Friday 19 April 2013

Recycling

I have updated the Walks II page with this weeks walk.

Quite a few areas in Norfolk are now receiving delivery of two new grey bins. A small one to be lined with a compostable bag to take all our food waste - say what - what food waste! Once full, said bag is then put into a large bin outside for the bin men to empty each week.

In our close, around 1/2 to 3/4 of people are putting them out either weekly or fortnightly, some are refusing and we are using them for something else.

Underneath the right side of my sink cupboard, is the area where I store washing up and machine washing liquids plus the ingredients needed to make them. However, I have not lined my indoor grey bin with the bag as they are exceedingly flimsy. All food 'waste' such as peelings are put into here and when full it goes out into our compost bin.
We are great tea drinkers here and save all our tea leaves for the blueberries into this can, which when full, gets emptied onto said soil.
What little food waste is left and which I can't/don't compost, such as meat fat, bones, citrus and onion do not go into flimsy bags. Nope, they are wrapped in half sheets of newspapers that I can pull off my little hand made dispenser (courtesy of DB) (a hook screwed into the side wall of cupboard)
Once wrapped, they go outside into the larger grey food bin for disposal. Even the newspapers are recycled as our walking companion E, brings them as and when needed.

So, newspapers from E, kindling from B and in exchange, I buy or make a sweet treat for our walking days. DB supplies the Tia Maria (another thank you gift from B for looking after her house and garden when she goes away!) and E. and B. supply the coffee.



28 comments:

  1. Mmm, am feeling ambivalent about the new bins. We compost ALL our fruit/veg/egg shells/tea/coffee waste, so we won't change that. Food waste such as you mention used to go 'in the bin' wrapped in whatever was handy. Now it goes into the grey bin - hate those slimy,flimsy bags they've given us. No intention of purchasing any more - the cheek of it!! So we will be wrapping our meagre leavings in newspaper, which goes to the paper/cardboard bin anyway. Oh, just noticed - do you not compost citrus and onion peels? I dread to think how elderly, easily confused folk are managing all the recycling 'rules', and of course there must be swathes of people who couldn't care less, or don't function in this kind of way - I wonder what the sums are, comparing the proportion of compliant citizens and the non-compliant?

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  2. Have never been sure about onion's and citrus peel as many places I read say not to compost them - who knows! Egg shells take forever so if I remember, I dry them in the oven then crush them for the wormery. The council reckon they picked up 1 ton of food waste in the first week. Someone people I know can't be bothered but others who initially fought against it are now complying.

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    1. Wow, that is a LOT of wasted food, isn't it? I really hope it succeeds, and the people I'm referring to aren't the ones who objected for ...well a real reason, if you get my drift; I'm talking about that section of society who just go their own sweet way and can't be bothered, not seeing it as something they need to be involved with.

      We don't throw much citrus waste - oh well perhaps we do as we have a tangerine each every day, and I use lemons fairly often....mmmm... but we've never had a problem composting them.

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    2. Well maybe I can start putting them on again. It's not as though we have a huge amount. Hope to pick some wild garlic soon.

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  3. I compost them with no trouble - the wormeries don't like very many onion skins or citrus but unless you have been making onion soup or marmalade, I wouldn't worry :-)

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    1. Thank you for that. Always used to compost them until I read otherwise.

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  4. We have always had black bags for refuse since the demise of the dustbin. Next month we are about to get wheelie bins as we live in one of the two areas in our county that are trialling them. I just don't see how they are going to work around here but we'll see. If they decide that everybody is getting them then no doubt we'll get some more for food etc as well. Ours will be empty, though, like yours...

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    1. We much prefer wheelie bins to bags, less mess unless someone tips them over.

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    2. In a friend's area ( my only knowledge of wheelie bins in practice comes from her), their wheelie bins are only emptied if placed at the kerb, with the front facing the houses. Our road is narrow with a double row of parked cars, at least half of which remain there during the day. I don't see how the bins are ever going to get emptied. It is not even as if it is your own car that is blocking the bin as there is such a shortage of parking that we are very often having to park in the next road.

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  5. Our recycling bins are black for general waste, green for the garden rubbish (no branches, compost or soil!) and a green box for paper, glass, plastic and tins and you can put clothes in a seperate bag and they will take them. We don't have the food type bins here, I don't want one anyway, we don't have waste! like everyone who's is frugal the peelings go on the compost along with the teabags and egg shells. I used to dry all my shells in the oven for my DILs chickens.

    I suppose citrus peel should be frozen until we have enough to make a batch of marmalade! to be honest the stuff from Lidl at 51p per jar is wonderful and just not worth the effort of making it myself, and there is always the easy peasey Marmade.

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    1. It is amazing what different colours are used by different councils. Ours are black for general (now fortnightly), green for recycling, brown (paid for each year) for garden recycling, and now grey for food recycling.

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  6. We have 4 wheelie bins now, having had the recycling boxes replaced by bins just recently. During the winter we do put food waste( only peelings, teabags etc as we don't waste ' food') into the 'green waste' bin rather than the compost heap. That's only because the compost heap and bins are at the bottom of the garden through the trees, and it's just too wet to venture down there in winter- I have huge amounts of peelings due to not eating meat, fish etc.

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    1. I know people who can't be bothered to even do that Scarlet (putting compost stuff into their garden bins). Shame you couldn't have one winter compost bin closer to the house and use the others for summer-autumn use.

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  7. The compostable bags we were given were actually quite good quality, so I do use them to line the compost bin and then transport them up to the allotment to the compost pile. Give my peelings to the council, I don't think so! X

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    1. No, me neither. I've finally persuaded some of my friends to put some things in their recycling caddy rather than the general dustbin.

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  8. I slice citrus peel very finely and dry it out, then it goes in the spice grinder and then into caster sugar, flavoured sugar , cheap. I have never composted onion or potato peel.

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    1. I did that recently but didn't put it into sugar, what a good idea, will try that next time.

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  9. We have those grey indoor bins as well and were initially provided with a roll of biodegradable liners for them, with the understanding that we would then have to buy liners in the future. At over £2 a roll of 10, I don't think so. As we were told we could also put veg peelings etc. wrapped in newspaper in them I now line the bin itself with a couple of sheets of newspaper instead of spending out for the special liners. We don't have a garden otherwise I would compost the peelings.

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    1. It is a shame when you don't have a garden or bin to compost things in. At least you are sending them off where they can be of use.

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  10. Thanks for the tip about the teabags! We will use that for our blueberry bush.

    Sft x

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    1. I have no idea if it really works, just trying it after reading. Coffee grinds are also supposed to do the same job.

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  11. Lovely walk too! Those OAP meals are great value, my parents love them.

    Sft x

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  12. Well I am surprised you get away with not using the flimsy compostable food waste bags but putting newspaper in the grey food bin as I have been told in no uncertain terms that you have to use said flimsy bags!

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    1. Hi Maggie, I can't find the answer any more on the web site but here is a clip I found earlier: "The food collection service will mean that even more material can be recycled. The contents of the food bins will be composted so it is very important that people only use compostable bin liners or newspaper to line their food bins. Plastic liners and carrier bags are not compostable; if these are used in the food bin, crews will not empty the bin."
      Earlier I had found that if you run out of compostable bags, the food can be wrapped in newspaper as that is fully compostable.

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  13. Hi Maggie - and this as well "Avoid keeping pet food uncovered - this is a prime location for flies to lay eggs, so wrap it in newspaper first."

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