Tuesday 30 November 2021

A Load of Rubbish.


For decades I've used plain black rubbish bags; nothing wrong with them, but they were very dull. Those have now been replaced by a totally better class of bag; M & S's 'citrus grove' perfumed white bags. I feel 'classier' already. I may even be offered a knighthood for 'services to pong reduction'.


Back in France rubbish had become politicised. In our 'Department' (County) we now have to pay to put rubbish into a large 'receptacle'; we pay an annual fee, then even have to use a card to open the wretched thing so that they can charge per visit. It's a huge 'con'. We refuse to play ball.

With this in mind, and being something of a spendthrift, I have been taking what small amounts of rubbish we had across the border to the adjoining Department where such things are still free. It's on my weekly shopping route, so very convenient. Lady Magnon continued to use our own local service for recycling, which for some reason remained free.  

Here in Brighton we have several large rubbish containers, and recycling containers, on most streets, ours is only a few metres away (well hidden), and they are emptied daily. A very good service. The recent strike is now over, and all is back to normal.

Rubbish is a problem in towns. We still recycle as much as possible, we visit the municipal dump every so often with lumpier objects, and we try to take home as few plastics as possible. In France we burn most of the paper, all vegetable peeling, etc, goes to the compost, and whatever can be recycled; is. It's not easy being green in town.

My new M & S 'Citrus grove' bags are very pleasant, but may I suggest 'Gardenia' or 'Patchouli' for the future. One might as well be choosy. 

37 comments:

  1. It is surprising sometimes how some people just can't be bothered.
    We are trying to reduce how much wrapping comes into our house to start with.
    It is good that soft plastic wrapping is now being accepted for recycling..high time as it has been possible for a long time

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    1. It really isn't easy trying to avoid plastics. I buy my Bananas loose, as well as certain vegs, but otherwise almost everything has some plastic wrapping or packaging.

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  2. It is funny how some people always open with a negative. How does GZ know some people cant be bothered? Is she in their heads? Anyway that is by the by. Your perfumed lemon bags are really cool. I had some lavender ones. I sort rubbish into what the council want me to and as a person alone I don't produce much rubbish. . I am not naive enough to believe it ends up recycled though but some people do. They have washed their hands of it and they can feel pleased with themselves. The recycling factories are few and far between.

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    1. I often wonder what happens to the recycling bins. I HAVE seen them all being emptied into the same bin-lorry, which rather defeated the whole point. After that I have no idea what happens.

      Back in the 60's, the town of Worthing developed a radical new recycling plant. Everything went in by the same door, and all the different bits were sorted-out from a conveyor belt. It looked very efficient, but I don't know if it really was.

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    2. It is all very well sorting it. It is where it goes next. It has to go through several processes to become usable in the manufacture of another product. That is where there is a shortfall of plants to do it.

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    3. Rachel, you don't need to be in someone's "head"; I can see what happens all around us, when living in a city setting. I do appreciate it may be different in rural areas.

      Cro, here it's called "mixed recycling", so paper, cardboard, tins, cans, plastic all goes in one container. Then some arsehole (who doesn't care) contaminates the whole lot with "household waste", the perishable decomposing stinky stuff. And what do you know: The whole lot disqualifies as recyclable and goes straight into the incinerator/landfill. So, I am afraid, on that score GZ is correct.

      I can't tell you how passionate I feel about this. Go to the motherland; recycling is taken to the level of an artform. And if you don't comply your neighbours and the council will let you know about it. Big time.

      U

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    4. I don't like the blame society. Concentrate on doing good, lead by example and it will rub off on others is my philosophy. In Germany the recycling plants are also in short supply, as in all European countries.

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    5. Of course, Rachel, I didn't say that in the German speaking countries and Scandinavia the machine is one hundred percent well oiled, perfect. But the effort is there, has been for decades.

      To give you one example of "recycling" unheard of in England since the demise of your milkmen's door step delivery (glass bottles): When you buy, say, bottled beer you will pay a small surcharge over the price. This is an incentive for the buyer to return their empty bottles to the shop as they will get their "Pfand" (bond) back. Those bottles will then (just as it used to be in England with the milk bottles) be washed and RE-USED.

      Like you I don't like the "blame society". However, we can't close our eyes and ears to how very inconsiderate, almost oblivious a lot of people are to the damage they are doing to themselves, in the long run or maybe not so much longer any longer.

      U

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    6. We recycled from the 1960s. We had large recycling plant in Norwich where we would go with our pickup loaded with paper from the pig feed bags. Waste food was collected from the restaurants for swill. We went to the metal recycle yard wuth scrap iron and bottles were recycled with a small refund of 1d per bottle. Recycling is nothing new here either and of course all people after the war and during rationing made do and mended. The problem with plastic which is a new item since the war is re-learning to do without it and providing polymer factories to recycle it into a usable again product. No doubt the fire in Hull will be a set back for the industry.

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    7. Recycled plastic should be used more for building. Bricks or Blocks could easily be made from recycled plastic bottles, etc.

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  3. Although we do not have a collection service for recyclables we do sort everything and take it to the local recycling bins. We are looking forward to having a garden soon and P is already planning where his compost bins will be.

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  4. The "authorities" don't make it easy with regard to rubbish disposal and recycling. There are so many differences when it should all be consistent and considerate. This would surely help to save the planet.

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    1. I think it would help save the planet more if we all boycotted Chinese products. One less Chinese toy bought, would probably be the equivalent of a year's recycling.

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  5. Do your households not have individual bins that get put out every week? Here, each house has its own general waste bin, a recycling bin and a green waste bin. Even in the flats I live in, each flat has its own general waste bin, although the recycling and green waste bins are shared between four flats. the shared bins are a huge problem, no one puts veggie or fruit scraps in the green waste bins which only get collected every fortnight, so the tiny amount I put in there is stinky and bug infested in no time. Some people use them for garden waste, like raked leaves and pruned branches, which is also what they are for. The recycling bins are the worst problem, with four flats putting in recyclables the bins are filled to overflowing and only get emptied once a fortnight. A stupid system for sure.

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    1. We used to have 3 large black boxes; rubbish, recyclable, and paper/cardboard. And only one collection per week. Now we have big wheelie bins at the end of the road that are emptied daily. Much better.

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  6. I'm always surprised by the amount of junk we produce.

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    1. It's depressing, but I don't see it changing.

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    2. Yael, I am not so much "surprised" as dismayed, utterly dismayed. I liken the rubbish we, as a collective, produce to a trail of slime (think snails) we leave behind us. As Cro says, depressing.

      U

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  7. Patchouli might take you back to almost your youth and kindle fond memories.
    I was intrigued by how in Newcastle brown bottles had to be separated from green bottles.

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    1. Maybe they go back to the brewery for refilling (after cleaning, of course).

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    2. I remember operating the giant bottle washing machine when working at the cheese factory. We had to keep a close eye on the cleaned bottle and weed out those that had become too scratched over time or had chips around the tops, every now and again there would be a crunching within the machine and we knew another bottle had broken in there. It was actually a fun job and a nice break from wrapping the cheeses or crating the filled milk bottles.

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  8. I got a small brown bottle of patchouli essential oil FOR the fond memories. For the diffuser too. Unfortunately, it is too strong. One drop is too much. I've gone back to the lavender or lemon.

    I wonder about our recycling. It doesn't have to be separated, and is all thrown on the same truck. The best thing to do is to minimize the waste to begin with. As you note, it is not an easy task.

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    1. I love Patchouli, I have various tiny bottles of different qualities (and prices). The UK used to sell its rubbish to India or China, but I believe they don't want any more. I wonder what they'll do with it now?

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  9. We have three wheelie bins. Recycle, Food/garden waste and everything else. It seems different councils have different systems. I too have heard it all ends up in the same place.

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    1. There doesn't seem to be much coordination anywhere. It needs working on!

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  10. We are lucky here I think - we have THE TIP which is open six days out of seven every week and is manned by three vry helpful men. Then in the main car park we have a fenced off corner with marked bins so that obe can drive down and put rubbish there. In addition we have a black bin which is free. It is emptied very early every other Wednesday morning - the alternative week we can have a green bin (we pay £22 a year for this) frrom Reb to Nov for any garden refuse.

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    1. That all sounds pretty comprehensive. Our tip is about 5 miles away, which means I don't go too often. Otherwise I think we're served quite well. With the amount of rates we pay, I wouldn't expect less.

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  11. Our rubbish gets collected every day too. I take it up, in a cheerful orange bag, every time I go out to walk .
    We have cut down on our plastic a lot recently. We bought a water filter so no plastic bottles. Fruit and vege get put into paper bags and I use cloth bags for groceries.
    We recycle but you have seen the bins at times being emptied into the rubbish truck. At least we try

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    1. In France they had paper bags for Fruit-n-veg; a reasonably new idea. Here it's all ready bagged, so no choice.

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  12. We are fortunate. All our refuse and re-cycling which is binnable or collectable (eg old fridges) is free. We have a large re-cycling plant on the Island and a thriving scrap metal service. My only complaint is that they don't sell the compost which is produced (as they did where I lived in New Zealand) but use it to cover the landfill site which, of course, we still need.

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    1. My local municipal waste centre sells compost made from all the green waste. I don't really need any here, but otherwise I would buy it.

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    2. Our "green waste" is composted and sold to councils to be used on park and city gardens.

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  13. Recycling is a bit of a bust. Nobody truly knows where everything is going. My small town has a central location for trash and recycle. A yearly fee is paid and town residents put refuse in the appointed dumpster or recycle bin. This works. Occasionally a recycle wizard pushes something new and it fails. People do not want to change something that is working.

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    1. My local recycling waste centre is very busy, with huge containers for just about everything. What happens when they're filled-up, I have no idea.

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