Effective recycling

[Pepper Pig]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -recycling

[earthmaiden]

I'm quite impressed with action and encouragement being taken locally by both the council and individual projects. I would still like someone to do a project to find out how much extra tap water (warm and cold) is being used to rinse out dirty plastic bottles under the tap though. I suspect it is quite a lot.

[Suelle]

I'm quite impressed with action and encouragement being taken locally by both the council and individual projects. I would still like someone to do a project to find out how much extra tap water (warm and cold) is being used to rinse out dirty plastic bottles under the tap though. I suspect it is quite a lot.

Tap water isn't lost or transformed into anything else - it goes into the drains and either back into the water system or out to sea (and then back into the water cycle). There's a question mark about how much it costs both to the consumer, the water boards and the energy industry, but it's not a waste product.

This morning I was wondering about whether it was cheaper (or better) to warm a couple of litres of water in the kettle, to use in my bathroom basin, than it was to run the hot tap for ages until the water got from the boiler to the tap. I resent letting quite a lot of water run down the drain while waiting for hot water, but I think the cost of that, and running the gas boiler, is cheaper than electricity. Just not as resource efficient.

[StokeySue]

Good to know you can put bubble wrap into the plastic film recycling bins labelled for carrier bags, I’ve never been sure. I do put those mail order bags in there

[Suelle]

My Council is one of the bad ones which has us put all recycling (paper, cardboard, glass, metals, hard plastics) into one bin. I just have to hope they sort efficiently and responsibly.

[aero280]

You may be OK in Cambridgeshire. One or two councils are finding it cheaper to sort the recycling themselves at one big depot rather than pay for multiple collections from different bins, many of which don't get the rubbish properly sorted by householders anyway. It's a while since I saw the info, but I think that Bedford was one of the places that took it all in one bin, so you aren't far away.

The risk to this method is that the sorting is labour intensive and will almost certainly be low paid, and probably being done by immigrant labour which won't be available after Brexit.

[Suelle]

Aero - I know the council has spent a lot of money on recycling facilities over the last few years, so I do hope they're doing it properly.

[Ratatouille]

We feel our recycling authorities are not making enough progress and we and many others have said so. Black plastic food trays are our biggest bug bear. I know we , as a household, are doing quite well but not well enough. I get so very cross with people who simply are too lazy or ignorant to do more. Unfortunately these are most often the new young residents which tends to make us look like old miseries. The mairie are doing their best but it seems as if even threats to close our recycling area don't get through.

[jrc]

Living on the outskirts of Canterbury our biggest bugbear is students. Across three major universities plus several language schools we have over 30 000 students. Whilst they do make significant contributions to our local economy many refuse to engage with our recycling systems which are really quite simple. Also at the end of each academic year there are significant clear ups due to dumped furniture and rubbish etc.

[aero280]

We stayed in the "conference centre" at a northern university last summer. I reality it was just the empty student accommodation between terms. The rooms had a coffee area and microwave, plus a large pedal bin with four compartments for recycling. But there were no instructions on what to put into which coloured bin! Maybe OK for the regulars, but not for short term residents.


Our other problem is that we have to put our general rubbish bin at the end of the row of bins nearest to the road. The end bin of whatever colour, is used by the lads on the way home from the pub to dump their beer cans and kebab boxes. In the past the collectors have refused to empty the green bin because there is a can in it.

[earthmaiden]

Tap water isn't lost or transformed into anything else - it goes into the drains and either back into the water system or out to sea (and then back into the water cycle). There's a question mark about how much it costs both to the consumer, the water boards and the energy industry, but it's not a waste product.

That's true, but it is already more plentiful in some places than others and to get it to the right places in ever increasing amounts is going to be tricky in years to come and we will soon be asked with greater urgency to conserve it or use it differently. Running a tap for 5 or 10 minutes to rinse a couple of plastic bottles does not seem a good thing to me on many counts when multiplied by a good many dwellings in the country (and people do). It is not a waste product but one with which we should not be wasteful.

[miss mouse]

Running a tap for 5 or 10 minutes to rinse a couple of plastic bottles

Goodness, what a long time. I use the washing up water when doing other stuff

[Suelle]

Running a tap for 5 or 10 minutes to rinse a couple of plastic bottles

Goodness, what a long time. I use the washing up water when doing other stuff

Me too - the end of the washing up water is clean enough for recycling.

You're correct, of course, earthmaiden, about the effect of water shortages around the world. It's another issue which has an impact on how sustainable current types of vegetarian and vegan diets are, if we're taking water away from countries which already rely heavily on irrigation rather than rainfall, but then export vegetable crops with high water content to more affluent countries.

[Herbidacious]

We should, of course, be eating insects.

V useful article btw. I don’t think ordinary individuals are in a position to try to offset one type of environmentally responsible behaviour against another - eg recycling plastic vs environmental costs of rinsing a bottle - we need lots of data that’s been organised and collated. (Although it’s hard too resist the thought that a quick rinse in times when we have no hosepipe ban in place is not going to be worse than not recycling - but how do you compare these actions and their consequences except in times of emergency when there are clearer, urgent priorities?)

[Seatallan]

We should, of course, be eating insects.

I'd certainly be game to give it a go (though a recent BBC News article I read suggested the insect thing also has its environmental issues). Cliche though it is, there's really very little difference between a locust and a prawn.

[liketocook]

My council has gone down the route of householders separating their waste which I support however it now means I have 5 large wheelie bins plus a food bin as they have opted for a larger bin/fewer collections model. Thankfully I have a largeish garden but if you don't they take up a load of room so the new system hasn't been that well received particularly from folk that live in some of the flats. "Four in a block" is a popular housing model here and each flat has it's own set of bins....... Only blocks with 6 or more flats in them have been set up with large comunal bins which is also causing problems if someone accidently or otherwise puts the wrong stuff in them so they don't get emptied. It's keeping the local FB pages busy!!

[StokeySue]

We can’t really have a system that involves separating recyclables, as so few properties in the city have suitable outdoor space. I have no “front garden” or accessible yard so I put out recycling sacks, black sacks and cardboard and that’s my lot

I keep pestering locally for better neighbourhood recycling centres, the “dumps” are outside the borough and over 60% of households have no access to a vehicle

[Seatallan]

We can’t really have a system that involves separating recyclables, as so few properties in the city have suitable outdoor space.

Yes, that's a problem. Our LA doesn't yet separate recylables either. We have three bins- mixed cardboard/tins/plastic bottles/paper, garden waste (for which we pay) and land fill and to be honest, there just wouldn't be room in front of our terraced house (we have a small front garden) for any more bins, especially full sized ones.

[StokeySue]

Yes, I think the terraced houses with a little bit of space in front have a similar 3 bin system here

[PatsyMFagan]

I have just ordered this as the best thing on sale recently at Chelsea (Flower show) … https://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/hotbi ... &gclsrc=ds

When I designed my kitchen, I knew I would need space allocated for re-cycling, so this was incorporated. I have a large (under counter) bin for recycling, and two smaller bins, one for land fill and one for food waste. I previously used a Wiggly Wiggler worm composting bin for food waste, but it was quite cumbersome. I am hoping the mini hot bin will suit my space and needs more.

[suffolk]

The system here in Norwich seems to work well and as far as I am aware is effective ... Norwich city council seems pretty hot on green issues

https://www.norwich.gov.uk/info/20280/recycling

We have a compost heap in the garden but rose prunings, perennial weed roots or problem seedheads etc go in the brown bin.

[suffolk]

Tezza’s gone quiet again although I see she popped in last night ... hope she’s ok for you if you look in my dear

Whoops! I thought I’d posted that on Cbox ... but she’s been in touch now

[aero280]

This is the future of recycling!

34 bins.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environ ... -1.2698249

[earthmaiden]

Wow! That said, people in other countries seem capable of following guidelines and suffering inconvenience to recycle as instructed. Here, it seems impossible even to get people to put drink cans in the right bin in a small office or to get local residents to separate rubbish. Our local authority is making recycling compulsory from Aug 1st (obviously we have been supposed to do it for some years and nice people do, we have large boxes and you are expected to use them even if you live in a bed sit which I can see would be awkward, I have to carry mine through the house on bin day ) and carrying out a trial in one area with food bins. It is going to be entertaining, at the moment people can't even put stuff out on the right day .

[Seatallan]

This is the future of recycling!

34 bins.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environ ... -1.2698249

I suppose like all these things it becomes second nature after a while.

[Ratatouille]

Mr R has not long been back from taking our none-collectable recycling to the recycling collection centre including all the garden waste which can't be composted. It goes in a massive shredder and the resulting compost is sold or used by the local gardening services. Our nearest town won an award last year for there floral displays and the originality and attractiveness of the roundabouts !
We are not allowed to put galss in the recycling bins in the hameau for safety reasons. Also the sound of poeple dumping their empty bottles in the middle of the night so as the neighbours can't see how many there are causes noise disurbance

[StokeySue]

No local authority in any country I have seen seems to do very well in neighbourhoods where people don’t have their own vehicles to transport items larger than packaging. Urban areas of France and Spain where collections are not made from individual homes but from groups of dumpsters in each micro neighbourhood may do a bit better, and in Germany where people take small amounts of sorted recyclables every time they go to the shop - I do that too

[WWordsworth]

North West Leicestershire seems to be pretty good, I rarely hear moans.

We have a Wheely bin which goes out fortnightly
Plus a garden waste bin, a box for glass, a box for metal and plastic, a bag for cardboard and a bag for paper.
These (all) go out every 2 weeks as well.

It works.

[miss mouse]

Meanwhile we have Heathrow expansion and fracking on the agenda, funny that I thought gas was being phased out. Recycling is but a blip. Successive Gvts have done nothing about it.

[Pepper Pig]

Anyone manage without Clingfilm?

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/j ... tchen-aide

[liketocook]

North West Leicestershire seems to be pretty good, I rarely hear moans.

We have a Wheely bin which goes out fortnightly
Plus a garden waste bin, a box for glass, a box for metal and plastic, a bag for cardboard and a bag for paper.
These (all) go out every 2 weeks as well.

It works.

If only ours was so simple here it's
Green bin (general waste) - every 3 weeks
Grey bin (Paper & cardboard) - every 4 weeks
Purple bin (glass) - every 6 weeks
Blue bin (metal & plastic) every 4 weeks
Food caddy - weekly but on a different day to the above
Brown bin (garden waste) - 4 weekly on the same day as the food caddy, March - November but you can phone and arrange a further collection if needed during the winter months.

[StokeySue]

Anyone manage without Clingfilm?

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/j ... tchen-aide

I’m looking at getting some of those stretchy silicone lids, but need to check a few things. They also tend to be quite small, so good for leftovers but not dough

[liketocook]

Anyone manage without Clingfilm?

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/j ... tchen-aide

Not quite but used very sparingly - I've had the same roll for at least 18 months now.
My let down is sous vide/ vac pac bags though I do reuse them until they won't seal anymore.

[earthmaiden]

Crikey ltc - that would really confuse people here!

I don't really use a lot of cling film but it is useful sometimes. I think I mentioned that when I went to the iron age cookery class we discovered that large outer cabbage leaves made great saucepan lids, we discussed this more fully at another class and found that they and other large leaves were quite a traditional way in the past to wrap food in. Obviously not the same qualities as cling film but maybe worth remembering. I'm thankful I can just remember some of the things older people did when I was a child

[Herbidacious]

I hardly ever use cling film.

We have a big wheelie bin for nonrecyclable, boxes for mixed glass, plastic and tin, and for paper (but not collected the same week, so the same boxes ) a food waste bin and a garden wheelie bin (smaller than non recyclable - would be better if other way round) which we pay for. Everything is collected every other week, alternating paper and glass/plastic/metal.
I need at least two boxes for the paper. Was very disgruntled when it went to an every other week collection. We have not really come up with a satisfactory place to keep stuff before bin day. There is a bag for paper in the kitchen, one upstairs and a basket in the sitting room. There's a bag for bottles etc in the lean to. Why so much paper? I really don’t know. We get a newspaper once a week, but all of the non-glossy bits of it are used to line the cat litter box.

In France all the recyclable stuff goes to the decheterie (but not metal.) We used to be able to take non recyclable stuff there, or drop off in a big bin down the road. Now they have a collection, which is most inconvenient for us if we are not there for a week. We can’t very well leave a plastic bag of rubbish at the bottom of the lane where they collect it if there’s no collection for some days. We are not allowed to leave it at the decheterie anymore. But... we can cross into Orne and leave it at a decheterie there. For now, that is.

[PatsyMFagan]

It's been on the news today that another restaurant has stopped using clingfilm … Skye Gyngell's Spring … She stopped using clingfilm 18 months ago. I haven't replaced my last roll of it … I now try to use lidded bowls and also have some plastic tops a bit like shower caps - still made from plastic, but washable and re-usable.

[liketocook]

Crikey ltc - that would really confuse people here!

And here!

[Amber]

The downside is you can’t see through the beeswax wrap . We keep forgetting stuff.

[Seatallan]

I just wish beeswax wrap was less pricey.

I tend to use zip food bags (washing them out and reusing them) but I do use clingfilm and would like to find a viable alternative.

[aero280]

I would argue that, in most cases, the use of clingfilm is less damaging to the environment than having the food go off, recycling it and getting it replaced. Even using containers carries the burden of washing up, water supply and waste disposal. And there are the equivalent of several sheets of clingfilm in a plastic container.

It's a similar situation with things like old cars. The environmental burden of making and selling less polluting electric cars and the uprating of the grid, and the provision of charging points, and the telecoms for the charging and billing, and the short life of the batteries makes it much more sensible keeping an old car running until it rots away. The theory that producing an electric car keeps all the pollution at the factory where it can be controlled, falls down when the car manufacturers scour the world to get the parts made as cheaply as possible, usually in poor countries with bad environmental records.