My land fill rubbish challenge

squeaky

It's been ten days and I've just put a whole 172 g in the bin. What saved me was recyclin a custard tin. All the metal bits in the right bin and the cardboard torn and put in the compost

gooismeid

Re: earlier comment about taking cereal bags out of boxes, my kids' nursery school is always looking for boxes so the kids can make things with them (currently rows of ducks, and pumpkin shapes). If you don't have a compost bin or a handy recycling scheme, why not try contacting a local nursery or primary school? They might be glad of any cardboard boxes you want to get rid of.

margaretclare

MrsB wrote:

Hoorah!!! I LOVE Gateshead MBC!!! Just rung to see if they do a subsidised compost bin scheme and they do. £10 for a 360 litre bin (actually might have been 320 but hey, what the heck!!)

So 2 questions:

1) Does that sound like a good deal to those in the know?
2) What on earth do i do with 300 and odd litres of compost? I do have a garden but it's 50% lawn, 40% patio, and only 10% flower beds and pots.

You may have had this answered already. 360 litres of compostable material when put into the bin does NOT result in 360 litres of compost!!! It results in a lot less, because everything rots down.

Aunty Margaret

16011996

pthompson wrote:

Nothing wrong with wheelie bins. What's wrong is mah_jong's idea of putting them out the night before the binmen arrive -- and presumably them staying out all day until residents get home in the evening. That can't be a pretty sight.

we have this problem though, we have been told our bins must be out before 7:30am to guaruntee collection, but only one week so far have they come that early, and then that was 7:25am!!!!

rjrog77

Can you recycle the plasticy packets that supermarket meat comes in? A lot of my rubbish is from that (can't afford to go to the farmer's market that often).

moggins

I remember someone suggesting that these could be reused as seed trays but I can't remember who said it now?

squeaky

They could be, as can egg boxes. As for recycling you really need to check your council website. Mine will not accept the softer polystyrene ones because they can absorb blood and breed bacteria. They may not accept any meat ones.

Contains_Mild_Peril

gooismeid wrote:

Re: earlier comment about taking cereal bags out of boxes, my kids' nursery school is always looking for boxes so the kids can make things with them (currently rows of ducks, and pumpkin shapes). If you don't have a compost bin or a handy recycling scheme, why not try contacting a local nursery or primary school? They might be glad of any cardboard boxes you want to get rid of.

Good idea. Unfortunately my local council is a bit rubbish (excuse the pun) at recycling, but I normally hoard clean cardboard boxes for eBay packaging anyway.

pthompson

squeaky wrote:

If two products on the shelf are similar in quality and price I'll buy the one that has the least packaging

There is legislation (The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003) requiring manufacturers to only use an appropriate amount of packaging. My council (Richmond) encourages residents to report examples of non-compliance in the borough, which they will have Trading Standards investigate.

I'd encourage anyone who encounters examples of overpackaging to report it to their council or local TSO.

The worst cases of overpackaging I've come across in supermarkets are individual serving breakfast cereal and "fruit corner" style yoghurt. Anyone know of any more?