Counsel the council

Today we were advised we would be moving to a trial scheme in February for alternate week waste collection. OUr council produced a glossy leaflet and letter, ready for the recycling bin, to advise that in order to save landfill tax costs and to increase the volume of recycled waste from 22% to 40% they were going to stop collecting waste destined for landfill each week and move to forntightly collection, alternating with the succecssful fortightly recycling bin collection.

Now, good news for the planet and the environment you might say but to be honest the council is only addressing part of the problem. As a family of 5, 2 adults and 3 children (12,10,8) we already recycle everything the council will take off us. We compost all our organic waste including tea-bags and egg shells and sheets of kitchen roll. We take all our bottles to the bottle bank and we put all allowable materials into our recycle bin. Great! However, we still fill the waste bin with a full load every week, there is still so much that cannot be recycled by the council collections so it has to go in the landfill waste.

The council are refusing to supply a larger waste bin for us. So what is the answer?

One solution is for me to take the extra week's waste the council wants to save and take it to the council waste collection facility, or dump! That then still costs the council, landfill tax payments.

Another solution is to burn the plastic waste that cannot fit into the waste bin, although that would create noxious emissons adding to our carbon footprint.

Final solution is to stop purchasing items in packaging that cannot be recycled. This is the only practical solution, although it means saying goodbye to healthy foods like yoghurts, some fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and pears, strawberrys, raspberrys etc. I know I can buy these in markets in paper bag packaging which will mean my spend at the supermarket convenience consumption outlet will reduce further unless they start to offer these packaging alternatives.

Meantime I will receive a visit or call from a recycling adviser. Im hoping to hear that they will start taking fruit juice cartons and yellow pages as well as the lids from water and fizzy drink bottles.

There's always a reason not to do something. Our urban weed has to be dealt with. It's down to us and the time is now.

Cheers all