| Topic: | Re:Reply | |
| Posted by: | Philippa Bond | |
| Date/Time: | 31/12/25 16:10:00 |
| Well there also used to be street banks BUT there were also huge complaints about the utter mess around them too as just about anything seemed to end up dumped there and sifted through and gradually shop after shop declined to host them. I once made an impromptu survey of visitors to the large Sainsbury's as I wondered why it was so popular for recycling. Several people didn't seem to know what they could recycle from home but then many people don't seem to know which borough they are living in either - as anyone who like me has tried to help people reducing their waste soon finds out! Others had masses of newspapers they wanted to dispose of or the plastic tubs and trays that weren't at the time accepted in the kerbside collection. Councils don't all have to provide a valeting service for all residents in all situations eg if a service isn't working well which for all I know it wasn't then you can expect a service to be withdrawn. I do know that a lot of people just can't be bothered to check what and when and where (which sometimes also differs from homes with wheelie bins)and I'm sure that a lot of other people know this too. It has also not been made easier by the fact that what can be collected as household recycling still varies from borough to borough depending on contracts. It can also change when those contracts change and when new facilities and equipment become available and when Govt regulations change. At a recent recycling expo at the Excel one of the speakers pointed out the very clear recycling bins with simple pictures and instructions and how you just have to look inside to immediately see how some people can't manage the simplest of separation between different packaging. Yet when I last looked at the National Curriculum reuse of resources appeared several times over. Sadly, as with everything there always seem to be some who spoil it for the rest. Perhaps there are more people who just complain about any mess or complain louder than those who bother to contact the shop or Council about streetbanks and bins in their neighbourhood being full and needing emptying? It never seems to take long before someone tries to cram a mattress into a streetbank marked up for something else eg bottles and jars or tins or paper and cardboard. We've always had to look further than a Council kerbside collection to increase our recycling and reduce our general waste. Some people are keen enough to keep bokashi bins and wormeries in their flats. Others not. You need to make a waste assessment and see what works for you and expect to tweak it as you go along. We also concentrate far too much on Recycling which is near the bottom of the Waste Hierarchy instead of starting at the top. |