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ladyofastolatI just responded to a Council consultion on a proposed budget reduction, and I did what people never normally do: I said I was all for it. It relates to refuse collections and kerbside recycling. At present, we have a weekly collection of general waste. If we want to, we can request a black recycling box which is collected fortnightly, but the only things we can recycle in this is glass and some paper. Newspapers, white envelopes and stapled magazines are fine, but not brown envelopes or glued magazines. We can also request a green box for food waste - both cooked and uncooked - which is collected weekly. Garden waste can be collected, but we need to buy special green bags for this at £1.25 per bag.
The proposed changes are to continue to have a weekly collection for food waste, but to replace the fortnightly collection of a limited amount of recyclable stuff with a wheelie bin that takes all recyclables - glass, cardboard, Tetra paks, cans, glued magazines etc. etc. We won't have to sort these things out, just chuck 'em all in. General waste will be collected fortnightly instead of weekly, but will presumably be much reduced in quantity. In addition, we will be able to pay for garden waste collection. (The cost cutting comes not just in reducing the frequency of collections, but cutting down on the landfill tax.)
I responded that I was in favour of the plan, as long as provision was made for people who live in places that can't accommodate a wheelie bin. I've certainly got the impression that the Isle of Wight recycles a lot less than most other places. At Wightfrag, our black box tends to accumulate piles of cardboard packets and plastic bottles, put there by people from other areas who automatically assume that such things will be recycled. I'd be interested to see if I'm right in believing that the island provides more limited facilities for kerbside recycling than most other places.
[Poll #1730042]
Note: In the final question on categories, if three different types of stuff go into one box, count that was one category. Our black box takes glass and paper, so I counted that as one category. I said we had three categories: General waste, green box food waste, and black box paper-and-glass.
The proposed changes are to continue to have a weekly collection for food waste, but to replace the fortnightly collection of a limited amount of recyclable stuff with a wheelie bin that takes all recyclables - glass, cardboard, Tetra paks, cans, glued magazines etc. etc. We won't have to sort these things out, just chuck 'em all in. General waste will be collected fortnightly instead of weekly, but will presumably be much reduced in quantity. In addition, we will be able to pay for garden waste collection. (The cost cutting comes not just in reducing the frequency of collections, but cutting down on the landfill tax.)
I responded that I was in favour of the plan, as long as provision was made for people who live in places that can't accommodate a wheelie bin. I've certainly got the impression that the Isle of Wight recycles a lot less than most other places. At Wightfrag, our black box tends to accumulate piles of cardboard packets and plastic bottles, put there by people from other areas who automatically assume that such things will be recycled. I'd be interested to see if I'm right in believing that the island provides more limited facilities for kerbside recycling than most other places.
[Poll #1730042]
Note: In the final question on categories, if three different types of stuff go into one box, count that was one category. Our black box takes glass and paper, so I counted that as one category. I said we had three categories: General waste, green box food waste, and black box paper-and-glass.
