General Chat

Since starting the new regime of recycling our Borough Council have halved the amount of rubbish that goes to landfill. It is 50% less in May 2010 than it was in May 2009. I think that is pretty impressive.
We now have a large number of items that are recycled fortnightly.
Newspapers
magazines
Junk mail
ordinary (A4 type ) paper,
Cans
Bottle
Plastic bottles.
greetings cards
paperbacks
phone directories
cardboard
card
envelopes
yoghurt pots,
food trays
Margarine/butter containers
ice cream containers
wrapping paper (not foiled)
screw bottle tops

tetra packs
My recycling bin was nearly full this week.

food waste goes in a seperate bin collected weekly.
landfill waste is collected fortnightly as well (the alternate fortnight.)

In most areas there is still a problem recycling those "tetrapack" things though, the polythene coated cardboard containers that usually have fruit juice or somesuch in them. We should all try and avoid them.
I tend to buy fresh food every day or so and I never buy supermarket food and therefore don't have any food waste ie unused food. Any peelings go to compost and anything green goes to the chickens.
The four of us produce at worst one black sack every two weeks.

We have similar... but our kitchen scraps go into the Bokashi, mostly... it is rare for the food waste bin to have anything in it... I also have atwo wormeries and two compost bins... plus I am growing quite a lot of veg organically, which has been great.

Our cartridges for the printer can go in a bag placed on top of the paper/directories, as can mobile phones, although a lot of charities will take those now, too.

I too doubt if I have so much as a black bag full of rubbish every couple of weeks, and in fact, didn't put it out last but one fortnight ago, as there was nothing at all except an old nylon pillowcase I found on a clear up.. it was being used to store some bedding inside, lolol. And that has gone to the charity shop. The pillow case had paint on it otherwise that would have gone, too..... lolol!!

I have been composting and wormery-ing since 1989 as well... so not a recent thing with me.

I would be interested to find out how well we are now doing... this area was doing exceptionally well on a national comparison basis a couple of years ago....

Love

Daff xxxxx

Sorry missed out tetra packs, we recycle those as well. But have been able to do that for quite a while at the local supermarket recycling.

That is impressive what you can recycle Ann.
It is amazing the differences in collection schemes from council to council.

We have to take tetrapacks to the 'tip', which for me as a non-driver is not so easy.

We cannot put the plastic margarine/butter containers, ice cream containers or yoghurt pots in our green bin, or bottles (usually take to supermarket bottle banks). Greetings cards can't go in either.

We have to take the tops off the plastic bottles and some of them aren't so easy - the air was very blue as I battled with the top of a well known blue bleach bottle the other day!! I do my best but sometimes admit defeat lol.