Recycling rubbish – shouldn’t we be responsible for our waste?
Should we interfere with rubbish collection? Should we pay according to the amount of packing/food waste we generate? Shouldn’t we be rewarded for composting, sorting and recycling? The Guardian’s Society blog’s is amused by the Daily Mail’s take on our right to generate as much landfill and methane as we want. At a recent talk by Agrivert on what they’ve done for Oxfordshire County Council they seem to be succeeding – not sure of how much effort OCC put into educating households to help. The blog’s below…
Putting out the rubbish is controversial Society Guardian 8/4/10
For the majority of residents the most direct contact they have with their local councils occurs when their wheelie bin is emptied. And the removal of their paper, plastic and glass for recycling. Or the carrying away of their ’sloop buckets’ of compostable food waste. It would appear that if there’s a subject guaranteed to get middle England’s goat it’s any attempt to interfere with the Briton’s right to rubbish. Whether it’s the reduced frequency of the collection, the shrinking size of the bin or the extra effort required to separate the rubbish. Today the Daily Mail indignantly claims new targets “mean families will be expected to generate less waste and recycle more”. It goes on to triumphantly report that the government has been forced to back down on plans to make “slop buckets” compulsory in every home. Aside from the environmental arguments – a debate about the seriousness of climate change is something well-covered in why are so many councils failing to win over residents to a less wasteful system? Which authorities have managed to galvanise their householders and driven up recycling? Which messages work?
