Hugh's War on Waste

Justamum

Justamum wrote: »

I must be dim - I can't find the URL link on his profile.

Found it! I had to switch back to the old-look forum to find it as it doesn't appear on the new-look one.

GreyQueen

AubreyMac wrote: »

What do you think it'll take for that to happen?

Hugh's programme mentioned how much councils would save if everyone recycled (£25m if I recall correctly).

I think if councils can promise and guarantee a reduction in council tax if we hit recycling targets than that might encourage people more.

Also, the council I lived in before did not charge to pick up bulky items and gave out food recycle bags for free. The council I live in now do not give food bags (we don't even have a food bin) and charges £15 to pick up a bulky item. It is no surprise that I see more fly tipping here. If I had to get rid of something big that I can carry, like a printer, microwave or leftover carpet then I would rather bin it in the wrong place than pay £15 each item.

Full disclosure; I work for one of the English councils. We're over 100 million down on central government funding since 2010 and with council tax close to fixed, there literally is no spare money to subsidise anything. And £15 for a bulky item pick-up is pretty cheap, bearing in mind they'd have to pay for the crew & vehicle and disposal costs.

Local authorities have to set budgets and they're working on them right now for 2016-17 and inviting consultation from their tax payers. Contribute to the consultation. It's a judgement of Solomon. Would you rather have free food waste bags or fewer library books/ shorter library opening hours? Or could you just use an old newspaper as a liner? More money spent on X means less for Y. Would you like to make those decisions? I care about library books but I don't personally give a monkey's about childrens play parks, but I expect the parents of young children feel differently.

The amount of council tax spent on refuse and recycling per household is pence per week but, because it's every household in the borough, those pence add up. The really big ticket items are education and social services. If people only had fewer children.

Most HWRC allow housholders to offload items for free. If you haven't a vehicle (I only have a pushbike, myself) and can't call in a favour, you get offered a chance to have an old appliance uplifted for a small fee (under £10 in my experience) when you buy a new one. A dead fridge and a dead washer have left my home that way in the past 4 years. A well-worn sofa and mattress left via freegle, as did a dead printer advertised as spare-or-repair (gawd, but people were fighting to get that one, unbelievable).

Sellers of electrical items have to take them back at the end of their life, if you choose to exercise that option.

I watch people in my neighbourhood fly-tip items which they could have very easily put in their cars and taken to the HWRC which is 10 mins' away. They don't do it because they are lazy. And as for the barstewards in the van repeatedly offloading rubble into our bins late at night; as soon as we can get your reg, we'll be giving statements to the council and hoping to see you prosecuted. pal.

I arrange to have fly-tipping uplifted every single working day. P*sses me off no end. My observation of human nature is that people can easily arrange to get things into their homes because they want to, then become curiously helpless, resentful and slovenly when it comes to getting the item out again at the end of its life.

The item didn't get any bigger or heavier, but the householder lost the motivation to deal with it.

missbiggles1

joedenise wrote: »

My DH thinks he ought to do something about the huge waste in restaurants. Maybe they should give that food to homeless people after closing time.

Denise

If you have a dog (or even if you don't), ask for a doggy bag.

lillibet_dripping

missbiggles1 wrote: »

If you have a dog (or even if you don't), ask for a doggy bag.

I ALWAYS do this whether it's Prezzo or the poshest restaurant in the county (we go once a year, as a family!!!).
I've paid for that food and therefore I WILL take it home. Usually it's for the dogs or the chickens but occasionally I will re-serve left-overs, cold, for the next day's' lunch!

I think the older you get, the less you care what people think of you. The restaurant staff never seem floored by the request and I have even been handed a delightfully foil-wrapped doggy bag complete with 'carrying handle'!!

Of course, now that I on my own personal War On Waste, I will slip a lidded lock n' lock in my handbag and ask then to put the leftovers in that.......

Serendipitious

missbiggles1 wrote: »

If you have a dog (or even if you don't), ask for a doggy bag.

Last time I did that, I had to absolutely promise the restaurant staff that the food was intended for animal consumption only. Which it truly was. (It was meat from a Sunday carvery and I'd been given an overly generous portion.)

They told me the issue hinged around the length of time it would take to cool properly, plus other variables they could not control once it had left the premises, such as the length of the journey time home, how it might be stored once at home, etc etc. All of which meant they could not say it would be fit for human consumption.

The cats liked it.

But I could see the restaurant's point of view.

missbiggles1

Serendipitious wrote: »

Last time I did that, I had to absolutely promise the restaurant staff that the food was intended for animal consumption only. Which it truly was. (It was meat from a Sunday carvery and I'd been given an overly generous portion.)

They told me the issue hinged around the length of time it would take to cool properly, plus other variables they could not control once it had left the premises, such as the length of the journey time home, how it might be stored once at home, etc etc. All of which meant they could not say it would be fit for human consumption.

The cats liked it.

But I could see the restaurant's point of view.

Perhaps carveries worry about people sueing them?

pigpen

If your councils are charging extortionate amounts to remove bulky items trot yourself onto your local selling sites on facebook there are people on there who will do it for free or at a fraction of the cost.. Our council only charge £5 for up to 8 separate bits.. that can be 8 huge bits of furniture or 8 bits of the same chopped up wardrobe. They also do an annual *bring out your dead* pick up so if we have bulky items you put them outside the night before and away they go.. I tend to get rid of stacks of stuff then.. Next year I have 3 sheds to dismantle and dispose of.. that will be fun! But it will be free!!

Metal items such as broken washers etc people will take for scrap.. NOTHING gets left here.

The annoying thing here is the frequency bins are not emptied.. they cut the bin crews from 5 to 3 and they just leave streets they cannot be bothered to do.. during the summer our street is practically deserted due to the high number of student houses so we are not a priority.. not good and I DO complain loudly!

Our food recycle bags can be collected from libraries giving people a reason to go to a library and while there they might borrow a book or join in one of the activities offered keeping libraries in use and open. A few have closed but they are multipurpose buildings here now.

I just freecycled a perfectly functional fridge freezer which was well battered ... far better than dumping it out the front like both my neighbours have done in the last month!

VfM4meplse

joedenise wrote: »

My DH thinks he ought to do something about the huge waste in restaurants. Maybe they should give that food to homeless people after closing time.

Its interesting, but many years ago I went to an eat all you like buffet in a family-owned Chinese restaurant. The rule was that you paid £x/kg wasted (signs displayed all over the buffet so they couldn't be missed!), and it was strictly enforced .

Needless to say, patrons were far more selective about what they wanted to "try" and how much, knowing that anything left on the plate could turn the meal from £7.99 per head to considerably more....! The food was okay but the free entertainment provided by greedy customers was just hysterical!

JIL

Serendipitious wrote: »

Last time I did that, I had to absolutely promise the restaurant staff that the food was intended for animal consumption only. Which it truly was. (It was meat from a Sunday carvery and I'd been given an overly generous portion.)

They told me the issue hinged around the length of time it would take to cool properly, plus other variables they could not control once it had left the premises, such as the length of the journey time home, how it might be stored once at home, etc etc. All of which meant they could not say it would be fit for human consumption.

The cats liked it.

But I could see the restaurant's point of view.

The restaurant that my daughter worked in made people sign a disclaimer before they would allow them to take the leftover food.
Whilst it was eaten on the premises they were responsible for health and hygiene, but did not want any claims it was off, when eaten hours later.

moneyistooshorttomention

Serendipitious wrote: »

Last time I did that, I had to absolutely promise the restaurant staff that the food was intended for animal consumption only. Which it truly was. (It was meat from a Sunday carvery and I'd been given an overly generous portion.)

They told me the issue hinged around the length of time it would take to cool properly, plus other variables they could not control once it had left the premises, such as the length of the journey time home, how it might be stored once at home, etc etc. All of which meant they could not say it would be fit for human consumption.

The cats liked it.

But I could see the restaurant's point of view.

Having read through all the stuff restaurants have to comply with re health and safety (and that took some while to do....:cool:) then I can perfectly well believe that a restaurant did say that re the meat. There are indeed various regulations re that and a combination of that and someone being a bit "jobsworth" and hence the cross-questioning about it.

I'm not in the habit of taking a food container with me - even when I know I'm going to be eating out. But I must train myself into it - as my last meal out involved there being some over that would do towards my next lunch and I found myself asking them for a take-away food container to put it in (which was duly given with a smile). Cue for me being able to eat the rest of the food I had paid for:). But yep...naughty Money....as that was one less brownie point because of that use of a take-away container....ahem...