Timmy has often talked about recycling not being all it’s cracked up to be. His core argument being a time/cost one. I’ve generally taken the view that for some items it probably makes sense. So we go along with putting out green stuff for compost and put tins out for recycling and all that. I no longer have to worry about newspapers.
Just before Christmas we had food waste bins delivered – complete with instructions about how to use them in case we are too thick to figure it out for ourselves. We have a big one for outside and a small one for the kitchen counter. Now, I admit to some scepticism about the whole thing from the off as we don’t generate that much food waste to start with, but we gave it a try. The first thing that I noticed was having a container with rotting food in it on the kitchen top was somewhat unpleasant. Not least because we don’t produce that much food waste, so it takes an awful long time to fill up. The only way around this is to take small bits and pieces out to the big bin which seems like a waste of time and effort – might as well miss out the small bin and be done with it. It’s that or allow it to putrefy in the kitchen. Of course, all that happens is that it putrefies outside the kitchen door instead – and will do so until the next collection. I have an awful feeling that if it wasn’t for the cats, we’d be having an infestation of grateful rats…
My overall conclusion is that the old system of bunging everything into one bin that was emptied weekly was probably the best solution. Either way, we aren’t doing the food waste bins any more. We have better things to do with our time; which has been the point Timmy was making all along.
When I lived in the UK we had a small garden with a compost bin. All kitchen waste used to go straight in there with grass clippings, weeds and garden waste. After a year you got some quite useful compost out of the bottom. Great for growing your own fruit and veg for relatively little work.
We have these kitchen waste recycling bins over here in British Columbia. Yes, and the things do reek a bit after only a couple of days use. In addition, the recycle bags you need for them are quite pricey for what they are. Once we build our own place over here, a proper compost bin will be installed in the garden, because like you, I find these kitchen top bins a bit too unhygienic for my liking.
We did the composting thing in France. Our garden in the UK is far too small.
There’s a reason they give these things out in January. It gets the population used to the gradually increasing stench by the time it gets to August.
Rats? Even Downing Street has rats. We’re all in ‘it’ together. Up to the neck.
Landfill taxes seem bizarre to me; on the on hand you have a local authority doing what it must, on the other you have central government (London or Brussels?) devising a tax on the council for carrying out its obligations. Mad.
I live alone and produce very little waste. To sort the odds and ends into the three recycling boxes, one green waste bag and one plastic bag is time inefficient. I calculate that everyone is better off if I earn money and pay taxes with that time. What’s wrong with asking recipients of Social security to spend an hour or two each day sorting the rubbish?
I’m with Andy but a bit more extreme. Get rid of benefits and minimum wage laws and stop councils charging for refuse. You’d be able to put all refuse in one bin which private competing companies would fall over each other to empty as often as you liked. Recycle vs landfill would be decided purely on economic grounds. If a material was worth recycling then workers whose market value of labour is below current minimum wage levels could pick it out – thus earning a wage so no need for benefits.
Watch Kevin mccloud visit the slum of dharvi and marvel as they recycle absolutely everything for a profit – items which we are told are simply unrecyclable
Food waste. How do the councils define ‘food waste’?
Thankfully this lunacy has yet to arrive in my neck of the woods but should it ever I will deal with it the same way I dealt with the red ‘plastic and cardboard’ recycling bag which some thicko contractor threw over my yard wall, it’s called handing out according to the council but as ever what the council says and what it does are entirely different things.
Said bag with a heavy plywood base (to stop it blowing away) landed in my yard just as I opened my back door with a single movement I had it picked up and thrown back over the yard wall into the side of the contractors van, result.
Even crazier Sita Suez became Biffa and Biffa (should really be called Biffo) throw ALL recycling into the same wagon and drive it 75 miles to Manchester for sorting.
But still the sheeple sort all their recycling into red bag, green box or green bag and then watch Biffa operatives hurl it all into the back of a wagon thus mixing it all up again and rush out to try and recover their recycling receptacles which are simply thrown back on the nearest pavement.
A pointless exercise that people pay good money (via council tax) to take part in.
When I moved into my humble abode twenty odd years ago we had no rubbish collection at all. Black bags were taken to the village or the tip – no problem. After a three or four years, and the erection of an extra couple of houses (I suspect it’s not who you know but who you sing in the choir with) resulted in a collection service. One man, one Transit pickup. This worked very well until just recently when the Welsh assembly tossed £50 million in grants (the magic money that falls from the sky) at recycling. The local council bought six new bin wagons with their share (I’m not convinced these were replacements, but extra vehicles). So now one man and one small vehicle visiting each week has become …… wait for it….. TWO LARGE vehicles with TWO MEN in EACH every week!!!! The cost of collecting my two bags of rubbish has quadrupled at a stroke! Four men with wages, holiday entitlements, sick pay, clothing, training, another layer of management, and pensions, where one man was more than adequate.
It is worth a look at where this food waste goes and the relationship between the Limited companies involved and local councils. It stinks more than a food bin.
The other point with food waste is that although it is weighed in to landfill, it fills landfill by volume. Food waste is generally dense so uses less landfill than polystyrene, for example. The other thing with food waste is that it is easily dealt with by existing local experts. The sewage system is geared up for food waste. The installation of waste disposal units in all new build, and all new kitchen installations would solve the non problem of food waste. The excuse for all of this is global warming. Methane in landfill polluting the atmosphere. The same gas as is being imported because we don’t have enough. There is no logic to any of it.
Buy a garbage disposal unit, no smell hygenic .It also stuffs up the “recycle lobby”, had one for years , doesn’t like cherry or peach stones,all good otherwise all ends up inhte sewage system .You buy on e here in NZ for around $150 with fitting easy as for a home handy man.
I was quite keen on recycling, probably due to being a dirt poor petrolhead who spent most weekends down the breakers yard.
We had a small local company handling it. They employed disabled and ex-cons and it worked very well.
Then the big foreign company came along, pushing brown envelopes into councillors’ arse pockets and they got sidelined. Council gave us all new wheelie bins and loads of different recycling containers (the local company gave us one and sorted it themselves).
The first thing to go into my wheelie bin were the rest of the councils recycing containers.
I want to recycle, but I’ll have nothing to do with corruption.
The first thing to go into my wheelie bin were the rest of the councils recycling containers.
Superb!