bother with their little green bins- one woman at work says her daughter uses it as a toy box:eek:

houston

as soon as I started to recycle one thing, it lead to almost an obsession, so I am passionate about it, another neighbour says she can't be bothered having to rinse out cans because it makes her feel sick, so I guess she chucks plates and cutlery out too, and I 'spose when the kids need a bath she'll just stick them in the wheeley bin....:rolleyes:

Errata

houston wrote: »

as soon as I started to recycle one thing, it lead to almost an obsession, so I am passionate about it, another neighbour says she can't be bothered having to rinse out cans because it makes her feel sick, so I guess she chucks plates and cutlery out too, and I 'spose when the kids need a bath she'll just stick them in the wheeley bin....:rolleyes:

The kids should fit nicely around the nappies! I ain't looking forward to walking down the street with two weeks worth of used disposable nappies humming away in every other bin!

ailuro2

You shouldn't smell them once they are in a carrier bag from Mr T's- at least the bag was used once more before it ended up in landfill.

I would welcome fortnightly collections, our bin is never more than half full, it might free up the binmen to collect our paper bin more often than once a month.

Failing that, they might use the money to reduce my council tax a bit with the money they have saved:rotfl: