Is it just me?

[guardpig]

who finds all this recycling somewhat questionable.

Now please bear in mind that where i live the number of items which should be recyclable and aren't is actually longer than the list of things that are to go in our "recycling" bin.

Anyways just had my new glass recycling box(and about time too).  Hmm.  So impressed.  Flimsier than the average toy box and dumped in the middle of the drive - good job I was in to rescue it before the van recycled it.  Gust of wind will be blowing them down the street.  Now for the fun bit:

To break even every household on average must recycle 5 wine size bottles or 10 glass jars each and every week of the year.  They are collecting it every fortnight, so that is 10 wine bottles or 20 pasta sauce or jam jars.  Hmm.  That'll be good since, in my opinion you won't fit 20 glass jars in the box and you are not allowed to have them protruding at the top!.  Then of course there is me - about 1 jam jar a month and 1 pasta sauce jar a week (if I am feeling lazy) and probably about 1 alcohol bottle every 2 months(allowing for the Xmas surge). Does a normal household really use 5 wine bottles or 10 glass jars a week?  Of course if we could include broken glasses I really could keep my end up!  Can rely on the local youngsters for a few beer bottles a week, they usually drain them just in time to put them in my wheelie.

The sums really don't make sense because the headling is "2 bottles saves enough energy for 5 cups of tea".  but that is without taking into account the energy and emissions in collecting(or me taking) the bottles.

So, and this is THE question, should I feel obliged to drink at least 5 bottles of wine a week?

[twishy123]

Yes......surprised you had to ask.....

[wskneil]

I for one will do my best!

[calibra101]

If they ask nicely I could be persuaded     

[cookiecookuk]

we can all send you one then you will have enough

[chickengrandma-2008]

Sorry, I can't help you.

I'm already supplying the whole of my street!!!  

[guardpig]

---

@cookiecookuk wrote:

we can all send you one then you will have enough

---

Only if you send one full one for every empty one.

Daft though.  Still I do have some half empty pickle jars left over from Xmas.  Mind you they'll have to double targets when everybody wants a new box because the old one blew away.

Shouldn't complain about binmen though 'cos we have a lovely lot.  Recycling bin was left behind the normal bin and a pile of boxes behind that(waiting for room 'cos nobody had bothered box bashing).  They not only moved the green one to get the blue one but took the boxes as well.  We have superb bin men(unlike rumour has it the rest of the city).

[myraandjim]

they don't even collect our glass box - we have to go 6 miles each way to recycle them. Then of course they want the cans washed before they go into the recycling, so that's energy used for hot water and the water itself - plus all the plasters when I keep gashing my hand while washing them, plus of course the fuel for driving to the recycling point.The food waste box is collected weekly but I feel inadequate because I have hardly any food waste ( i do cook every day , honestly).  We don't even have much paper waste because we have an open fire, so I think basically we are just a waste of time!

[millielilac]

5 wine bottles a week ?

We have holiday lets and last week one couple left 11 empty wine bottles and 13 empty cans in 4 days !!!

The thing is they were out all day long too...and driving ...unbelievable .....

[**towery**]

we dont even get glass recycled 

most of the street use the bottlebank behind the pub - its a public one , they need to empty it about 3wk intervals

we even get cars pull up and disgorge their empties

i think some of rgw car parks and the supermarkets  have bottlebanks

[cookiecookuk]

we also have to take our glass to recycling when we go to mr t's

[chickengrandma-2008]

We have a bottle bank at Tesco and books and clothes and shoes.

We have a wheelie bin for waste, one for recycling and a brown one for garden stuff.  The brown one isn't as big as the other two and seeing as each garden  has anything between one and ten acres, it doesn't hold enough if you want to cut the grass!

They empty them alternately  (the grey and the blue) but if you put the wrong colour out one week, they just leave it, they won't come and tell you.  (and that's after giving them a £10 Christmas tip!!)

[wskneil]

We have just got a new bin regime and its doing peoples heads in
Grey bin     general waste  emptied weekly
green bin    garden waste  emptied every two weeks
brown bin    glass,plastic and cans  emptied every four weeks, alternating with
blue bin       cardboard and a white bag thing for paper every four weeks  ( when we get our blue bin that is estimated delivery 6-8 weeks!)

Got a schedule stuck to the back of a kitchen cabinet door.

[stroppy*cow]

I haven't got a clue what is supposed to go in what bin and what bin is supposed to be emptied on what week. Black bins, brown bins, blue bins, pink bags, blue bags, red bags.  Don't over-fill the bins  - if the lid isn't shut flat they won't empty the bin. One crew for bags, another crew for blue and brown bins, and a third crew for black bins. If they collect bags they leave a new bag on top of the bins, which promptly blows away in even the lightest breeze. If you want a brown bin (I think they are garden stuff and some types of paper) you have to pay extra.

When daughter lived in Fordingbridge they had a brilliant system - pink bags for anything recyclable, clear bags for everything else. Both bags put out every week - simple. No limit on the number of bags either.

[captainbovine]

we have recycling, alternate weeks for general waste and garden waste. We have big bags and I mean big, for garden waste and can put out up to 5. I don't think we've had a garden bag week were we haven't put out 5!!! they must think we are doing the whole village. That is a great boon though, makes it so easy for us.

as for the tins, glass, card, plastic....we don't use enough to put that lot out every fortnight, so sometimes it's more than a month before we get them emptied.

I think we have a good system, I think even a family of four would have room left in the plastic and tins bag.

[ilove2patch]

We can't put bags out here as the gulls would have a field day! Ours is simple, one bin for food waste, weekly. One for general rubbish plus a box for glass, plastic bottles & tins every other week. Plastic sack for paper & card. They don'r take garden waste so this has to go to the tip. I find it quite simple.

[ed_blackadder_1]

It amazes me how different councils do things so differently. Ours is.

Black Wheelie Bin, general waste - collected every two weeks,

Green Wheelie Bin, Garden and food waste - collected every 2 weeks alternating with general waste,

Small green box, for Glass plastic and tins - collected every week,

Green bag for paper - collected every week,

Brown bag for cardboard - collected every week same time as green box and green bag,

Our black wheelie is usually half full if that,

Very small amount of garden and food waste in the winter so it usually goes out once a month, summer it is always full and I could do with two because of the garden waste.

Small green box - I have 2 as I recycle everything I can, including shampoo bottles, deodorant cans etc. Son drinks loads of milk and both the menfolk drink bottles and cans of cider, and having 2 dogs there are lots of dog food tins.

Green bag tends to go out once a month as we don't have a paper everyday so it just blows away if there isn't much in it.

Brown bag for cardboard isn't big enough if I have been shopping on ebay or it is Christmas time.

My one complaint here is that our council don't take yoghurt cartons, margarine cartons or ice cream cartons. Which is a real pain.

Friends of ours in Warwickshire have different colour bins to ours and different combinations so I always get in trouble for putting stuff in the wrong bin.

[mustard-tree]

Mine is even simpler.

I live in a block of flats, and everything goes in carrier bags and down the shute

At least I recycle the carrier bags my shopping comes in.

[guardpig]

Ah, Mustard.  Simples.  Now daughter and Sproglet live in a tower block with BIG bins.  Outside next to the main road through the area there are large recycling bins.  Hmm practical with an active toddler.  Do you strap Little Miss Stroppy into buggy(can't do lift buttons and door pushes from buggy) and attach all rubbish to buggy or do you allow smiling toddler loose to run in road whilst operating the lids 2 handed and throwing rubbish in over your head or do you allow Little Miss Delightful to accompany you(dressed in her special visiting bin gear of dressing gown and slippers) down to the bin shute which is safely inside the building through a locked door?  

[calibra101]

Our system is,

General waste fortnightly and recycling weekly.

Green wheelie bin for general waste and clear plastic bags for recycling. We have to obviously separate the recycling ie. bottles, cans, plastics etc in one then cardboard, junk mail, newspapers in another, garden waste separately as is textiles. There is no limit to how much recycling can be put out.