Rubbish!!!

grannysue_3

I have a relatively large, weedkiller free garden, harbouring birds, insects, newts, toads, frogs etc., which can take 3-4 hours just to mow. No problem in that as I enjoy doing it. However, I find it difficult to get rid of the mowings - as only one bin of green waste a fortnight is taken by the council. I have tried composting but too much grass just makes for sludge and I am beginning to have fantasies about weedkiller and concrete mixers!
Any ideas would be welcome!

Olliebeak

grannysue wrote: »

I have a relatively large, weedkiller free garden, harbouring birds, insects, newts, toads, frogs etc., which can take 3-4 hours just to mow. No problem in that as I enjoy doing it. However, I find it difficult to get rid of the mowings - as only one bin of green waste a fortnight is taken by the council. I have tried composting but too much grass just makes for sludge and I am beginning to have fantasies about weedkiller and concrete mixers!
Any ideas would be welcome!

Have you double-checked with your local authority about the amount of grass cuttings they will take away free of charge? It may be worth asking them.

We are allowed only one wheelie bin but as many garden waste bins and recycling boxes as we like.

mah_jong

grannysue wrote: »

I have a relatively large, weedkiller free garden, harbouring birds, insects, newts, toads, frogs etc., which can take 3-4 hours just to mow. No problem in that as I enjoy doing it. However, I find it difficult to get rid of the mowings - as only one bin of green waste a fortnight is taken by the council. I have tried composting but too much grass just makes for sludge and I am beginning to have fantasies about weedkiller and concrete mixers!
Any ideas would be welcome!

We have only one wheelie bin with weekly collection. No other recyling collection.

However the council do pick up household items once a week (tvs fridges but not lawn mowers!) they also take away upto 6 black bin bags of rubbish this includes garden stuff, like hedge trimmings and grass mowings. Give them a phone to check what they offer in your area. I have to phone to book, leave it out at kerb side on said day and it goes!

thriftmonster

We fill 1 black bin bag each week - our black bin is collected fortnightly - so it's usually about half full each fortnight - although a lot of bins are stuffed to overflowing on the road! We also have a brown bin (called "Pete Boggs" according to BCC) which takes garden waste, but not kitchen waste. It also takes shredded paper. We also have a blue wheelie bin for recycling - paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, tins and cans (which is called "Phillippa Bin"). BCC don't collect glass but we have a superb recycling centre within walking distance which takes more or less anything.

We also have one of the city council's compost bins which dh has made more aerobic by boring holes in it with an auger (borrowed from a neighbour in return for a jar of HM onion relish - OS to the last).

We could do better - now winter is on the way - I can burn my flour bags!

Churchmouse

thriftlady wrote: »

Absolutely right :T We've just been given wheelie bins here. The council say if we are 'good at recycling and recycle a lot of stuff we can have another green bin'. Surely if you fill two bins with recycling you are using too much stuff -buying things that are overpackaged, not reusing containers etc.

Well I'm afraid I have to disagree with this blanket statement;)

My council provides one wheelie bin for recycling (collected fortnightly), but additional clear plastic sacks if you need them, BUT practically everything goes in the one *pot*, no need to sort:T (apparently we have the most advanced recycling depot in Europe) All cans, paper, cardboard, plastics, glass all in together. No tearing out the cellophane windows in envelopes etc. even shredded documents can go in. All that we have to recycle separately are juice cartons, clothing and batteries. In the new year we are to get bins for garden and food waste. They still do not recycle polystyrene, my one gripe against them. My whole family bring home any recyclables used while they are out if they can't recycle on the spot. Sometimes i need to use additional sacks, but would dispute that it's 'cos we use too much, or don't reuse enough.

My normal rubbish wheelie bin contains 2 -3 carrier-bag sized bags of rubbish at most each week.

I don't re-use glass jars, they go for recycling because I live in a tiny house, no garage or cellar, and I have no room to make and store preserves of any description.

I agree wholeheartedly that too much *stuff* is over-packaged at source, but that is a whole other issue. I have heard of people who remove the packaging to leave with the supermarket, for example, but I fear this just means it will finish up in landfill, rather than recycling

Forgot to say, if you can get to the recycling centre you can recycle wood, oil, paint, building rubble, small electricals, in fact almost everything. Not stroppy kids or husbands though:rotfl:

COOLTRIKERCHICK

i used to fill 2 wheelie bins a week:eek:

but as i am in the recycling business myself now....i practically recycling everything......

what ever can be composted does.......kitchen waste.... empty loo rolls... brown paper bags.....etc.....

empty tins gets washed out ( at the end of normal dish washing) and placed into a plastic carrier box and the outter paper label gets put into the paper recycling box...( except for alu cans... they are kept seperate.. as i weigh them in abd get paid for those )

cardboard...in another pastic box.....


i used to put them out for the refuge collections as the local council does a recycling thing, but i have heard from a few sources that they are just incinerated sp? and as they have not gone into a landfill it counts towards their recycling brownie points:eek:

so i take my recycling goods to private companies that make money by weighing these items in.....so at least you know it is their business and its in their best interest ..its not all about governemnt recycling figures.....


if local councils are talking about charging for the amount of waste collected ..to make people recycle more...... but also you could get more fly tipping...etc......or someone going to work early in the morning... and adding their bags of rubbish to yours :eek:

i have started having a pre-chrsitmas clear out......and i am going to cause an enviroment issue with the amount of junk that is coming out of our house ...lol....:eek:

plastic milk/drinks cartons in another......

Doom_and_Gloom

There are 5 grown adults in the flat I live at and we get through 5 rubbish sacks a week :eek: . Our council is useless with flats I feel as we do have about 4 or 5 of those big blue recycle wheely bin things and 3 (i think) refuse kind but they are all just used for refuse! Also we are ment to be given refuse bags every 13 weeks but since we have lived at the property for over a year have recived NONE :mad: . We have been given no information about how to recycle at the flat and no bags to do so either. In the past when we have had ALOT of recycling material I have been known to take a few of my parents recycling bags, fill them up, and take them back to my parents just so it can be recycled :eek: !! I like to know that I'm helping the environment in any way that I can but when the council is making it nearly impossible in some areas it does make me feel bad aswell as extreamely angry at the council :mad: .

Beacause of the council aswell as how I am I do however do the following:
I try to buy items with little or no packaging. When there is packaging I try and make sure it is recyclable or biodegradable where I can.
My mice get given most of my fruit and veg cuttings. They also get any cardboard items to have as a house box, play toys and items they can gnaw on to keep them happy.
I use a veg and box delievery which collects the boxes they deliever in and the plastic and paper bags some of the items come in. This in itself reduces my waste as even our green grocers use packaging when it is not needed.
I do not own a car and either walk, bike or rely on public transport to get around.

beemuzed

Our authority have really improved recycling - we have three wheelie bins, one for food waste which is collected weekly (although we compost a great deal, so that usually has half a tiny bagful in it!) then a green bin for all recyclables apart from glass which we have to take to the bins at Tesco, and a brown bin for everything else. Since we now can recycle all types of plastic containers the contents of the brown bin have really gone down. Green and brown are collected alternate weeks. We're not allowed to have extra in the brown bin - the lid has to close- but extra recyclables are fine. It's really opened my eyes as to the amount of packaging we get. Wish we could do without lots of it.