Waste on an IVA

[Wizzard]

Good evening peeps and peepettes

Today was our bin day and it got me to thinking. Before the IVA I would be cramming in rubbish bags on Saturday to make sure lid would close when they came to empty the bin. Since IVA I can now go two weeks if need be without putting the bin out. A lot less waste, it seems. Does anyone else find this happening??

[kallis3]

We do try and waste less. Before the IVA we would have thrown take away containers. Now, on the very rare occasions we can manage one, we wash the containers and keep them.

Other than that, our normal household rubbish just about fills half a wheelie bin every two weeks.

[tori]

[:D]Absolutely ray.apart from the fact that i have turned into a recycling freak over the last twelve months,Waste is not allowed in our house!! i have turned into a right old 'green' person and get a huge sense of satisfaction by doing my bit for the environment[:)]Living on a tight budget does make you less wasteful and much more careful about what you chuck away.Our black bin definitely isnt overflowing these days..[:D]x

[Skippy]

Our bin is usually about half full every fortnight. I do recycle a bit, but only what I can put in our recycling bin - I won't go out of my way to do it.

On the subject of waste and bins, what really annoys me is the supermarkets being reluctant to give out carrier bags. I use them to put my rubbish in before it goes in the bin. We've been told by the council to wrap rubbish in plastic bags (really environmentally friendly!) as they don't collect every week and I don't see why I should pay for them!

[kallis3]

We can recycle our carrier bags, and waste food (vegetables, egg shells, chicken bones, potato peelings etc). Most plastic, most tins, glass, cardboard, paper, magazines - even yellow pages now. Plus the garden rubbish.

There isn't much they won't take now and the lot is collected every two weeks. We don't have to take anything ourselves.

[angelrainbow]

This post is making me think I need to get my two back in cloth nappies again..I got on the disposable way after my youngest was born as it was quicker and easier..but maybe I should just make the effort to wash and reuse again!

[Wizzard]

Don't do that Angel ... used disposable nappies are needed by your government. They are stored in huge silos throughout the country in the event of an outbreak of biological warfare. [:D]

[angelrainbow]

Ray, how did you know that??? As a former government central government officer i know that info was classified top secret!!

Seriously though..I really will get the nappy bucket and soak out again - best for baby best for planet!

[Skippy]

Our council won't take garden waste unless we buy their bags and they do yet another collection.

I am so glad I haven't got children - there is absolutely no way on this earth I could deal with nappies, and certainly not cloth nappies!!!

[stressed_suzanne]

We've been limiting our rubbish for a few years now. Our council only collects plastics and paper. They will collect garden cuttings if we pay 40p for a bag and put it out, so instead it all goes on the compost down the allotment DH recycles the glass on the way to work. And when we clear out I hand on, charity, sell, freecycle. It's amazing how little waste you can create if you try.

When our council first went to fortnightly collections everyone was up in arms, but we're a family of 6+ and there's always room left in our bins. If anything it's the recycling ones that bulge.

Of course - pet rant coming up! - if manufacturers didn't wrap everything in 10 layers of cardboard and plastic, there wouldn't be so much waste!

[Skippy]

I think 40p a bag is a rip off when we're already paying for rubbish collections. At the moment we save up garden rubbish and Dave takes it to the dump. Anything I clear out goes in the rubbish, although we are doing a table top sale in October so I'll try and make some money for our holiday in October. Last time I tried to take something to the charity shop they told me they didn't want any more stuff!

The problem I have with the fortnightly collections is the smell of the bins! Even though we rinse everything out and wrap it plastic bags it still smells. We use Bin Fresh, but unfortunately not everyone else in the road does! Apparently official advice is to keep meat and bones in the freezer until the day the bins are emptied...

To be honest, if I can put it in the recycling bin I'm happy to recycle but everything else goes in rubbish - I'm not going out of my way to do it as that's what I pay council tax for!

[angelrainbow]

I try to buy fruit and veg as well as eggs from the market or farm shop and meat from the local butcher so this cuts down on packaging waste.

I can't believe some stores pack fruit in trays and then shrink wrap them.So wrong!

I am actually annoyed my local council now (I moved a few miles but into a new local authority) doesn't have a limit on refuse collections (they collect sacks as there are no wheely bins) and they don't provide a recyling box.

Most Councils are strapped for cash and I think pay as you throw will be coming in for a lot of local authorities in the future as a means to raise funds, cut down on landfill waste and get people to maybe stop and think about what they are throwing out.

The Police gets the lion's share of the council tax leaving the councils and parish councils with very little...charging us to dispose of our waste seems an easy money spinner to the councils to me!

[Skippy]

I tend to buy frozen veg and I buy very little fruit as it goes off so quickly - I bought green bananas last time thinking they would last but they still ended up being thrown away!

I haven't got a problem with pay as you throw - providing the council tax is reduced to compensate, but I very much doubt that will happen!

[angela18]

we have 3 wheelie bins and a black box..

black bin for general waste, green one for garden waste, another black one for plastic bottles and cardboard etc and a black box for paper, glass and tins/cans.. We're we supposed to keep them.. they are at my front door..

[Skippy]

We've only got 2 wheely bins - a green one for rubbish and a green one for recycling! Yes, the council in their wisdom decided 2 green bins was a good idea! OK, one is lighter than the other, and they say what they're for, but for an elderly or partially sighted person it can't be easy. We've got the same problem with where to keep them, so they are left out on the path all the time. Otherwise we could put them in the front garden and look at them from the bedroom window, but that's not practical as there's a step down from the path and it would churn up my lawn!