Recycling: best practice or a shameful business?

Wed 6 Apr 2011, 14:51

I have just posted a News item with tips for sorting recycling in black boxes from what I found out at May Gurney last week. With the collection of food waste WODC are expecting to see the amount of waste collected from households going down in line with what other Districts in the UK have experienced. Probably because people realise the food they are throwing away actually cost them a lot of money and take steps to waste less, this might be using up leftovers or not buying it in the first place.

Composting at home is still a preferable alternative, saves transport and processing costs and saves you money since the compost is a valuable resource for growing your own fruit and vegetables. You can also dispose of things that otherwise end up in residual waste (landfill currently), contents of hoover bags, tissues, cotton wool, fluff from tumble driers, cotton buds (if stems made from card rather than plastic), for identity protection I also compost the address bits I tear off envelopes, also credit card receipts. I have a Green Johanna which I can put meat and dairy in because it is rat proof and is supposed to reach higher temperatures. I also have two Green Cones free to anyone who would like to try one, these are suitable for kitchen waste rather than garden waste, but you can include meat and dairy and also dog and cat faeces. Located in the sun, the bottom cage is buried in the ground, they rarely need emptying, the contents compost away and the resulting liquid drains into the surrounding soil - they could be ideal for the older person with a pet and only a courtyard garden.

Energy expended in washing and transporting things locally is also significant, so take things to the Spendlove on foot and roughly wash things out using dirty washing-up water rather than wasting electricity, oil or gas on fresh hot water.

Kamikatsu in Japan is an interesting in example of how far local recycling can go - into 34 different categories - I'm not suggesting this but it is an interesting extreme.